Owls trample Thundering Herd, stand atop C-USA

By Ryan Glassman     5/16/10 7:00pm

With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the baseball team found themselves in first place in the Conference USA standings. The Owls (30-17, 11-4 C-USA) would travel to West Virginia to take on Marshall University, a team sitting just two-and-a half games back in C-USA rankings. Needless to say, the impending road conference challenge would provide a significant test for Rice. And after splitting the series' first two games, the Owls prevailed in the rubber match to take the series and expand their conference lead.

Junior starter Taylor Wall was strong, but not stellar, in his outing May 7, but he received more than enough support from the Rice bats and gloves for the team to secure a 20-4 victory in the series opener. Wall allowed four walks and 11 hits in his six and two-thirds innings of work, but Marshall was kept at bay for the most part, thanks to three double plays and a number of outstanding defensive efforts provided by the Owls' infield.

Head Coach Wayne Graham was happy with the team's support of Wall.

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"I thought the defense was outstanding," Graham said. "That's about the worst stuff Wall has had all year, but the defense was incredible."

The Rice bats were paced by Steven Sultzbaugh (Will Rice '10) and juniors Anthony Rendon, Jeremy Rathjen, and Michael Fuda, all of whom combined for 12 RBI. The Owls also drew 12 walks in the game, cruising to the 20-4 win over Marshall (22-26, 11-10 C-USA).

The offensive eruption Friday evening did not carry over for the rest of the weekend for the Owls, however, as they dropped the second game of the series, falling 4-3 to the Thundering Herd. Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, in spite of two Rendon solo home runs, Rice tied the game with junior Chad Mozingo's run-scoring double.

But in the bottom of the inning junior Abe Gonzales, in relief of Mike Ojala (Martel '10), surrendered an RBI single to put Marshall ahead by a single run late in the game. Rice would threaten in the eighth with a one-out double by Jimmy Comerota (Jones '10), but the Owls could not bring the run in and fell 4-3.

Following a frustrating day at the plate, the Rice bats got back on track in the rubber match on Sunday, jumping on the Marshall pitchers early and often to earn the 14-4 win and clinch the team's fifth-consecutive C-USA series victory. Diego Seastrunk (Will Rice '10) and Mozingo each drove in two runs in the first two innings, putting Rice ahead 4-0 for starter Jared Rogers (Baker '10). The Owls continued the offensive onslaught in the middle innings, scoring three runs in the fourth and fifth innings each to take a 10-2 lead. Rice never looked back from their early advantage and closed out the series with a 14-4 win.

Mozingo, Seastrunk and Fuda each contributed three hits and three RBIs in the victory, pacing yet another potent team offensive performance. Rogers worked into the seventh, providing a strong outing to improve to 6-1 on the year.

"We needed that out of Jay. He stepped up big today," Seastrunk said. "Every time he can influence in and get that slider to bite down hard, it's tough for them to hit."

Standing at 13-5 in the conference, the Owls have not lost a C-USA series since a rough trip to Memphis at the end of March. This past weekend, Rice faced a major test, as the Owls hosted the University of Southern Mississippi with just two weekends left in the regular season. Southern Miss (29-17, 11-7 C-USA) entered the weekend in second place in conference, just two games back of Rice as the season winds down.

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