Rice baseball downs Xavier to continue play Sunday evening

By Meghan Hall     5/14/09 7:00pm

The Owls looked out of place in the third base away dugout at Reckling Park, but they were in fact the visiting team in this afternoon's 2009 NCAA Houston Regional contest between No. 1 seed Rice (41-16) and No. 3 seed Xavier University (39-21). The unfamiliar location didn't slow them down, however, as Rice romped to a 12-5 win and sent Xavier's squad packing. Five Owls had multi-hit games in the 15-hit attack.Assistant Coach David Pierce credited starting pitcher Jared Rogers' performance as a big help in the win.

"What we needed today was Jared [Rogers]to go out and throw strikes and give us as many innings as possible," Pierce said. "And that's exactly what we got."

Rice scored at least one run in each of the first six innings, and it was sophomore shortstop Rick Hague who got the ball rolling in the first. Junior designated hitter Diego Seastrunk contributed his first hit of the day, then freshman third baseman Anthony Rendon-recently named a third team All-America selection-reached on an infield single, scoring Hague for an early 1-0 Owls lead.

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Rogers (4-1) got into trouble early thanks to a single, an error and a walk. Then a wild pitch allowed the first run to score for the Musketeers and tie the game. Rogers had labored throughout the season; along with three wins he entered the game with a 7.24 ERA, the highest on the team among those who had more than three innings pitched.

"I wasn't establishing my fastball on both sides of the plate," Rogers said. "[The adjustment was] hitting my spots with my fastball . [and] getting a lot of ground balls."

He settled down admirably, forfeiting five runs-four of which came in the last two innings with a multi-run lead-and seven hits over nine innings of work. His seven strikeouts today are a career high.

"I struggled a lot early in the year," Rogers said, "but it feels nice to do it now when the team needs me most."

Freshman right fielder Jeremy Rathjen, who started regularly in the beginning of the season but whose .239 average was replaced in favor of hot sophomore Michael Fuda, got the nod today. He made the move worthwhile with a two-run double in the second to give Rice the lead for good. Seastrunk also stepped up with two men on and fired a single to clear the bases, increasing Rice's lead to 5-1.

Junior center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh hit one out by the flagpoles in left-center in the third, his first of two on the day. The second came in the sixth inning for the Owls' final run. Seastrunk joined the home run party in the fourth-and collected his third hit and third RBI of the day-with a towering shot far over the right field fence.

The runs did not go unnoticed by the Rice starter.

"[All the offense] helped a lot," Rogers said, "[They] helped me go out there and throw strikes and challenge them and get outs."

And they didn't let it stop there in the third: senior first baseman Jimmy Comerota legged out a triple with a strongly-hit ball to right center, and pinch-hitting freshman Ryan Lewis delivered with a double to right that scored Comerota.

Two walks set the stage for Hague in the fifth, when his run-scoring double increased the score to 9-1. Rendon came to the plate with two runners on and cleared the bases with a deep double to right center.

"This is something we definitely needed to move forward," Pierce said. "Puts us in position to keep going."

For Xavier, right fielder Neil Lindgren broke up Rodgers' six-inning scoreless streak with a two-run homer off the scoreboard in the eighth inning. The Musketeers picked two more in the ninth on a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly, bringing the final score to 12-5.

"Give Rice credit," Xavier head coach Scott Googins said. "They swung the bats well and Jared Rogers, when he figured it out he put up a lot of goose eggs."

Rice takes a quick break before playing Kansas State once again tonight at 6 p.m.

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