May 21, 2009

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Hattiesburg, Miss. -- Junior right-hander Ryan Berry scattered just two hits and two walks and he had plenty of offensive support in the Rice baseball team's 8-1 victory over UAB in the second round game of the Conference USA Tournament Thursday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss. With the team's second tournament win in as many days, the Owls stayed in the driver's seat in its half of the bracket for the annual double-elimination event heading into a significantly revised schedule of games for Friday. The schedule (see below) was changed in anticipation of inclement weather in the Hattiesburg area this weekend.

Once Rice's undefeated all-Conference USA hurler put his game into high gear, Mother Nature's rain was about the only thing that could slow him down in Thursday's first winner's bracket game. There was, in fact, a 31-minute rain delay in UAB's half of the seventh inning, but Berry ended up beating that as well.

UAB had the better of Berry early and struck for a run in the bottom of the first inning. Blazer shortstop Jonathan Merritt tripled to the right field corner and scored on a hot ground out to third for 1-0 lead. Berry also got in a little jam when UAB loaded the bases with one away in the second. He escaped by inducing a ground ball that the Owls turned into a 6-4-3 twin-killing to end the inning.

The play sparked Rice to a run in the third to tie the game. Craig Manuel stroked a leadoff single to right-center and Brock Holt drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Rick Hague executed a sacrifice bunt to move both men into scoring position. Manuel scored easily on Diego Seastrunk's sacrifice fly to left field.

The Owls moved in font with a two-out, two-run rally in the top of the fifth. Holt sliced a base hit into right and hustled into second for a double. Hague took the open first base by drawing a walk. Seastrunk delivered the clutch hit by nailing a 1-2 pitch off the wall in right field. Holt and Hague dashed for home and now Rice held a 3-1 advantage.

By then Berry was in complete control. The standout from Humble, Tex., proceeded to retire 14 batters in a row when the skies opened up with one away in the UAB seventh. Play was suspended for 31-minutes due to rain, but when it resumed Berry hadn't missed a beat. He quickly got two more Blazers to make it 16 retired in a row heading into the eighth.

That's when the Owls exploded for five runs on four hits, two walks, a UAB fielding error and a wild pitch. The Blue & Gray stretched the margin to a more comfortable 8-1. Berry issued a walk to start the bottom of the eighth but that was all he allowed the rest of the way. He improved to 7-0 on he season and lowered his ERA to a scant 1.92 in 65.2 innings of work. The complete game effort was his fourth of the season and saved the Rice bullpen for another day.

Offensively Seastrunk finished the day with three RBI on a double and sacrifice fly. Manuel went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored while Holt chipped in a pair of hits with an RBI and run. Steven Sultzbaugh went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run and an Owl win on his 21st birthday.

Rice improved to 37-15 overall. UAB dropped to 31-25 on the year. There is plenty of baseball left in the tournament, including a completely new schedule for Friday based on anticipated rain in the forecast this weekend. Rice plays the winner of a UAB/Houston elimination game at 4 pm on Friday (May 22). The new tournament schedule is as follows (all times CENTRAL):

FRIDAY
9 am - Game 9 - Houston vs. UAB
12:30 pm - Game 10 - Tulane vs. Southern Miss/East Carolina
4 pm - Game 11 - Rice vs. Houston/UAB winner
7:30 pm - Game 12 - Tulane/USM/ECU vs.USM/ECU

SATURDAY
9 am - Game 13 (if necessary, same teams as game 11)
12:30 pm - Game 14 (if necessary, same teams as game 12)

SUNDAY
1 pm - Championship Game (televised tape delayed by CBS C)

All Rice games are set for a live radio broadcast in the Houston area on KTRU (91.7 FM).