USC
Rice
No. 22 Rice Takes Series Opener, 10-7
February 25, 2011 | Baseball
Feb. 25, 2011
HOUSTON - Derek Hamilton's RBI single in the seventh snapped a 7-7 tie Friday as the No. 22 Rice Owls defeated the USC Trojans, 10-7, in the first game of a three-game series at Reckling Park. Rice bounced back from a 3-0 deficit with seven runs in the fifth inning.
Abe Gonzales picked up his first save of the season for Rice (3-3) with 1 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Ryan Lewis and Anthony Rendon each homered for the Owls.
James Roberts, Matt Foat and Jake Hernandez had two hits each for the Trojans (3-2).
USC loaded the bases in the first and scored a run on Joe De Pinto's sacrifice fly to center. Rice was able to get a runner on third in the first three innings, but Trojan starter Andrew Triggs was able to keep the Owls off the scoreboard. The Trojans loaded the bases again in the fourth as Rice starter Matthew Reckling forced in a run with a walk for the 2-0 lead.
After the Trojans made it a three-run lead in the fifth, the Owls were able to get to Triggs in the bottom half of the inning. With runners at first and second, J.T. Chargois doubled to left center for the first run of the inning. Rendon, the All-America designated hitter, was intentionally walked to load the bases and Jeremy Rathjen tied the game with a two-run single to left. Lewis knocked out Triggs with a two-run homer to right as Triggs allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Trojans would answer with two runs in the sixth. Alex Sherrod led off the Trojan seventh with a solo shot to right center, the first homer for the Trojans this season, for the 7-6 Rice lead. Matt Foat would later score on a passed ball to tie the game before Rice got the eventual game-winner in the seventh. Rendon hit his first homer of the season off Brandon Garcia with the two-run home run to left in the eighth. Gonzales walked a batter and hit Sherrod with the pitch in the eighth, but retired four straight batters to close out the game.
The series continues tomorrow with a 2 p.m. start (Central time) and 1 p.m. start on Sunday. Both games will be broadcast (audio only), along with Gametracker live stats, on usctrojans.com.
Notes: USC catcher Kevin Roundtree left the game in the bottom of the first after being hit by a Matthew Reckling pitch in the helmet as a precautionary measure, but is expected to be okay...this is USC's first trip to Reckling Park, but the Trojans have played in Houston before with a three-game series at the University of Houston in 2001...freshman catcher Jake Hernandez is 4-for-8 (.500) at the plate this season...the Rice pitching staff struck out 12 batters, but walked 10 and hit two batters.
USC 100-112-200---7-8-0RICE 000-070-12x---10-12-1
WP - Benak (1-0) LP - Wheatley (0-1) S - Gonzales (1)T - 3:30 ATT - 3,278Records: USC (3-2), Rice (3-3)
Triggs, Mezger (5), Wheatley (7), Munson (7), Douthit (7), Garcia (7), McCaffery (8) and Roundtree, Hernandez (1).Reckling, Wall (5), Banak (6), Gonzales (8) and Manuel, Perrott (8).
