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March 25, 2005 > Sports > Baseball swept at San Jose State

Baseball swept at San Jose State

By Jonathan Yardley | Thresher Editorial Staff

After the baseball team was swept in a three-game series for the first time since 1997 last weekend, head coach Wayne Graham tried to inspire his team with clips of his crowning moment: Rice’s 2003 national championship.

The Owls responded by blasting Sam Houston State University 16-2 Tuesday night in a game shortened to seven innings due to Rice’s lead.

‘We had a long meeting before the game today and what we reviewed was some of the great at-bats we had in the [2003] College World Series,’ Graham said Tuesday. ‘We actually looked at them and dissected them, hoping to get a little stronger commitment to covering the outside corner and some mechanics that are necessary to win.’

Rice (16-8, 0-3 Western Athletic Conference) will try to fine-tune its mechanics this weekend against the University of Nevada (11-8, 0-0) at Reckling Park. Graham said junior right-hander Josh Geer (5-1, 1.58) will move into the Friday spot in the starting rotation. With freshman left-hander Joe Savery set to pitch Sunday, Graham said either freshman left-hander Cole St.Clair or junior right-hander Eddie Degerman will pitch Saturday. Graham said he expects his team to rebound quickly from last weekend’s shocking sweep at the hands of San Jose State University.

‘I think it always helps to hit a few balls hard, no matter what,’ Graham said. ‘Sometimes after you fail resoundingly, you wake up to some of the realities and relax and start swinging the bat.’

Rice bludgeoned Nevada in all six meetings last year, outscoring the Wolf Pack 81-9. Nevada won two of three games in a tournament in Irvine, Calif. last weekend but has a team ERA of 4.84, more than two runs higher than Rice’s 2.70 mark. Junior right-hander Tim Schoeninger, a Nebraska transfer, is scheduled to start tonight, and his 3.72 ERA is the lowest of the three Wolf Pack starters. Of Rice’s 12 healthy pitchers, 10 have ERAs of less than 3.25.

Junior right-hander Ryne Tacker got the win for the Owls Tuesday, pitching five innings to improve to 3-0 on the season. Offensively, sophomore second baseman Josh Rodriguez went 3-for-3, improving his hitting streak to eight games and raising his average to .354. He hit one of three Owl homers on the night, going back-to-back with sophomore left fielder Adam Hale in the second inning. Savery, who leads the team in hitting with a .397 average and .526 on-base percentage, hit a two-run homer in the first inning as Rice took an 8-0 lead after two frames. Rodriguez said he expects the Owls to continue their hot hitting this weekend. ‘[Tuesday’s win] gives us great momentum, especially with what happened [last] weekend,’ Rodriguez said. ‘We didn’t play the best this weekend. When we put up 16 runs in a game like this, it boosts our confidence again.’

Rodriguez has been Rice’s best hitter of late after making early-season adjustments. ‘Early in the season I was pulling my front shoulder out and trying to lift the ball, and now I’m staying on it and hitting through,’ Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez has also combined with freshman center fielder Tyler Henley and freshman shortstop Brian Friday to improve Rice’s aggression on the basepaths. Combined, the three are a perfect 17-17 in stolen-base attempts this season.

‘When we’re stealing bases, the pitcher is not as focused on the hitter as he should be,’ Rodriguez said. ‘The guys that are coming behind us when we’re on base are doing a sensational job of getting us in.

But Rice was outdone on the basepaths on the road last weekend against San Jose State. Graham said San Jose State pitchers used effective slide steps to limit the Rice running game. The Spartans stole six bases themselves in Sunday’s finale en route to a 4-1 victory and a series sweep. Rice outhit San Jose State in all three games but made six errors on the weekend, while the Spartans made none.

‘We didn’t play good defense and we didn’t hold runners on the bases well and we obviously didn’t hit well,’ Graham said. ‘We just had a bad weekend. I think San Jose playing so well illustrated to us the things we need to work on.’

Rice dropped from 11th to 15th in the Baseball America rankings this week and fell as many as 22 places in other polls.

The little things went wrong for Rice last weekend, as Geer suffered his first loss of the season Sunday after throwing two wild pitches, balking once and making a throwing error. San Jose State left-hander Branden Dewing, who lost 1-0 to Rice on an unearned run in a complete-game effort last year, went the distance for the Spartans in the first game. San Jose State got a second complete game Sunday from left-hander Brad Kilby.

Sunday’s problem — offense — has persisted all season, but Friday’s loss was more uncharacteristic, as the Rice bullpen blew an 8-3 lead. Owl pitchers issued a season-high eight walks in the defeat. The Rice team is inexperienced — last weekend marked the first WAC start for eight different players, including all three starting pitchers — and Rodriguez said the Owls should be more prepared this weekend.

‘I wouldn’t like to think it’s harder this year, but they got their first taste of a road trip in the WAC,’ Rodriguez said. ‘They saw the competition we’re facing, and these guys realize what we’re up against, so hopefully we’ll change this around.’

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