Tuesday's sports update: Homestand ends with Sam Houston shellacking

By Meghan Hall     3/26/09 7:00pm

The third-ranked Owls finished up a nine-game homestand Tuesday night with a 9-3 win over Sam Houston State University. The Owls currently sit at 22-7 (7-2 Conference USA) and are second in the C-USA standings behind East Carolina University, which they face this weekend on the road. The Owls struck first in the bottom of the second, when back-to-back singles by freshman Daniel Gonzales-Luna and junior Jimmy Comerota prefaced a sacrifice fly by sophomore Michael Fuda.

The offense continued in the third, when Rice loaded the bases with a walk and a pair of hits by junior second baseman Brock Holt and sophomore outfielder Chad Mozingo. Holt was caught out at home on a fielder's choice, but Mozingo scored on the next play with a Gonzales-Luna single.

Sophomore Travis Wright (2-0) got the start for the Owls tonight and picked up his second win of the year.

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"He did a good job," Coach Wayne Graham said. "He's got a pitch that a lot of guys have trouble with, a two-plane curveball. As long as he gets the ball over the plate with his angles, he can help us."

Wright, who entered the game with 4.2 innings in only three appearances, pitched a solid seven innings in his first career start. He gave up three earned runs and struck out four.

The Bearkats picked up their first run in the third, one of the unearned variety, due to an error by junior catcher Diego Seastrunk, and from a sacrifice fly by left fielder Justin Keithley. The bleeding continued into the fourth inning when three Sam Houston hits and a wild pitch by Wright resulted in two more runs. Holt, Seastrunk and junior outfielder Steven Sultzbaugh teamed up to prevent a third run in the inning when their relay caught Seth Hammock at the plate.

Graham held a quick meeting outside the dugout with his team before the bottom of the fourth, and apparently the wisdom he released was potent. The Owls got those runs back quickly thanks to a three-run shot by Sultzbaugh. Back-to-back doubles by Seastrunk and freshman Anthony Rendon, a third single by Gonzales-Luna and a triple by Comerota resulted in four more runs.

The scoring flurry was fast and furious, but the last five innings passed by with no runs, thanks to solid relief work by sophomore Abel Gonzales. Sophomore Matt Evers started the ninth inning, but was replaced by junior Mark Haynes, who secured the final two outs for the 9-3 win.

Rice travels to Beaumont, Tex., tomorrow night to face Lamar University at 6:30 p.m.

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