Wednesday's Sports Update: Dallas Baptist falls under Rice's offensive surge

By Dylan Farmer     3/26/09 7:00pm

One more game, one more huge offensive effort for the baseball team. The Owls posted 16 hits in an 11-8 comeback victory over visiting Dallas Baptist University Wednesday night at Reckling Park, marking the 8th time in the past 10 games the Blue and Grey have racked up 13 or more hits.Redshirt sophomore Travis Wright picked up the first win of his Rice career with 2.2 innings of solid relief pitching. He allowed just one unearned run and had four strikeouts on the day.

The game looked to be a low scoring affair at the beginning, as sophomore starter Abe Gonzales set the Patriots down in order in both the first and second inning. The Owls struggled to find an early offensive groove, leaving one runner on base in the first and the bases loaded in the second without pushing any runs across the plate.

Dallas Baptist struck its biggest blow with six runs in the third inning. With the bases full, an error by second baseman Brock Holt allowed a runner to score, and a subsequent Patriot single through the left side plated two more runs. Left fielder Michael Fuda made a spot-on throw to the plate to try to catch the second runner, but catcher Diego Seastrunk fumbled the ball. The next batter up, right fielder Ryan Thompson, launched a three-run home run over the left field fence to give Dallas Baptist the 6-0 lead.

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Rice's hitting woes continued in the bottom of the third, but the Owls finally broke the slump with two runs in the next inning. Right fielder Chad Mozingo crushed the ball over the right field fence, scoring center fielder Stephen Sultzbaugh, who was on first after a fielder's choice.

Neither team scored again until the sixth inning. The Patriots chased Rice reliever Matt Evers by scoring on a wild pitch and putting runners at the corners with just one out, by Wright entered the game and stopped the bleeding at just one more run.

Facing an 8-2 deficit, the Owls put together a four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth. Designated hitter Daniel Gonzales-Luna stroked a double just under the third baseman's glove and made it to third on a fielding error by Dallas Baptist's catcher. Mozingo singled up the middle, scoring Gonzales-Luna, and a double by right fielder Michael Fuda put two runners on base for leadoff-man Holt. Holt slammed his third homer in four games off the top of the Reckling Park scoreboard, cutting the deficit to 8-6.

The Owls went ahead for good with a five-run 8th inning. Shortstop Rick Hague knocked a two-run single to right to tie up the score, and Gonzales-Luna plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice hit to second base. Later in the inning, Mozingo sent the Owls' final two runners across the plate with a single up the middle.

Senior Jordan Rogers came in for Wright to close the game out in the 9th.

Rice had much improved production from the bottom of the lineup: The 6-9 spots of the batting order accounted for 10 of the team's 16 hits, and Mozingo, batting in the 8th spot, had five runs-batted-in.

The Owls next face Tulane University this weekend in a three-game series at Reckling Park. Game times are set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday. The Green Wave are currently 17-11 on the year, having posted an impressive win over No. 5 Louisiana State University on Wednesday.

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