Owls follow sweep with comeback win over UH
Although sweeping Louisiana Tech University last weekend was more important, the baseball team’s most memorable game of the week came Tuesday, when the Owls rallied from an 8-1 deficit for a 10-9 win against crosstown rival University of Houston at Reckling Park.
In one of the ugliest games of the year — UH walked 10 hitters and made four errors and the teams combined to hit seven batters by a pitch — sophomore shortstop Josh Rodriguez delivered his second clutch hit in as many innings when he singled home freshman first baseman/left-hander Joe Savery with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
Trailing 8-1 after disappointing outings from freshman right-hander Bobby Bell and junior right-hander Josh Geer, Savery had a three-run double in the bottom of the fifth to pull the Owls within four runs. But a UH double play ended the rally, and Rice trailed 8-5 after seven innings. The Owls then rallied in the eighth against UH closer Justin Vaclavik, taking advantage of two Cougar errors, two walks and a hit batter to tie the game on a two-run single from Rodriguez before taking the lead on an infield single from senior third baseman Clay Reichenbach.
‘We had to win on their mistakes, because we were very late getting some clutch hits,’ head coach Wayne Graham said. ‘[The comeback] definitely says that we’re not quitting. It’s a good sign when you do that because if you do it once, you believe you can do it again.’
In the top of the ninth, junior right-hander Lance Pendleton could not hold the lead, allowing the tying run and loading the bases with one out. But with a 3-2 count against Bryan Pounds, Pendleton reached out to stab a line drive and double the UH runner off of first base for a momentum-killing double play. In the ninth, junior second baseman Greg Buchanan, who played his freshman year at UH, led off with his second infield hit of the night. Savery reached on a fielder’s choice trying to bunt Buchanan over and advanced to third on a long double by sophomore outfielder Adam Hale. UH intentionally walked Pendleton to get to Rodriguez, who lined a 3-2 pitch into left field for the game-winning hit.
‘We’ve come back a handful of times against different teams,’ Pendleton said. ‘We’ve really been stressing, ‘Don’t give up. Every at-bat counts, every pitch counts, every out counts. Make every out as hard as you can.”
La. Tech had a difficult time getting Rice out over the weekend at Reckling Park, as the Owls scored 35 runs in three games en route to their first series sweep and first place in the WAC standings, one half-game ahead of the University of Nevada.
‘We needed a sweep,’ Savery said. ‘We hadn’t swept a weekend since the second week of the year. … We’re struggling, but we never expected to be anywhere but in first. It’s taken us longer than [Rice] teams in the past, but [we got] there.’
Savery, expected to start tomorrow for Rice (30-14, 11-7) after the teams play a 2 p.m. doubleheader today, said Fresno State University (21-23, 7-8) poses more of a hitting threat than La. Tech, which had 11 hits and 0 earned runs during the final 24 1/3 innings last weekend.
‘They’ve got a few more power guys — guys who can hit it a little further,’ Savery said Sunday. ‘I got by with a few high pitches [last weekend], but I’ve got to really keep them down against [Fresno State].’
Third baseman Beau Mills has 15 home runs and a .688 slugging percentage for the Bulldogs, who rank fifth in the six-team WAC in hitting but third in pitching. Fresno State has three capable starting pitchers — right-handers Matt Garza and Doug Fister and left-hander Eddie Romero. When the teams met in Fresno, Calif. April 1-3, Rice beat Garza and Romero 8-2 and 8-0, respectively, before Fister outdueled Savery 2-1 in the series finale.
‘They definitely have talent,’ Graham said. ‘They’ve been erratic, but if you don’t play well, they could hurt you.’
Graham said Tuesday that he had not yet decided who would start one of today’s games in addition to junior right-hander Eddie Degerman. Geer, who has started five of six Friday WAC games, struggled Friday and Tuesday, while freshman left-hander Cole St.Clair has been impressive out of the bullpen. Geer gave up five earned runs in a season-low 2 1/3 innings Friday. St.Clair picked up the slack in relief, however, dominating the Bulldogs with 12 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings while allowing just one hit.
‘It’s really a hard call,’ Graham said. ‘[St.Clair is] obviously … the most reliable guy we’ve got out of the bullpen. The problem with starting him is he could impact as [many] as three games [relieving]. But if you don’t start him, he might not impact any game, so it’s a coin flip.’
Trailing 6-4 and in danger of losing its fourth Friday game in six conference series, Rice rallied with four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings for a 12-6 win.
After starting slowly agin Saturday, Rice scored 14 runs in its final three at-bats for a 17-1 rout. Degerman ran his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 16 2/3 while improving to 6-0 with a team-low 1.84 ERA.
As of Sunday, Rice’s starting pitchers ranked second, third and fourth in the WAC in ERA behind San Jose State’s Brad Kilby (1.62), and Savery turned in another brilliant outing Sunday in a 6-2 win. The freshman pitched his first collegiate nine-inning complete game, although he did throw eight innings in a complete-game loss to Fresno State April 3. Savery did not allow an earned run and improved to 5-4 with a 1.94 ERA. He said his pitching has improved noticeably from earlier in the season.
‘It’s totally night and day,’ Savery said. ‘The main thing is using the inner half of the plate. In the first couple of starts, there were a lot of weak hits on fastballs the opposite way. I was beating guys, but starting to work [inside], you get a lot more swings and misses and soft ground balls.’
Freshman Jordan Dodson made his first career start at first base Sunday and probably earned the right to play first base when Savery pitches after going 2-for-4 with a home run. Savery said he was not surprised by Dodson’s performance.
‘Dodson’s a gamer,’ Savery said. ‘He got his shot, and he took full advantage of it.’ Senior third baseman Clay Reichenbach took advantage of increased playing time with a 6-for-15 week, including two doubles and a home run. Savery was 7-for-14 with a home run, earning WAC Player of the Week honors.
‘Coming into school, I thought playing at home was overrated,’ Savery said. ‘[But] it’s good to be home, and playing on the road really wears on you. … I think it was 18 out of 20 days sleeping in a hotel bed or on a plane or a bus or wherever we were at night … [that] got pretty old.’
Even the comforts of home could not erase Rice’s fielding problems, however, as the Owls committed seven errors last weekend before having none Tuesday. Rice’s .964 fielding percentage is the program’s lowest since 2001. Graham appears to have settled on an infield of Reichenbach, Rodriguez and Buchanan at third base, shortstop and second base, respectively. Rodriguez, a shortstop in high school, said he feels comfortable after spending his first year and a half at Rice playing second base.
‘Getting used to [playing shortstop] didn’t take me too long,’ Rodriguez said. ‘You just have to get used to the hops over there, because the field on that side is a little different than second base.’
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