Club baseball proving two can play at this game
Since Head Coach Wayne Graham stepped on campus 20 seasons ago, Rice baseball has been synonymous with winning, and winning with class. Owl baseball is the first impression of Rice for many people - excellence in all facets. From its inception in 2004, club baseball at Rice has not always created the same impression. With more engineers than legitimate "ballplayers," the club baseball team was like the National Club Baseball Association's own version of the Chicago Cubs, the league's "lovable losers." Struggling to field a competitive team in its first couple of seasons, the Owls piled up losing records. Up against seemingly insurmountable odds, playing against schools 10 to 20 times larger than their own, the team continued to practice every week and play every weekend. Fast forward to the 2009 season, and the squad knew right away they had a special group. Rice finished its spring season with an 18-3 win over Vanderbilt University and rode that momentum into conference play. The spring season was not without bumps, but the Owls' passion for the game and desire to compete pulled them through. An especially-motivated group of freshmen pushed the Owls to practice more often, and an old saying, "baseball is a game of repetition," held true on IM Field 7. Every day, there was visible improvement in the team's defense spurred on by many "player's practices," extra practices called by the players, not the leadership.