Owls ousted by Tigers and 'Dogs

By Jessica Cannon     8/21/08 7:00pm

While in Omaha for the College World Series in June, Rice (47-15) struggled to find consistency on the mound and in the field. Key fielding errors and a struggling bullpen proved costly for the Owls' hopes for a second national title.After dropping the first game to eventual champion Fresno State (47-31), the Owls lost in heartbreaking fashion to Louisiana State University (49-19-1) and were eliminated from the NCAA tournament.

In a game dominated by home runs for both teams, Fresno State tallied 17 runs to defeat the Owls by a final score of 17-5. Scoring began in the second inning when a Rice fielding error allowed the Bulldogs to load the bases with only one out. Four runs were scored before the Owls were able to end the inning.

The Bulldogs continued to trouble sophomore pitcher Ryan Berry in the fourth, landing two on base with singles before blasting a three-run homer. After a walk, a double and the second three-run shot of the inning, Fresno State had an 11-0 lead.

---

---

The Owls started a comeback in the fifth inning with hits by freshman second baseman Chad Mozingo and senior designated hitter Jordan Dodson. Junior center fielder Jared Gayhart hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Mozingo. The Bulldogs quickly added to their lead, however, coming back in the sixth with five runs on three hits to make the score 16-1.

Dodson drove in a run in the bottom of the sixth, and sophomore third baseman Diego Seastrunk crushed his own three-run home run in the eighth for Rice's final runs of the night. The Owls used seven pitchers in the game and allowed 17 runs in a game for the first time since April 12, 1998.

After the loss to Fresno State, the Owls geared up for their elimination game against LSU. Rice quickly jumped to an early lead as freshman shortstop Rick Hague drove in Mozingo and junior catcher Adam Zornes to post two runs on the board in the second. In the fifth inning Gayhart drove in Dodson, and in the sixth, junior left fielder Aaron Luna knocked a solo home run. The Owls scored again in the seventh, making the score 5-0. Senior starter Chris Kelley kept LSU under control for five and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts before handing the game over to senior closer Cole St. Clair.

The Tigers scored their first run in the seventh inning and a second run in the eighth, but the Owls looked to be comfortable heading into the ninth inning with a 5-2 lead.

LSU began the bottom of the ninth with a single and added a second base runner with a hit batsman. A single brought in one run to cut Rice's lead to 5-3 and left two men on base for the Tigers. A fielding error by the Owls allowed LSU to load the bases, and a misplayed fly ball off the left field wall allowed all three runners to score. The final score was 6-5 in LSU's favor.

While the losses were frustrating for the players as well as the fans, not all the news from Omaha was as disappointing. With votes from fans, coaches and media, St. Clair received the 2008 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, given annually to the most outstanding senior athlete in each sport.

The Owls ended the 2008 season with a stellar 47-15 record and their 14th consecutive conference regular season championship. In 2009 Rice will return a number of their vet-eran players as well as add a host of talented players from this year's recruiting class.

---