The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 12, 1981 Page: 11 of 24
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BASEBALL
STUTES ON SPORTS
Owls winning, ready to face Aggies
Clint Welch turns to bunt against Mary Hardin-Baylor.
by Michele K. Gillespie
Sporting an impressive 11-4
record, the Rice baseball team is
now eagerly awaiting their
Southwest Conference opener
against Texas A&M this Friday, at
Cameron Field. Ace starting
pitcher Matt Williams will throw
for the Owls.
"We're as ready as we're going to
be," says coach Dave Hall,
regarding the upcoming Aggie
game on Friday and Saturday's
double-header, also against A&M,
adding, "I feel real good, now that
we've had 15 ball games in three
weeks. We've got a big plus. The
Aggies have their traditions and
their successes; but we're playing at
home with plenty of games behind
us."
Pan American 7, Rice 5
Last weekend provided plenty of
pre-conference warmup in
Edinburg, Texas as Pan American
University hosted Rice and the
nation's 14th ranked team,
Oklahoma State. The Owls split a
doubleheader with Pan American,
losing 7-5 and winning 6-1, on their
first road trip of the season.
Despite the loss, Rice pitchers
threw well, only giving up one
earned run. The loss, though, went
to Ronnie Peoples as the Rice
infield allowed six unearned
Bronco runs on four errors.
Rice 6, Pan American 1
"Pappy" Devine captured the
win in the second game of the
doubleheader, defeating Pan
American 6-1, allowing only one
run and five hits. Rightfielder John
O'Keeffe and second baseman
Chris Russ led the Owl's offensive
attack, both grabbing a pair of hits
and an RBI.
Rice 2, Oklahoma State 1
The Owls nipped nationally
ranked Oklahoma State 2-1 last
Friday. Matt Williams threw a five
hit, one run njasterpiece to give
Rice the victory after eight innings
in the seven inning scheduled
game. Oklahoma State's only run
came on a wild pitch in the second
inning. Heavy hitting Frank
Dishongh paced Rice with two
singles and an RBI.
Pan American 6, Rice 4
Although the Owls had an early
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lead, they dropped one more game
to Pan American, 6-4, with Rick
Kelley absorbing his first loss of
the year. In the losing effort, top
hitting came from Machalec and
Russ, who banged out four of
Rice's six hits. Catcher Mark
Farrar injured his shoulder in the
game but will be able to start
against A&M this Friday.
Oklahoma State 4, Rice 0
Doug Watson threw his first
loss of the season in Rice's 2nd
game against Oklahoma State, 4-0.
Cowboy pitcher Kurt Leiter held
the Owls to only two hits, on
singles from shortstop Clinton
Welch and catcher Mike Horn.
Watson went two innings, giving
up three hits, three runs, and
walking two. Henry Johnson,
John Ofield, and David Pavlas,
who gave up the fourth run, threw
in relief.
Rice 14, MHB 5
In Tuesday's doubleheader,
Mary Hardin-Baylor folded to lose
14-5, after stake an early 4-0 lead
against the Owls. Starting pitcher
Ronnie Peoples gave up four
unearned runs on eight hits until
relieved in the fourth by Jon
Smith. Smith gave up one run on
two hits and exited for Rick Kelley
in the fifth. Kelley picked up the
win for his third victory of the
season. Welch and Edwards each
punched out three hits with
—T. Giidden
Edwards collecting four RBI's and
Welch, two.
Rice 9, MHB 2
Frosh pitcher John Ofield
picked up his first win of the season
in the second victory over Mary
Hardin-Baylor Tuesday, 9-2.
Ofield relieved starter Henry
Johnson in the fourth and
Williams subsequently pitched for
Ofield in the sixth until the game
was called for darkness. Catcher
Mike Horn cracked two doubles
and a single for two RBIs and
freshman shortstop Scott Johnson
added three hits and two RBIs.
Hall feels it important that all
his players got to play during pre-
season. "We were able to get all the
pitchers into the ball game, which
is especially important under road
conditions. We've shuttled
through enough line-ups and seen
that there's experience at every
position and every utility role.
There's flexibility with just enough
players. All the team members
have an important role and it
makes them a little more intense,"
he explained.
Rice plays the Aggies on Friday
at 3:00 p.m. and on Saturday in a
doubleheader at noon; a new
starting time for conference
doubleheaders. Following the
Aggies, Rice will entertain North
Texas State for a 1:00 p.m.
doubleheader, also at Cameron
Field.
