Houston: Too many changes

By Jonathan Yardley - June 02, 2007

Baseball never ceases to amaze me. Prairie View A&M was just called for batting out of order in the top of the eighth inning. Head coach Michael Robertson has made six changes, all on the defensive side, which has kept the press box constantly in the dark about who is batting in what spot.

In the eighth, replacement rightfielder Oscar Goldman (the third rightfielder of the day) came to bat with one on and one out in the eighth. Leftfielder Arthur Christal was due up after replacing starting second baseman Spenser Dennis in the fourth inning as part of a double switch. Christal had already batted in the No. 4 spot earlier in the game, but this time Goldman apparently talked him out of it. After a bad-hop single put runners at the corners, Baylor head coach Steve Smith informed the umpires of the infraction, and Christal was called out and the runner sent back to first base. Confusing, I know, but something I've never seen before.

Yikes. We're in the eighth now, Baylor up 8-2. We had brief rain showers, and there is an ominous cloud overhead, but it's sunny right now. Go figure. Still on schedule (knock on wood) for Rice-TCU at 6 pm CDT.