April 7, 2009

Box Score

Rice Owls Win Seventh-Straight; Travis Wright Works 7.0 Innings For Victory; Four-Hit Night For Daniel Gonzales-Luna

HOUSTON -- Sophomore right-hander Travis Wright pitched a career-best 7.0 innings in his first collegiate start and freshman Daniel Gonzales-Luna went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Rice Owls baseball team to a 9-3 victory over longtime rival Sam Houston State Tuesday evening at Reckling Park in Houston. The Owls improved to 22-7 on the year with the team's seventh-straight win.

Both teams made use of the sacrifice fly for their respective first runs. Rice was first to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning. Gonzales-Luna and Jimmy Comerota hit back-to-back singles that put men on the corners. Gonzales-Luna scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Fuda.

Sam Houston answered with a run in the top of the third. Ryan Mooney singled and stole second to move into scoring position. A Rice error on the steal attempt, however, allowed Mooney to advance to third. He then scored on Justin Keithley's game-tying sacrifice fly.

The Owls went back in front with a run in the bottom of the frame. Chad Mozingo singled and scored after a walk and Gonzales-Luna's second base hit of the night made it 2-1.

The Bearkats took the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth. Nick Zaleski and Nick Hammock led off with back-to-back singles to put men on first and second. Mark Wyatt followed with a double to right-center that scored Zaleski from second, but Hammock was thrown-out at home plate on a sensational defensive relay from Steven Sultzbaugh-to-Brock Holt-to-Diego Seastrunk. Wyatt took third on the play at the plate and scored on a wild pitch for a 3-2 Bearkat advantage.

The lead was short-lived. The Blue & Gray batted around in the bottom of the fourth, exploding for seven runs on eight hits including a home run, a triple and three doubles. Comerota and Fuda started it off with singles and Sultzbaugh cleared the bases with a three-run homer to left-center.

The Owls were back in front 5-3, but the hit parade fourth-inning hit parade continued. Holt, Seastrunk and Anthony Rendon all doubled to make the score 7-3. Gonzales-Luna drove in the eighth run of the game with his third hit, and scored on a triple by Comerota to make the score 9-3 after four.

That was more than enough room for Wright, who proceeded to fire three more shutout innings before leaving the game with a six run lead. In his starting debut, Wright scattered four singles and a double while surrendering three runs (just two earned) in a career-long 7.0 innings. The 6-foot-6 native of Paris, Tex., walked only one and he tied a career-best with four strikeouts. The Rice relief trio of Abe Gonzales, Matt Evers and Mark Haynes worked the final three innings and kept the battling Bearkat team off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

As a team Rice finished with 16 hits. The Owls have tallied 13 or more hits in 11 of their last 14 games. The four-hit night was the second Gonzales-Luna's young career. Comerota rasied his season average to .289 with a three-hit night.

Sam Houston fell to 18-12 on the season. At 22-7 the Owls are off to their best start since 2004. With its nine-game homestand complete, Rice now takes to the road for its next four games. First up is a non-conference clash at Lamar University in Beaumont on Wednesday (Apr. 8). First pitch with the Cardinals is set for 6:30 pm. The Owls then have a three-game Conference USA weekend series at East Carolina (Apr. 10-12).