The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 2009 Page: 18 of 20
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I* V
18 SPORTS
the Rice Thresher
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O BASEBALL
FROM PAGE 15
Junior Jimmy Comerota slides in safety at home plate in the fourth inning, beating the relay
from the outfield in Rice's 9-2 win over Houston in Wednesday's home opener. Comerota
finished the game 2-3 with a run and an RBI.
Haynes and freshman Andrew Benak.
A one-out double by J.J. Thompson in
the ninth off of freshman reliever Mat-
thew Reckling sealed the deal, send-
ing the Owls back to Houston with a
losing record.
Despite the sub-.soo record, they
compiled a composite .318 batting
average against Cal Poly, and five
starters hit .360 or better. After the
opening series, Hague led the team
with a .462 average, three doubles
and three RBIs. Freshman outfielder
Steven Sultzbaugh was second in
hitting with a .455 clip and blasted
Rice's first home run of the season.
The Owls came back to Texas
three days later with their momen-
tum stalled, but the team triumphed
in their home opener, beating the
University of Houston. This was the
first game for the Silver Glove Tro-
phy, which goes
to the winner of
the five games
between Rice and
Houston (2-3).
The star
Wednesday night
was Rendon, who
finished 4-4 with
a three-run home
run. The Cougars
scored first, but
Rice piled on the
runs in bunches
with three in the
second and nve
in the fourth with
help from Rendon
and Seastrunk's
two-RBI double.
Hague also hit a
solo home run in the
m
HOUSTON
COLLEGE
CLASSIC
When
Friday-Sunday
Where
Minute Maid Park
History
In 2008, Rice upset No. 5
Texas 7-4, as Cole St.Clair
tossed two perfect innings
for the save.
third.
In his first ca-
reer start, Benak
rebounded from his
earlier outing and
handled the Cou-
gars well, throwing
3.2 innings with
one earned run.
After he departed,
Wall completed
three innings of
scoreless relief. Se-
nior Jordan Rogers
and juniors Jared
Rogers and Abe
Gonzales contrib-
uted from the bull-
pen as well.
The team ap-
pears to have re-
gained its footing, as
its defense appears to have recaptured
OMEN
FROM PAGE 15
freshman guard Connor Frizelle,
bringing the score to 64-62.
Frizelle's made basket should come
as no surprise, as the team leads C-USA
in three-point field goal percentage at
39.4 percent. Rice hit just under that
mark Saturday, going 10-24 from be-
yond the arc. Frizzelle accounted for
four of those off of five attempts and
scored 14 points in the game.
But those three-pointers could
only take them so far, and after five
unanswered points by the Mustangs,
the Owls would muster no more points
until senior forward Aleks Perka made
a layup with five seconds left.
A pair of free throws by SMU's Mike
Walker brought the deficit back to three
with two seconds left in the game, giv-
ing the Owls just one more chance.
Junior guard Cory Pflieger at-
tempted to heave a desperation shot
at the buzzer, but his miss gave the
Mustangs the nail-biting victory.
With the loss, the Owls continue to
struggle on the road, where they are
0-6 in conference play this year.
Senior guard Rodney Foster led the
team in scoring 18 points and dished
out a team-high four assists, all while
playing with ankle and wrist injuries
he sustained during the game.
While time is running out on this
year's team to turn things around, sig-
nificant help could come next year as
the race to sign touted high school se-
nior Demarcus Cousins continues.
Cousins, expected to make his
decision later this spring, had previ-
ously committed to play for the Uni-
versity of Alabama-Birmingham, but
withdrew his verbal commitment
when the university could not guar-
antee head coach Mike Davis would
coach the team next year.
Along with Rice, Cousins, whom
Sports Illustrated called the "most
physically talented [high school]
player in the nation," considers the
University of Memphis, University of
Washington, North Carolina State Uni-
versity and Louisiana State University
as his other choices alongside Rice,
according to scout.com, but has no
clear favorite at the moment.
