Baseball finds winning ways

By Ryan Glassman     4/15/10 7:00pm

In what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Conference USA races in recent years, the margin for error is extremely slim for the baseball team. Entering a C-USA tilt last weekend in New Orleans, the Owls (20-14) were tied atop the conference at 4-2 with a group of teams including their opponent, Tulane University.

And after a tough loss Friday evening, the Owls bounced back to do just that, taking two of three games from Tulane (21-12) to take over sole possession of first place in the conference.

Sending sophomore standout Taylor Wall to the mound on Friday, all was well for Rice through the game's first six innings. C-USA Hitter of the Week Jeremy Rathjen brought in junior Chad Mozingo on a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give Rice the 3-0 lead.

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Freshman Michael Ratterree delivered on an RBI single in the eighth, but the lead would not last for the Owls. Tulane produced a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI groundout and a passed ball, cutting Rice's lead down to a single run entering the ninth.

Head Coach Wayne Graham called on freshman Tyler Duffey to earn the save, but the game took a turn for the worse when, with one out and two runners on base, a fly ball to center field dropped out of Rathjen's glove following a communication breakdown with Mozingo. The error loaded the bases, and the next batter doubled to bring in two runs and end the game 6-5 in heartbreaking fashion for the Owls.

Graham expressed frustration after the game at the fielding misstep.

"They can't wait for the ball to get to them," Graham said. "We preach: Stay back and see the ball; stay back and see the ball. I'm tired of losing games on routine fly balls in the outfield."

Looking to split the first two games of the series, Rice would again jump out to an early lead on Saturday afternoon, this time with senior pitcher Mike Ojala on the hill. Already with a comfortable 4-0 lead for the Owls, Rathjen drove a three-run home run over the fence to give Rice a 7-0 lead in the top of the fourth. The offense, led Saturday by seniors Jimmy Comerota and Diego Seastrunk as well as Mozingo and Rathjen, would add three more runs in the sixth to take a 10-1 lead.

But the bullpen would struggle on Saturday, allowing the Green Wave back into the game in the bottom of the sixth. Tulane tallied five runs in the inning on four hits before Duffey, the fourth Rice pitcher of the inning, struck out the final batter of the frame with the bases loaded to preserve a 10-6 lead.

After allowing a lead-off home run, Duffey struck out the next batter before allowing a single.

Graham then called on junior Abe Gonzales to record the final outs, but the task would not be easy. Back-to-back base hits loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate with just one out. After leading by as many as nine runs, the baseball team was in jeopardy of dropping their second game in as many days after holding a late lead.

But Gonzales proved to be up to the task, conceding a run for an out at second base on a ground ball to the infield. With two outs and the game at 11-8, Gonzales struck out the final batter to preserve the win for the Owls.

There would be no late-inning drama in the finale as there was in the first two games, as the Owls would play one of their most complete games of the season en route to an easy 19-1 victory in a shortened Sunday game. After a scoreless first inning, the Owls offense erupted to score 12 runs over the next five innings, taking a 12-1 lead into the seventh.

The offense would produce a total of 20 hits on the day, with Mozingo and Hague tallying four RBIs apiece. By rule, if during a C-USA game one team leads by at least 10 runs on a travel day, the game is called after seven innings. With a 19-1 lead, Rogers pitched a routine bottom of the seventh to end the game, earning the victory and a complete game effort in what was an impressive outing for himself and the entire Owls squad.

Seastrunk expressed approval at the team's offense as of late.

"We've progressed really well these past few weeks," said Seastrunk. "We get too aggressive at times and start chasing balls, but ... everybody is swinging the bat well lately."

Seastrunk would prove his point in the late innings on Tuesday evening as the Owls traveled to take on Sam Houston State University, an in-state foe that Rice has struggled with in recent years. Trailing 7-5 in the eighth with two runners on and two outs, Rathjen delivered with a single that plated two, tying the game at seven after the Owls trailed by as many as four runs. After a scoreless bottom of the eighth, it was Seastrunk who led off with a home run to left field, giving Rice the 8-7 lead, their first lead since the second inning.

Gonzales pitched the ninth, retiring the first two batters before a single brought the winning run to the plate with two outs. But Gonzales would induce a ground ball to Hague, who flipped to second for the game's final out and the Owls' third-straight victory, an 8-7 win to improve the team's record to 20-14 on the season.

On Wednesday, the Owls played their second shortened game in three contests, destroying the Islanders of Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi by a score of 23-1 in seven innings. The Owls (21-14) jumped on the Islanders' (13-21) pitchers early when sophomore Jeremy Rathjen drove a three-run home run over the left-field fence in the first inning. The first seven batters of the game would reach base for Rice as the Owls scored seven runs on six hits in the inning. Rice scored 17 runs on 16 hits in just the game's first three innings, as redshirt freshman Anthony Fazio worked through the visitors' lineup.

The Owls will be on the road again this weekend, kicking off a weekend series tonight in Orlando against UCF. The Knights (23-12), coming off a sweep of the University of Southern Mississippi, stand just one game back of the Owls at 5-4 in the conference.

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