Wednesday's Sports Update : Baseball blows by Islanders 23-1

By Ryan Glassman     4/8/10 7:00pm

The Rice Owls were firing on all cylinders on Wednesday evening at Reckling Park, as an overwhelming offensive attack and sound pitching delivered a 23-1 victory in seven innings over the Texas A&M - Corpus Christi University.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. Freshman Michael Ratterree drove in two runs with a double in the second to extend the lead to 9-0 for starting pitcher Anthony Fazio. In the third inning, eight straight Rice batters would reach base as the Owls plated eight runs on seven hits. Rathjen drove in two more runs on a double while senior Jimmy Comerota's single also brought in two. The Owls scored seventeen runs on sixteen hits in just the game's first three innings, as Fazio worked through the Islanders' lineup.

In the fourth, sophomore Anthony Rendon hit a three-run home run over the left field fence, his fourth hit of the game. Rendon now has 13 home runs on the season to go along with 40 RBIs, leading the Owls in both categories. Comerota hit a three-run home run of his own in the sixth inning, pushing the Owls run tally on the evening to an astounding 23 runs on 20 hits. Rendon, Comerota and Rathjen combined for three home runs, nine hits and fifteen runs batted in in what was a stellar offensive performance for Rice.

Fazio was superb for Rice on the evening, pitching four innings while allowing just a single run on five hits. Freshman J.T. Chargois, junior Doug Simmons and freshman Tyler Duffey each worked a scoreless inning of relief. The game was shortened to seven innings due to the travel rule, which states that if a team is traveling after the game, the game can be called after seven innings if one team leads by at least ten runs. This is the second time in three games for the Owls in which a game has been shortened due to the travel rule.

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The Owls travel to Orlando this weekend for a three game series as they continue Conference USA play against UCF.

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