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March 3, 2006 > News > Baseball to play Fullerton, UT this week at Reckling

Baseball to play Fullerton, UT this week at Reckling

By Matt McCabe | Thresher Editorial Staff

The winners of the last four baseball national championships will all play at Reckling Park this week. No. 4 Rice, the 2003 champion, will face No. 7 Cal State Fullerton, the 2004 winner, in a three-game series this weekend. And Rice will play the University of Texas, which won the championship in 2002 and 2005 and is ranked 14th nationally, Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Owls have won 30 consecutive home series dating back to April 2001, but Fullerton is the best team to play a series at Reckling since the streak began.

“Fullerton is just like us, in that their first area of concentration is pitching and defense,” head coach Wayne Graham said. “I think they are an Omaha team. I don’t think there is any question about it.”

After being swept by No. 19 Stanford to open the year, Fullerton (9-4) has lost just one game and enters the weekend on a four-game winning streak, which includes a three-game sweep of UCLA and a 5-0 shutout of 12th-ranked Pepperdine. The Titans will throw star right-hander Wes Roemer in tonight’s 7 p.m. game. Roemer has averaged almost eight innings per start on the year and has not walked a batter in 29 innings.

The Owls would typically counter with sophomore right-hander Bobby Bell, but Graham held Bell out of his Friday start last week because of tenderness in his shoulder. Graham has not ruled out giving Bell the start, but said he might use the pitching-by-committee strategy instead. If Graham chooses to use multiple pitchers, freshman right-hander Bryan Price, sophomore right-hander Will McDaniel and sophomore right-hander Kurt Pessa will be considered for the start.

“[Bell] is so important to our effort that we perhaps are overly cautious about creating something chronic,” Graham said. “As important as Fullerton is, we can’t mortgage anything, much less forfeit anything to win the game.”

The Titans and Owls have not met since the NCAA Midwest Regional in 1996, and Rice won that game 13-10. The weekend should feature lower-scoring games than the 1996 meeting because both teams have good pitching depth this season. With junior shortstop/designated hitter Josh Rodriguez still unable to play shortstop because of an elbow injury, Graham has considered putting Rodriguez in the outfield or at first base so the Owls have the best possible batting lineup.

When senior right-hander Eddie Degerman starts Saturday, Rodriguez will likely remain the DH. However, when sophomore left-hander/first baseman Joe Savery pitches Sunday — and likely serves as his own designated hitter — Rodriguez will be forced into the field or onto the bench.

“To beat Fullerton, … we need Josh,” Graham said. “The problem is, we have two quality outfielders in Lembeck and Dodson who we don’t want to take out of there. It’s possible Rodriguez will play first base on Sunday. That would be the best way to get all of those guys in there.”

Unlike in less competitive midweek games earlier this season, Rice (11-2) will have to be at its best against UT (9-6) Tuesday. The Longhorns defeated the Owls on a walk-off two-run home run Feb. 11 at the Houston College Classic, Rice seventh straight loss to UT. The Owls’ last win against the Longhorns was in the 2003 College World Series.

Junior right-hander Craig Crow, who started against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last Tuesday, is likely to get the nod against UT this week.

Crow earned the win, holding the Islanders to three hits and striking out eight in five innings, the longest outing in his Rice career. A&M-Corpus Christi held the Owls scoreless until the sixth inning, when a solo home run from sophomore rightfielder Chad Lembeck capped a three-run inning. Rice added three more runs, including one in the seventh on a home run by redshirt freshman catcher Adam Zornes.

Sophomore left-hander Bobby Bramhall, who had worked three innings in relief, started the ninth inning but allowed the first two hitters instead to reach base, forcing Graham to bring in senior right-hander Bryce Cox. Cox was ineffective, allowing the runners on base to score while getting just one out, so Graham inserted sophomore left-hander Cole St.Clair, who quickly got two outs to earn his third save.

Cox has only been a pitcher for a few seasons, and Graham said he expects Cox to continue to develop.

“I still think there are times when he drifts mechanically,” Graham said. “He’s going to have to keep working, because he is still young as a pitcher. Just like a lot of people in the big leagues, he’s going to get roughed up sometimes, but not often.”

Graham said he will continue to use both Cox and St.Clair late in games and that he does not feel compelled to name either one of them the team’s closer.

“All this stuff in pro ball [with closers] is basically an inefficient structure that people have approved, … and now it’s almost traditional,” Graham said. “For 100 years, that wasn’t the structure. Both [St.Clair and Cox] are … stoppers.”

At the Rice Invitational last weekend, No. 23 Nebraska (5-2) started star pitcher Joba Chamberlain against the Owls Saturday. Chamberlain was effective, striking out 10 in 6.2 innings, although he never retired sophomore leftfielder Jordan Dodson. Dodson helped produce two of Rice’s three runs, going 2-2 against Chamberlain, including a one-run single and a solo home run to deep left field in the fourth inning.

Dodson, who was an all-state football quarterback at The Woodlands High School, played sporadically last year. Buoyed by a solid summer in the Cape Cod League, he is now a regular starter and leads the team with a .378 batting average.

“Jordan is one of those guys who we really needed to step in,” Graham said. “He’s an extremely intense player who always gives you everything he’s got. In some ways, he is still making the conversion from playing two sports and transferring all of his attention to baseball. It’s great to see him do well.”

Degerman effectively countered Chamberlain and earned the win, allowing just two runs and a walk while striking out nine in seven innings. After the Owls scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead, Graham inserted Cox. Cox faced just seven batters while earning his first save of the year.

A late-inning home run by the same team — Nebraska — sent Cox into a tailspin last year. But a successful summer in the Texas Collegiate League and the development of a breaking ball have given Cox more confidence and control this season.

“I think I mainly grew as a pitcher and a little as a person as well,” Cox said. “I left here last year, had a good summer, had a good fall coming back in, got my confidence back up and I’ve kind of rolled with it from there. I go out and try to do the same thing every day, no matter who I’m facing — whether it’s the bullpen, [an] intrasquad or a team like Texas or Cal State Fullerton.”

In the Owls’ final game at the Rice Invitational, the team won 3-2 against Texas State (3-10) Sunday. Savery earned his second win of the season with a solid, seven- inning outing, striking out nine while allowing six hits.

In the Friday game, Rice used six pitchers against St. John’s (1-3) in a 14-7 victory. The Owls’ 19 hits and 14 runs were season highs. Sophomore centerfielder Tyler Henley had a breakout game, going 4-4, scoring four runs, driving in three and swiping two bases.

Although Henley has struggled overall — he is hitting just .200 — Graham said he will keep Henley in the leadoff spot for most games.

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