Feb. 26, 2008

Box Score

Photo Gallery from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Game

HOUSTON -- The bats came alive up and down the lineup to lead the sixth-ranked Rice baseball team to an 11-7 win over visiting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Owls' 2008 home-opener Tuesday afternoon at Reckling Park.

Nine hitters in the lineup collected base hits, eight scored at least one run in the game and seven different players drove in runs to pace the Blue & Gray to its second win of the young season. Rice finished the contest with 16 base hits, including five doubles, two triples and a home run.

Before Rice could come to the plate, however, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi jumped on the scoreboard for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Chase Williams reached on a Rice fielding error and he scored on an RBI double to left-center by Adrian Salinas. A single by Chase Wheaton put runners on the corners, but the Owls were able to retire Salinas at home on a ground ball fielder's choice. The runners moved up to second and third on another ground out and Wheaton scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 Islander lead.

Rice tied the game with two runs in the second. Junior Aaron Luna doubled down the left field line to start it off and senior J.P. Padron followed with a home run to straight-away center field. Padron's round-tripper was the first by an Owl this season and tied the game at 2-2.

The Islanders answered with a run in the third. Salinas singled, but was erased on a fielder's choice by Wheaton. He advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored on an RBI single by Bryan Gerondale. Rice starting pitcher Jonathan Runnels had surrendered three runs through three innings, but all were unearned. The left-handed senior from Pasadena, Tex., did not walk a batter and he struck out a career-high four.

Rice outfielder Jared Gayhart blasted a one-out triple off the top of the right field wall in the bottom of the fourth. He scored on an RBI ground out off the bat of Jordan Dodson and the game was tied 3-3.

The Owls took the lead for good in the fifth. Derek Myers led off the inning with a single and he advanced to third base on a double by freshman Chad Mozingo. Diego Seastrunk hit the first of his two doubles and Rice took the lead, 5-3.

The Blue & Gray added two more insurance runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth. The scores proved to be big because the Islanders would not go away so easy. TAMCC scored a run on three hits in the seventh and three more in the ninth behind a three-run home run by Wheaton. The Islanders had the tying run on deck in the top of the ninth but sophomore pitcher Mark Haynes closed the door with a save in his first career outing as an Owl.

Junior right-hander Jordan Rogers earned the win in his first outing as an Owl. Rogers fired a team-high 3.2 innings, scattering four hits and striking out two. Junior left-hander Lucas Luetge also made his Rice debut on the mound and struck out four in 2.0 innings of work.

Rice was paced on offense by freshman Chad Mozingo's four hits and three runs scored. The production was a dramatic turnaround from the opening series at Long Beach State last weekend where both teams were locked into three pitcher's duels.

The brief, two-game midweek homestand continues on Wednesday for Rice. The Owls host crosstown rival Houston at 4 pm at Reckling Park in the opening game of the annual series for the Silver Glove Trophy.