Conference USA Sports blog covering C-USA football, basketball & baseball provided by the staff at CUSA-fans.com, C-USA’s leading sports fan site.
[powered by WordPress.]
The Rice Owls continue to roll as they lead the UNC Tar Heels 9-2 after 4th innings in the College World Series in Omaha. Joe Savery entered the game 10-1 with a 2.87 ERA and has lived up to form allowing the Tar Heels 2 runs in 4 inning thus far. Savery is one of 6 Owls who has driven in a run today led by Brian Friday and Diego Seastrunk with 2 RBI each.
The Owls now lead 6-0 over the North Carolina Tar Heels as Brian Friday had a 2-run double to make it 4-0, a balk made it 5-0 and Jared Gayhart’s SAC fly made it 6-0 in the 2nd inning. With Joe Savery on the mound, the Owls appear to be in the driver’s seat leading 6-0 in the top of the 3rd inning now.
The Rice Owls and North Carolina Tar Heels are facing off in Omaha in the College World Series tonight, live on ESPN2. A Joe Savery single in the 2nd inning has started the scoring on the day to put Rice up 1-0. Two batters later, Jess Buenger added a RBI single of his own as the Owls now lead 2-0.
Find Rice Owls merchandise & hats online as well as North Carolina Tar Heels apparel and UNC Fatheads through our Dash Fans Network partner sites.
Date: Friday, June 15
Location: Omaha, NE; Rosenblatt Stadium
Time: 2:00 p.m. (EST)
Television: ESPN2
Over the past decade, Rice has become a fixture in the College World Series. The Owls, who have made six appearances in the CWS since 1997 and won the 2003 national title, are headed back to college baseball’s promised land after their hard fought super regional series victory over in-state foe Texas A&M.
Prior to legendary coach Wayne Graham’s arrival on the scene in Houston in 1992, the Rice program had never appeared in the NCAA tournament. The Owls made progress in Graham’s initial three campaigns before breaking through with their first regional berth in 1995. Since then, they have steadily evolved into one of college baseball’s perennial powers.
Ironically, the Owls’ opener in this year’s CWS will be against a program that was in a similar position until this year’s history making run to Rosenblatt.
Louisville (46-22) has experienced a season of firsts under new head coach Dan McDonnell. McDonnell, who spent the last six years as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at highly successful Ole Miss, reached Omaha as a player on The Citadel’s 1990 team and came close on multiple occasions with the Rebels.
The Cardinals are not only making their first trip to Omaha, but they had not won a NCAA tournament game prior to this year. The Cards, who are playing in their first NCAA tournament since 2002, have already captured their first regional and super regional titles. They also hosted their first super regional, which featured three-record breaking crowds at Jim Patterson Stadium watching UL defeat one of college baseball’s most storied programs in Oklahoma State. Louisville is the first Big East team to reach Omaha since Notre Dame in 2002.
While their run to Rosenblatt has certainly been improbable, Louisville has demonstrated tremendous character throughout the tournament. With their backs against the wall in the Columbia regional, the “Cardiac Cards†defeated Miami for a second time and then beat host Missouri twice to advance. After opening super regional play with an impressive 9-0 shutout of offensive juggernaut Oklahoma State, UL shutdown the Cowboys for a second consecutive game and led 2-1 through eight innings. However, OSU forced a decisive game three by recording a 3-2, 12-inning victory after extending the game with a solo shot in the ninth. Any thought that the hard fought loss would have a negative effect on the Cards was short-lived, as they responded by throttling the Cowboys 20-2 and reserving their spot in the CWS in style.
UL is a very well rounded baseball team and can hurt you in a variety of ways. They are strong in all three phases of the game.
Offensively, they are hitting .312 and have slugged 70 home runs. They place pressure on opposing defenses with their ability to steal bases, as they’ve swiped 153 on the season.
Senior left fielder Isaiah Howes leads the Cardinals’ offensive attack. Howes boasts a .392 mark at the plate and has slugged 18 home runs. He has also racked up 35 multi-hit games, two of which were in the super regional. He went 3-of-6 with 6 RBI in the Cards 20-2 blowout win in game three.
Other top bats for Louisville include: CF Boomer Whiting (.367- 1 HR- 25 RBI), 2B Logan Johnson (.364- 13 HR- 59 RBI, 27 doubles, 35 BB), 1B Daniel Burton (.309- 7 HR- 54 RBI), DH/1B Jorge Castillo (.307- 7 HR- 61 RBI) and 3B Chris Dominguez (.262- 12 HR- 55 RBI- 19 doubles).
Right fielder Pete Rodriguez is also swinging the bat very well, as he finished the super regional with a 7-of-13 performance that included his first two home runs of the season.
The defense is led by speedy senior center fielder Boomer Whiting. Whiting, who has stolen a nation-high 73 bases, has only committed two errors all year.
Senior shortstop Chris Cates, who stands only 5’3â€, is the nation’s shortest player. Cates possesses a very strong arm, is hitting .294, and has only struck out 14 times.
Junior right hander Zach Pitts (10-3, 2.23 ERA) will likely get the starting nod for UL against Rice. Pitts has only surrendered 93 hits in 117 innings of work.
