UH finishes off baseball's ten-game win streak

By Jessica Cannon     3/27/08 7:00pm

Despite rain and near-freezing temperatures, the baseball team managed to keep their arms warm enough to sweep Marshall University before returning to the sunny South and handing a loss to Texas State University on Tuesday. Unfortunately, No. 12 Rice's (18-7) win streak ended at ten games Wednesday night when cross-town rival University of Houston handed the Owls an 8-5 loss, although senior Jordan Dodson's two-out fly ball in the ninth came within feet of sending the game into extra innings.Looking ahead, the Owls will be enmeshed in a tough series this weekend with the University of Southern Mississippi. The homestand, which begins today at 6:30 p.m. at Reckling Park, will give Rice a chance to pad its conference record, which stands at 4-1. The Golden Eagles (15-7) have been one of the streakiest teams in Conference USA this year - after a five-game losing streak earlier this month, they have taken nine of their last 10 to climb back above .500.

Southern Miss will be led by senior starter Barry Bowden, who had 14 strikeouts in his last appearance and was named the C-USA Pitcher of the Week for the second time on March 4.

"I think Southern Mississippi has some of the best pitching in the league, other than ours, and they've got hitting too," head coach Wayne Graham said. "It's a critical series. [They] may be the second best team in the league."

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However, the Owls' focus this week will be on their toughest in-state competition, the University of Texas. The 13th-ranked Longhorns (17-6) recently took two of three on the road from a scrappy Texas Tech University squad, and their potent offense is ninth in the nation with 8.78 runs per game. In addition, their batters are well-disciplined at the plate - their 136 walks are fourth in the country.

A win over Texas would obviously be a boon to Rice's rankings, but Graham said the Owls will undoubtedly face stiff competition from both the Longhorns and their fans.

"[Beating Texas] would be a tremendous power-rating game because it's a win on the road over a quality opponent," Graham said. "[But it] seems like half the state wears Texas paraphernalia."

Rice faced road tests in Charleston, W.V., last week against the Thundering Herd (8-12) in their first conference series of the season. The Owls opened the series with a 6-1 victory behind by sophomore starter Ryan Berry's seven-strikeout performance. Senior left fielder Derek Myers and junior center fielder Jared Gayhart each had two RBIs to pace the offense.

However, the opening game was just a warm-up for Gayhart. In the second contest of the series, which the Owls won 13-9, the junior brought around six RBIs with a home run and three doubles. Senior pitcher Cole St. Clair, recently relegated to the bullpen after sputtering as a starter, came into the game in relief and rang up six Marshall batters while allowing only four hits. In something of a statistical anomaly, Gayhart, who normally leads off the lineup, is currently leading Rice in RBIs with 33.

In the final game of the series, the Owls again carried the day, led by the solid hitting of senior first baseman J.P. Padron and junior designated hitter Aaron Luna. Freshman shortstop Rick Hague also contributed with consistent hitting all weekend - he was named C-USA Hitter of the Week, leading the team with four round-trippers and a .360 batting average.

Graham noted that Hague is playing above what one could normally expect from a newcomer.

"Hague doesn't play like a freshman," Graham said, "He's more steady and calm than most people."

Another offensive spark for the Owls came from junior catcher Adam Zornes, who has quietly accrued a .330 batting average with three homers and 19 RBIs.

"Zornes right now is MVP," said Graham. "Hitting, playing [defense] - he's our anchor."

Zornes went 2-3 on Tuesday against Texas State (12-8), helping Rice knock off the Bobcats 13-3 in San Marcos, Texas.

Rice then returned to Houston to face UH (16-7) at Cougar Field. The Owls squeezed out a win against the Cougars earlier this month, winning 12-11 on a bunt in the bottom of the ninth.

However, the Owls failed to complete the necessary late-game heroics the second time around. With Rice taking a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning, Houston's Bryan Pounds crushed a grand slam to put Houston on top for good. Both teams scored a single run in the eighth, but Houston cut off a Rice rally and added an insurance run to enter the top of the ninth with an 8-5 lead. With two on and two out, Dodson lifted a fly ball to the warning track before it landed harmlessly in right fielder Bryan Tully's mitt.

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