Mike Ojala Class: Junior Hometown: Kingwood High School: Kingwood H.S. Height / Weight: 6-3 / 195 Position: p Experience: 2L B/T: R/R

Could evolve into a superb weekend starter after improving over the course of last season... Reliable breaking ball.

Wayne Graham said -- "Mike is projected to be one of the top two starters in the spring. In his limited outings in the fall he looked very solid. Three pitch pitcher."

At Rice -- 2008: Went undefeated (5-0) and tied for third on the staff in starts (12)... Averaged a steady 10.6 strikeouts and 3.3 walks per nine innings... Second on the staff behind All-American Cole St.Clair in strikeouts-to-walks ratio (3.2-to-1, min. 35 inn.)... Starter for high-RPI games in critical situations, including Texas (three times), Texas A&M (twice), Houston, Tulane and Oklahoma State... Had the second-most innings on the staff against ranked teams (30.0), and maintained a 4.50 ERA against those elite teams... Took the mound against in-state baseball rivals Texas A&M and Texas in the NCAA Tournament where he struck out 10 in 7.1 innings... Faced the Aggies in the clinching game of the Super Regional and the Longhorns in the Regional finale... Allowed three runs on just three hits and a walk while striking out six against Texas, his first time to allow more than one earned run in a start in almost two months... Struck out a career-high 10 Tulane batters while allowing just one earned run in a career-long 6.2 innings... Also fanned nine in starts against cross-town rival Houston and Winthrop... Worked into the sixth inning in four of his last seven starts... Held opposing batters to a .239 average in his last seven starts... Stayed undefeated in the face of `unfair' offensive support from his teammates - the Owls hit .313 when other pitchers started and only .280 in his starts... 2007: Showed improvement over the course of his first full season of Division I baseball... One of the few rookie arms on the Owls' postseason travel squad... Went 2-0 with a 4.38 ERA... Pitched 12.1 innings in nine appearances, all out of the bullpen... Each of his last seven appearances (covering the months of March, April, May and June) was on the road or at a neutral site... Last home appearance at Reckling Park was on Feb. 25 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi... Last outing was at East Carolina in the finale of the Conference USA Tournament... Winning pitcher in the championship game, firing a season-long 2.2 scoreless innings at tourney host ECU with two strikeouts... Also threw an inning against Memphis in the C-USA semifinal win over Memphis to send the Owls to the championship finale... Earned both wins and maintained a 3.00 ERA in 6.0 total innings at East Carolina's Clark-LeClair Stadium... Defeated East Carolina when the Pirates were ranked 22nd in the nation... Threw matching 1.1 innings of hitless relief at C-USA foes Southern Miss and UAB... Faced 45 batters and held the opponents to a .244 average... Played in the Texas Collegiate League (Denton) in the summer of 2007.

High School -- A 2006 graduate of Kingwood High School... Two-year starter and letterman for the Mustangs under coach David Denny... Helped lead team to victory at the 2005 5A state championship... Junior year made all-state, first team all-district, and all-greater Houston... Made second team all-district during senior year... Posted career stats of 18-5 with a 2.00 ERA.

Personal -- Full Name: Michael David Ojala. Born: Aug. 24, 1987 in Houston. Parents: David and Barbara Ojala of Kingwood (three brothers and two sisters). Father played professional golf and was on the PGA Senior Tour and European Senior Tour. Sister, Jane Hilburn, was a varsity golfer at the University of Arkansas (1995-98). Major: economics. College: Martel.

Rice Statistics

Year	ERA	W	L	App	GS	CG	SHO	CBO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	2B	3B	HR	BF	Avg	WP	HBP
2007	4.38	2	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	12.1	11	7	6	7	9	1	1	0	56	.244	6	4
2008	4.97	5	0	14	12	0	0	0	0	54.1	61	36	30	20	64	10	3	4	251	.274	3	3
Totals	4.86	7	0	23	12	0	0	0	0	66.2	72	43	36	27	73	11	4	4	307	.269	9	7

Martel College