Although not as deep as Rice’s staff, Louisville has a strong bullpen that features a couple strong middle relievers and a dominant closer. The Cardinals’ top left handed middle reliever is Gavin Logsdown (2-0, 1.74 ERA, 30 appearances, 46.2 IP) while Kyle Hollander (4-1, 2.30 ERA, 27 appearances, 43 IP) is the their top right-handed middle relief option. Senior righty Tyrstan Magnuson (3-2, 1.09 ERA) has appeared in 35 games while also notching nine saves.
The Cardinals’ first CWS test will be a stiff one, as they will face the red hot No. 2 national seed Rice Owls. The Owls swept their way to Omaha and have won 35 of their last 37 games.
Rice (54-12) possesses a very talented and experienced roster that is probably best described as “steadyâ€. Offensively, the Owls’ line-up is very patient (has drawn 303 walks) and has produced a .310 average. Every Owl starter has an average above .300 with double figures in doubles. The line-up has adequate power, as 57 home runs are spread throughout the batting order (only one player has more than 10). Team speed is not Rice’s forte’, as it has only stolen 51 bases in 70 attempts this season. Rice’s pitching staff is definitely one of the top, if not the best, pitching staffs in the nation. It has an incredible 2.83 ERA and has limited opposing batters to a .232 average.
All-American Joe Savery, who was recently selected in the first round of the major league baseball draft, is one of the best two-platoon players in the nation. Savery, who starts at first base or designated hitter when he isn’t on the mound, is tops on the team with his .360 mark. He has also driven in the second most runs on the team (57).
Shortstop Brian Friday, who leads the team with 27 multi-hit games, is second on the team with his .342 average. Friday, who has 27 doubles, has stolen a team-high 14 bases.
Second baseman Aaron Luna is the team’s top power hitter. Luna, who is hitting .315, has 11 home runs and 61 RBI. He has drawn 44 walks while striking out only 34 times.
Left fielder Jordan Dodson also produces good power number for the Owls, as he is second on the team with 8 home runs and has driven in 51 runs.
The Cardinals will surely face Owls’ ace Ryan Berry. Berry, who has logged a remarkable 116.2 innings, has compiled an 11-2 record and a 2.71 ERA. He is not overpowering, but possesses very good off speed stuff and has struck out 119 batters.
Rice’s top middle reliever is lefty Bobby Bramhall. Bramhall (6-2, 1.85 ERA) has surrendered only 32 hits in 58 1/3 innings while striking out 76. The Owls also possess another stud lefty in their pen. Closer Cole St. Clair, who missed the first part of the season while recovering from an injury, has made 14 relief appearances and has recorded eight saves.
Rice vs. Louisville Prediction
This game matches one of college baseball’s most successful programs of the last decade against the new kid on the block. It features two of the top pitching staffs (statistically) in the nation. You combine this with the importance of winning the first game and you will likely see both teams trying to manufacture some runs early on. While Louisville certainly is better at swiping bases, Rice possesses the more patient line-up that puts the ball in play more consistently. Expect the Cards to play the Owls very tough, but in the end Rice’s depth and experience will be a little too much for UL. The past two CWS champions (Texas and Oregon State) were making return trips to Omaha. The Owls plan to continue that trend this season and will get off on the right foot with a win in the opener.
Rice 5 - Louisville 3
The Rice Owls advanced to the College World Series yet again this season by beating Texas A&M 5-2 on Saturday.
CUSA-fans.com has released two regional previews featuring Conference USA baseball teams participating in the 2007 NCAA Baseball Tournament. On Thursday night CUSA Fans added their Houston Regional preview where the Rice Owls are the #1 seed and today they released their Oxford Regional preview where the Southern Miss Golden Eagles are the #2 seed.
While the #1-seeded Rice Owls and the #2-seeded ECU Pirates seemed desitned to collide just days ago, that excat match-up was indeed the makeup of the 2007 Conference USA Baseball Tournament Championship. Both teams took care of their previous opponents as Rice knocked off UCF then Memphis twice, and ECU defeated Southern Miss then Tulane twice to advance to the C-USA Championship.
In the Championship Game, the Owls rode their strong offense to knock off East Carolina by a final of 16-8.
Day three of the 2007 Conference USA Tournament is here, and it seems that the #1 seeded Rice Owls and #2 seeded East Carolina Pirates are going to collide. Rice crushed UCF 16-6 on Wednesday and Memphis 7-5 on Thursday and will face UCF on Saturday morning at 9 am according to the official C-USA site. Meanwhile, ECU knocked off Tulane 4-2 on Wednesday then followed that win with a 2-1, 10-inning win over Southern Miss on Thursday. ECU will next face the winner of tonight’s Tulane vs. Southern Miss game at 12:30 pm tomorrow.
The second day of the 2007 Conference USA baseball tournament has begun. After an exciting day one which saw just one mild upset when #5 Memphis knocked off #4 Houston, day two began with another upset involving the Houston Cougars. After their disappointing loss on Wednesday, the Cougars were shutout by the #8 seed UCF Golden Knights in a 1-0 thriller. Wednesday’s results & schedule:
First-round results for the 2007 Conference USA baseball tournament are in.
[powered by WordPress.]
19 queries. 0.194 seconds