Sun, brew and
baseball, too!
After writing two columns on
basketball, only to see the teams'
seasons end almost immediately, I
now turn to the issue at hand—
spring sports. Obviously, the two
biggest games on campus—besides
beer-bike and coed softball—are
football and basketball. They are
the "money sports." Now however,
as the days get warmer and longer,
and man's mind turns away from
labs and tests and to people of the
female persuasion, the immortal
Rice ratio sends the average Rice
wiener looking for a game to
watch.
Since a detailed outlook for each
team would probably require
reporting, and that's exactly what I
hoped to avoid by writing a
column instead of news stories,
what I offer here is a fairly detailed
outlook on the amenities involved
in ^>eing a spectator in the spring.
The first sport to come to mind is
that great American pastime,
baseball. A friend desperately
wants me to write a column on the
virtues of outdoor baseball, but I
happen to like the Dome so I
refused. The sun, though, is the
biggest friend that Rice baseball
has. Baseball has gotten a lot of
bad press lately for being boring,
slow, etc., but I am a great
defender of baseball as the
ultimate thinking fan's game.
What I enjoy most, however, is
knowing the strengths and
weaknesses of all the players, and
daily coverage of a team is
necessary for me to get that. So I
end up knowing embarrassingly
little about either team when I go
to see a Rice game.
Nevertheless, Rice games are a
great way to spend an afternoon in
the sun, and even to drink a bit (or
lot) of beer on a weekday.
Despite the new and impressive
Cameron Field, I think the best
place to watch a Saturday
afternoon doubleheader is on the
grassy knoll in left-center field.
There, you catch the afternoon
rays just right, and the beer tastes
just that much better. The day we
yelled at a UT centerfielder so
much that he dropped a fly ball to
lose the game is legend by now. An
added attraction, however, is a
team which seems to be
determined to continue in football
and basketball's tracks, as they
have won several early season
games.
Back after a two-year sabbatical
is track. I don't really know what
to expect from the new stadium,
but I sure hope it lives up to its
billing. My memories of a great
sunburn my freshman year,
though, are a good sign that there
is potential there for more sun and
brew on a Saturday afternoon.
Unfortunately, the team seems a
little thin this year, but Rice teams
are really into upsets this year, so
you never know.
Tennis is another sun-and-brew
sport, and it also offers real live
facilities. This is basically a simple
sport to watch, and there are some
players around who are really
good. The women's team, with
Tracie Blumentritt as a bona fide
star, has several quality players
and plays a very tough schedule.
And the men's team, paced by
wacky Rocky Royer and Mark
Holland are bringing Rice tennis
back to its past national stature.
That leaves golf, but they never
play on campus, and I don't even
know if they allow spectators
where they play, but I suppose they
have to.
You may have noticed that the
things that I enjoy best about
spring sports are sun and beer. But
isn't that what spring is all about?
Besides, all the girls are now
out looking for guys at the baseball
stadium!
A YEAR OUT OF COLLEGE,
ANDA STRAUSS IS MAKING AVIATION
HISTORY IN THE ARMY.
"I'm being assigned to a
Chinook helicopter unit in Germany
as a test pilot and maintenance officer,
and I'm proud that I'll be the first
woman to have that assignment over
there. It's a real thrill for me.
"So was learning how. to fly
a helicopter. It takes a lot more skill
than an airplane. If you think college
is demanding, flight school is even
tougher. It's not only academically
demanding, it's really mentally
demanding as well as physically.
"In Germany, I'll have a chance
to use some of the leadership and
management techniques I learned in
ROTC. It's going to be a real challenge
having command responsibilities.
"I got into ROTC really just
to see what it was all about, for me, it
all couldn't have worked out better."
Army ROTC got Anda Strauss
(iff to a gcKid stan. Maybe it can do
the same for you. To find out, stop by
your Army ROTC office on campus.
And begin your future as an
officer.
Sophomores
Inquire about the six week
Basic Camp being offered
this summer so you can
qualify for the Advanced
Course in August. For
details call 527-4956.
2nd Li. Anda Strauss was a political science major
at Wake Forest and a member ot Army ROTC
ARMY ROTC.
BEALLYOUCANBE.
The Rice Thresher, March 12, 1981, page All
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Dees, Richard. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 12, 1981, newspaper, March 12, 1981; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245466/m1/11/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.