Owls' pitching unable to hold up against Tigers' big bats
Rice's (43-17) success this season seems inversely related to the numbers of pitchers the team employs. Considering five arms got work in tonight, the team's chances did not look good. Junior Mike Ojala (5-0) got the ball for the Owls Saturday night as they took on LSU (50-16) in Game 1 of the 2009 NCAA Super Regionals. Ojala, coming off a win last Friday in the opening game of the Regionals, is pitching with a torn ulnar collateral ligament that will require postseason surgery.
LSU captured the Southeastern Conference title and the third national seed before besting the bracket of Southern University, Baylor and Minnesota on its way to a Regional title. Meanwhile, Rice attempted to avenge its last meeting with LSU: a 6-5 loss in the 2008 College World Series that sent the Owls home.
Freshman third baseman Anthony Rendon collected the first hit for sixth-ranked Rice, a double in the top of the second off LSU starter Anthony Ranaudo (10-3). Sophomore right fielder Chad Mozingo followed up with a dribbler up the middle, and the Tigers appeared to have caught Rendon between second and third.
However, shortstop Austin Nola threw the ball away for an error, plating Rendon and letting Mozingo advance to third with no outs. Sophomore left fielder Michael Fuda got him home with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 Rice lead. In the third, Rendon was again surrounded by LSU errors, eventually scoring on Fuda's second RBI.
The Tigers loaded the bases in the third for first baseman Sean Ochinko, who pushed in their first run on the game with a fielders' choice thanks to a leaping play by Rendon. But junior center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh got that run right back in the fourth with a solo shot to left center, increasing Rice's lead back to 4-1.
Unfortunately for Rice, LSU brought its bats in the fifth in front of 9,375 fans at Alex Box Stadium, an LSU record. Third baseman Tyler Hanover led off with a double; he later scored on second baseman D.J. LeMahieu's single. Then following a wild pitch, Ojala was replaced by freshman southpaw Taylor Wall (7-6), recently named Most Outstanding Player of the Regional.
"[My start] wasn't very good," Ojala said. "[You] can't balk, can't do too many balls in the middle of the zone, can't hit and walk people . [I] didn't do what I was supposed to do."
Ojala lasted four innings and forfeited four earned runs, though he was quite strong early and accumulated four strikeouts. His mix of pitches, heavy on the offspeed, baffled the Tigers hitters.
"He just lost his touch a little bit, but I thought he pitched great for a while," Head Coach Wayne Graham said. "He was hurt by the balks, he was hurt by the hit batsmen."
Tiger left fielder Ryan Schimph offered his own assessment of the pitching change, sending the ball over the right field fence for a three-run homer-his 19th of the year-and LSU's first lead of the game. The job then fell to another freshman: Matthew Reckling (2-2) entered with one out in the fifth and was not any more successful, for two immediately scored on Ochinko's double. A double by Schimph earned him one more RBI for a total of four, he later scored his second run of the game to put the Tigers up 9-4.
"They played very courageously, they didn't give up when things weren't going too well early," Tigers coach Paul Mainieri said. That was in large part due to his starter Ranaudo, who finished with 7.2 innings, nine strikeouts, and only one earned run.
Then off LSU reliever Paul Bertuccini, Rendon launched his 20th homer of the year to cut LSU's lead to 9-6. However, the Tigers made it double digits in the eighth with three more runs off sophomore Matt Evers (4-3) and senior Jordan Rogers (8-3).
Rice scored three in the ninth-including a two-run shot by junior second baseman Brock Holt-but they fell to the Tigers 12-9, with Wall picking up the loss.
"I thought we competed well but had too many bad pitches and too many mistakes on the mound," Graham said. "I don't think we swung the bats badly at all . just gotta pitch a little better and do some things right tomorrow."
Rice's only shot for salvaging this series lies in the right arm of Ryan Berry, who hopes to right the pitching ship tomorrow with his start at 4 p.m.
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