March 17, 2007

Box Score

HOUSTON -- Junior shortstop Brian Friday went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles to lead a 14-hit attack as the seventh-ranked Rice baseball team broke open a tie game with five late runs on the way to a 7-2 victory over visiting Cal Poly in the second game of a three-game weekend series Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park in Houston. With the Owls' 16th win of the season, head coach Wayne Graham recorded his 700th win at Rice in his 16th year at the helm of the baseball program.

Rice (16-7) came from behind for the team's fifth win in a row and another milestone victory for coach Graham. The Owls opened the scoring with a run in the third on a bases-loaded walk by Danny Lehmann. Cal Poly came right back and took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth on three singles for a 2-1 advantage.

Cal Poly had the lead until the fifth when Friday created some plays that tied the game.After leading off the inning with a double down the left field line, he broke on a steal attempt of third base. The Mustang attempt to throw him out was off the mark and Friday opportunistically sprinted home to even the score, 2-2.

In the top of the seventh a two-out single by Jared Gayhart and walks to Lehmann and Aaron Luna loaded the bases. Jordan Dodson's infield hit scored one to give Rice a 3-2 lead. Adam Zornes followed with a two-run single into shallow right field to stretch the margin to 5-2.

The Owls weren't finished. In the eighth junior Tyler Henley bunted for a hit and he moved into scoring position on Diego Seastrunk's sacrifice bunt. Friday drove him in with a double to right and he scored on Lehmann's RBI hit to right-center.

Rice totaled double-digit hits for the 11th time this season. Almost lost among the late offensive fireworks was a solid start on the mound by sophomore right-hander Matt Langwell. Langwell held the Mustangs to just four singles and a pair of walks while working a career-long 7.0 innings. He struck out four to earn his second win of the season. Junior left-hander Bobby Bramhall fired the final two shutout frames for his third save. Cal Poly fell to 13-12 on the year.

Coach Graham's Rice record now stands at 700-277. His overall collegiate record, including 11 seasons at San Jacinto College where he won five national championships, is 1,275 and 390.

The second-straight win over Cal Poly means Rice has now won 34-consecutive series home series at Reckling Park dating back to April 2001. The streak includes the regular season and NCAA Super Regional series. The three-game weekend series concludes Sunday at noon. (The noon start time is a change from some earlier listings.)