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February 9, 2007 > Sports > Baseball splits first two games

Baseball splits first two games

Owls to host No. 8 Vanderbilt, Texas A&M at Minute Maid this weekend

By Ben Jedlovec | For the Thresher

With a runner on and one out in the first inning of Saturday’s season opener, sophomore catcher Adam Zornes ignited the offense with a first inning home run, and Owl pitchers overcame sloppy defense to help Rice defeat Central Missouri State University 5-0. Then, as quickly as the offense struck, it disappeared, failing to atone for two more errors in a 3-2 loss at Texas State University Tuesday.

The 1-1 start is unexpected for top-ranked Rice, but not unprecedented. Three years ago, the Owls entered the consensus preseason favorite only to lose the season opener to the University of Texas at Minute Maid Park. The squad finished 46-14 and ran away with the Western Athletic Conference, a reassuring sign for this year’s team.

Rice, still ranked atop Baseball America’s Top 25, will look to return to form in the Minute Maid Classic this weekend starting with No. 8 Vanderbilt University today at noon. This game should garner some attention as David Price, arguably the nation’s best collegiate pitcher, is expected to start for Vanderbilt. Price has a fastball in the upper-90s and a disappearing slider that propelled him to a 0.20 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 44 innings for Team USA last summer, during which he was a teammate of junior closer Cole St. Clair.

“We’ll probably try to juice our guys a little bit,” head coach Wayne Graham said. “We’ll try to hit the fastball down in the zone and not swing at it up, because when the guy can throw up to 97 mph, you don’t want to be swinging at high fastballs.”

Depending on his shoulder strength, junior lefthander Joe Savery will make the start against the Commodores, with junior righthander Chris Kelley ready in relief.

The rest of the weekend will also bring challenging opponents, as Rice faces Baylor University tomorrow at 7 p.m. and Texas A&M University Sunday at 6 p.m. Freshman Ryan Berry will make his NCAA debut against the Bears, and if Kelley pitches Friday, junior transfer Matt Langwell or senior Ryne Tacker could get the nod Sunday.

In Rice’s season opener, Graham wrote Zornes into the third spot in a lineup with seven returning starters, even though the catcher only started nine games behind the plate last year. Zornes responded by depositing the first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall in the first inning to give the Owls a lead they would not surrender. Junior left-fielder Jordan Dodson drove home Savery with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and first baseman Danny Lehmann scored on a wild pitch later in the inning. Savery reached on an error in the eighth, and right fielder Derek Myers singled him home for the Owls fifth and final run.

The first-inning home run ended the streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to last year’s College World Series offensive meltdown. Zornes, who went 2-3 on the day, said he tried not to do anything differently despite hitting third.

“It’s exciting to be in the three-hole, but you try to keep the same approach and be aggressive,” he said. “He just made a mistake, and I was able to put a good swing on it. I was glad it went out.”

Five pitchers combined for Saturday’s shutout, allowing only three hits while striking out 10 Mule batters. Savery threw two solid innings and picked up the win in his return from off-season shoulder surgery, allowing one hit while striking out one. Berry, with his 90 mph fastball and a devastating slider, followed with one-hit in three innings and two strikeouts of his own. Kelley, a transfer from San Jacinto College, worked out of a jam in the sixth and followed with a scoreless seventh inning, striking out three. Senior Kyle Gunderson’s unconventional delivery and junior Bobby Bramhall’s nasty changeup held Central Missouri batters hitless, each pitcher notching two strikeouts to nail down the victory.

Langwell, who transferred from Sam Houston State last fall, started against Texas State Tuesday and allowed only one walk in three innings of work, recording five strikeouts. Scott Lonergan made his Rice debut with a scoreless inning in relief of Langwell. Gunderson returned to allow two unearned runs after shortstop Brian Friday’s error in the fifth, and then Tacker saw his first game action since 2005, allowing only one walk while striking out two in three innings.

Junior centerfielder Tyler Henley rebounded from a hitless season opener with three singles, including a second inning base hit to drive in Chad Lembeck with the game’s first run. With two outs in the third, Dodson doubled home Savery, who reached on a walk. Texas State pitchers prevented a continuance of Zornes’ Saturday heroics by hitting him twice before he was lifted for a pinch runner in the fifth. The offense remained quiet after the third, allowing Texas State to tie the game in the fifth and push across a third run with three hits in the bottom of the ninth before righthander Bobby Bell could retire the side. Bell, a junior, picked up his first loss in 13 career collegiate decisions.

The bullpen is starting to take shape after the season’s first two games. St. Clair will return to anchor the closer’s role when healthy, and Bramhall may have established himself as the next-best left-handed option. Gunderson, Tacker and Lonergan will all continue to get opportunities to earn a consistent role as right-handed relievers, as will several others in Rice’s deep pitching staff.

“Gunderson has worked it out to where he’s really going to be able to help us this year,” Graham said. “And we’re confident Bramhall is a quality reliever.”

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