Out of Birmingham, Ala., Cousins
appears to be drawn to Rice because
of its academic reputation and Braun's
history of developing post players for
future success in the NBA, two as-
pects he has mentioned as important
in discussions with the media.
A CLOSER LOOK:
Three-point leaders in C-USA
Rke
East Carolina
Made-Attempted
198-502
236-622
197-540
154-436.
Average
.394
.379
lit
.353
TA
After going 12-24 from beyond the arc against UCF, the Owls are
currently sitting atop the C-USA in three-point percentage, netting
39.4 percent of their attempts.
Friday, February Z% 2009
O WOMEN
FROM PAGE 15
to our seniors. We want to send them
out with a win in their last home
game at Rice University.... With those
other factors involved, how could we
not play with energy?"
The match was starkly antithetical
compared to the previous two games,
in which stingy defense and high
shooting percentages took the con-
tests. With a the zone defense against
the Mustangs, the Owls turned off the
great communication that they had
been recently using and let go of sev-
eral costly assignments. On the offen-
sive side, they gave up 15 turnovers
before halttime, and no one finished
with double-digit scoring.
This downturn was made all the
rougher because Rice was coming off
one of its most exhilarating wins of the
year. Despite the Sunday blowout, the
two previous games did remind Rice
of the strengths they have been exhib-
iting in practice but have struggled to
implement during game time.
"I think we have more confidence
in ourselves, in our game," Fulton
said. "A lot of bench players are feel-
ing a lot more confidence," she add-
ed, after the bench combined for 21
points against Tulsa.
U
its focus and the team has kept up
the torrid offensive pace. After four
games, Rendon leads the team with
a .600 batting average and six RBIs,
and Hague and Seastrunk also have
averages above .350. Ojala leads the
team in innings pitched (6.1) and
ERA (1.42).
There have been questions about
the youth on the squad, but both the
coaches and the players feel comfort-
able with the team's makeup.
"Rendon's been excellent," Graham
said. "Taylor Wall was good [Wednes-
day]. He's got to pitch for us. Rathjen's
done well. We're going to be fine."
Seastrunk said he recognizes the
lack of experience but has confidence
in the abilities of the Owls.
"The talent's there, the chemis-
try's there," he said. "Experience is
the key to this team."
Every time that we
have gotten wins
or played particu-
larly well is when we
played good defense
and just talked. When
everyone is talking,
moving their feet, and
playing good defense,
it really spurs on
our offense.
Maudess Fulton
Guard
99
The most encouraging statistic
on the night, however, was fresh-
man point guard D'Frantz Smart's 12
assists. Since returning from injury.
Smart has been taking part in limited
practices and is still trying to regain a
rhythm that led the team on all fronts
in the beginning of the season.
Despite the volatile play from all
parts of the court throughout the season,
the squad has at least found the point of
their game that can act as a springboard
for competitiveness throughout.
If the Owls are to succeed, "it is
going to have to be [because of] our
defense," Fulton said. "Every time
that we have gotten wins or played
particularly well is when we played
good defense and just talked. When
everyone is talking, moving their feet
and playing good defense, it really
spurs on our offense. If we can really
play good defense consistently for
two halves, then I think we can play
with anybody."
Discovering the key to energiz-
ing the team seems to be the only
evident forms of progress the coach-
ing staff has been able to make to
this point, but the final road trip of
the regular season would be a great
place to change that. They face East
Carolina University on Thursday and
fly to West Virginia to play Marshall
on Saturday.
The trip is the furthest of the sea-
son and one that most C-USA teams
avoid taking on in one week. Plus,
both teams are known for stepping up
play at home, while Rice has yet to win
a game outside of Main Street all year.
"We've got the road trip from
Hades - you can't get to ECU and
Marshall from here," Williams said.
"Every team in the league just cring-
es when they have to make that trip.
When I saw the conference schedule
I just threw my hands up: 'Are you
kidding me?' That's a coach's night-
mare to have to make that trip right
before the conference tournament,"
which will being next Thursday in
New Orleans, La.
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 2009, newspaper, February 27, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443030/m1/18/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.