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April 13, 2007 > Sports > Owls ride hot streak to eight straight wins and No. 7 ranking

Owls ride hot streak to eight straight wins and No. 7 ranking

By Ben Jedlovec | Thresher staff

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That was the baseball team’s final piece locking into place at the midpoint of their quest for another national championship.

Rice (27-10, 8-1 Conference USA) has won eight straight games, moving into first place in the C-USA standings and up to seventh in Baseball America’s weekly rankings. After taking three games from Marshall University at Reckling Park March 30-April 1, the Owls defeated Prairie View A&M University in a rematch of last year’s Regional game before sweeping 22nd-ranked East Carolina University in convincing fashion. The Owls wrapped up the two-week stretch by collecting a season-high 20 hits in a 13-4 win over Lamar University Wednesday in Beaumont.

The streak brought the team up to third in the RPI rankings, which are heavily weighted in determining NCAA regional and super-regional brackets.

This weekend, Rice makes the short trip to Cougar Field to challenge the University of Houston (18-14, 5-1) for the Silver Glove trophy. Rice is 50-22 against UH under head coach Wayne Graham. Last year, Rice took three of four — two games in the regular season series with the Cougars and the C-USA tournament finale by a score of 11-5.

Rice then gets one more shot at sixth-ranked University of Texas on Tuesday, when the boisterous Longhorns make the trip to Reckling for the final regular season meeting between the two national championship contenders.

There were a number of individual highlights during the past two weeks. Friday starter Ryan Berry grabbed both C-USA and national Pitcher of the Week honors Tuesday thanks to two dominant performances, while the offense pummeled opposing pitchers to the tune of a .299 collective batting average, scoring eight runs per game over the last two weeks. Junior Joe Savery had two more solid starts, senior Ryne Tacker picked up his team-leading sixth win, and junior Bobby Bramhall and freshman Mike Ojala each had impressive relief outings. The defense was superb, highlighted by junior leftfielder Jordan Dodson’s leaping catch to rob ECU of a game-changing home run Saturday.

“We had a great team effort in terms of tenacity,” Graham said. “People stepped in and did great things at great times.”

Heading into the East Carolina series, the team knew they needed to prove themselves against a quality opponent. At one point ECU had won 18 of 19 games, including an impressive three-game sweep of 18th-ranked Cal State Fullerton, who took two of three from Rice earlier this year. Critics doubted whether Rice would put it all together and live up to their preseason-favorite billing, with Aaron Fitt, a Baseball America writer, even picking ECU to upset Rice last weekend.

Berry took the mound Friday and delivered a blow that silenced any doubts. Following his complete-game, five-hit masterpiece against Marshall in which he struck out ten batters, the freshman threw seven shutout innings against ECU, this time allowing only four hits and a walk while striking out 12. The offense provided more than enough support, as infielders Savery and sophomore Aaron Luna provided two hits apiece in the 4-0 series-opening win.

“The tone was set Friday night by Ryan Berry,” Graham said. “His dominance was so much, I think it just took East Carolina aback.”

Berry leads the Owls with 59.1 innings pitched and 65 strikeouts.

Saturday’s starter Matt Langwell struggled to find his control in only 1.1 innings of work, but the bullpen and offense picked him up. Luna, who has been limited to designated-hitter and pinch-hitting duties due to a strained leg muscle, again led the attack with two hits and three RBIs. Transfer sophomore Jess Buenger, his fill-in at second, also provided two hits, and Savery added a double and two RBIs. Ojala and junior Scott Lonergan handed the lead to Bramhall with no outs in the sixth inning. The left-hander struck out six hitters in four innings of no-hit dominance, closing out the 9-6 victory and recording his team-leading fourth save.

Savery followed his seven-inning, seven-strikeout victory from the previous week with another solid six-inning effort. After a rough first inning in which he allowed two runs on three hits, the junior lefty settled in, allowing no runs on two hits in the remaining five innings. Tacker picked up the win in relief when the Owls took the lead for good with two runs in the ninth for an 8-6 final. Buenger drove in two runs, posting three of Rice’s twelve hits to lead the attack. Zornes came off the bench to knock his third homer of the season, and freshman third baseman Diego Seastrunk added two hits with one run and one RBI. Centerfielder Tyler Henley’s two hits showed that he is over the eye infection that limited his contributions in recent weeks.

Wednesday in Beaumont, the offense stole the show, with every Owl starter collecting at least one hit. The 13-run outburst featured transfer JP Padron’s first homerun in a Rice uniform and a Savery grand slam to cap a three-hit, five-RBI performance.

Despite those performances, the season debut of 2006 All-American closer Cole St. Clair might prove to be the turning point of the Owls’ season. St. Clair entered the Prairie View game with the tying run on second in the top of the eighth inning. The junior left-hander got the first hitter to line out to right before nicking the next batter on the arm. St. Clair promptly picked the runner off at first base, then retired the final batter on a soft grounder to the mound, tossing only seven pitches in the inning of work.

St. Clair returned to face three batters Sunday, and while he didn’t record an out, the results could have easily been different with a little more luck. He pitched the ninth inning against Lamar on Wednesday, allowing one batter to reach base on a dropped third strike wild pitch but striking out the other three batters, as well.

A healthy St. Clair gives the Owls’ pitching staff added depth and flexibility. If he can regain his velocity from last year, the extra power arm in the bullpen would allow Graham to consider moving Tacker into the weekend rotation, joining Berry and Savery in what could be a nearly unbeatable combination. Right-handers Chris Kelley, Lonergan and Langwell would divide up the mid-week starts and bullpen roles, while Bramhall and St. Clair could easily fill the closing roles.

For now, the team will focus on the upcoming Silver Glove series. Berry will look to continue his success today against UH, as will Savery on Sunday. Tacker, who has been considered several times for an opportunity to start, may finally get his first chance Saturday.

Tuesday’s starter has yet to be announced. The front-runner appears to be Kelly, a transfer who threw seven solid innings against Prairie View and settled in for another six innings Wednesday, allowing only one earned run and picking up his first victory of the season.

The Owls appear primed for a fantastic second-half run. With the offense hitting its stride, the defense consistently making improvements, and the pitching staff continuing its usual dominance, health remains Rice’s biggest issue. In addition to Luna’s concerns, starting shortstop Brian Friday injured his ankle in Friday’s win, but the bench again responded to the challenge. Redshirt freshman Jimmy Comerota took his place, notching two hits and scoring twice while filling in with error-free defense. Friday returned to his usual leadoff spot Wednesday, contributing three hits before being replaced at shortstop by Comerota in the sixth inning. Luna again added two hits from the DH spot.

Assuming the starters make it back into the lineup as expected, Rice appears ready to regain the form that got them to the College World Series last season and earned them the status as preseason favorites. With the spotlight still on a flurry of SEC and ACC teams, the Owls are quietly positioning themselves for a strong finish. However, with the ace freshman gaining national attention, a two-time All-American Sunday starter, an All-American closer back in action and an offense kicking into high gear, the 2003 champions won’t remain unnoticed much longer.

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