Wednesday's Sports Update: Rice Baseball Team Holds On For 10-9 Win Over Lamar Wednesday Night

By Rice Sports Information     3/26/09 7:00pm

The Rice baseball team scored 10 runs on 14 hits, but had to hold off a Lamar rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to claim a 10-9 victory over longtime rival Lamar Wednesday evening on the road in Beaumont.The Owls led 9-2 early in the contest, but Lamar chipped away to get the margin down to just three, 10-7, with two innings left to play. The Cardinals scored two in the eighth on just one hit to make it a one-run game and set the stage for the ninth.

Rice senior reliever Jordan Rogers walked Lamar leadoff batter Ryan Saldivar to start the final inning. Saldivar then sole second base to move into scoring position with no outs. With the pressure on, Rogers then struck out each of the next three Cardinal batters to end the game.

Rogers earned his fourth save as the team secured its eighth win in a row. Rice is now 22-7 on the season heading into a Conference USA road series at East Carolina this weekend.

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Early on the game didn't look like it would be so dramatic. The Owls batted around in the top of the first inning for four runs on three singles and three walks issued by Cardinal pitching. Diego Seastrunk, Rick Hague and Craig Manuel drove in the runs with base hits. The final run was on a wild pitch.

Lamar put a pair of runs up in its first time up. Tyler Link drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Back-to-back doubles by Brian Taylor and Steven Tucker resulted in two scores that cut the margin in half, 4-2.

The Blue & Gray got both runs back plus one more in the second. With two away, Seastrunk singled through the right side and Anthony Rendon walked. Hague singled to center for his second RBI of the game that made it 5-2. Manuel followed with a double to the gap in left-center to score both runners and extend the lead to 7-2.

In the top of the third Brock Holt blasted a 1-1 pitch over the wall in center field. The solo shot was his fifth home run of the season. Steven Sultzbaugh then singled, stole second and scored on Seastrunk's third hit of the game to make it 9-2.

Lamar scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third and then exploded for four in the fourth. The big hit from the fourth was a bases-clearing double by Taylor that made it a two run game, 9-7.

Rice hustled for a run in the fifth. Michael Fuda singled up the middle and stole his fourth base of the year. He scored on a base hit by Rendon that made it a 10-7 game.

Rice used five pitchers on the night. Freshman Andrew Benak started and worked 3.1 innings. Matt Evers threw a solid 4.0 innings. The sophomore left-hander allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out a season-high six batters. He earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Rice's continues its current road swing through the weekend (Apr. 10-12). The Owls next face East Carolina in a three-game Conference USA series in Greenville, N.C. Start times against the Pirates are set for 6 pm, 2 pm and 10 am. All times listed are Central Time. Friday's contest will be broadcast on the radio live in the Houston area on KTRU (91.7 FM).

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