Although he did not pitch and went 0-fer on Friday, Joe Savery provided a lot of the storylines for this super regional. His draft-day press conference Thursday was as emotional as can be, but he showed his sense of humor after today's game.

Continue reading "Houston: No excuses, crazy fans, and the importance of experience" »

Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to some controversial calls early in the game and some terrific pitching throughout, Rice advanced to its sixth College World Series in the last 11 years and its second in a row with a 5-2 victory over Texas A&M Saturday night before a Reckling Park-record crowd of 5,234.

FIrst-round draft pick Joe Savery kept himself from having to pitch in a Game 3 by going 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI, and Owl starter Matt Langwell benefited significantly from a first-inning interference call that negated two Texas A&M runs. But Langwell settled down to work into the seventh, and closer Cole St.Clair finished the game for his eighth save of the year. Rice will play the winner of the Oklahoma State-Louisville super regional next Friday in Omaha.

Continue reading "Houston: Savery leads Owls back to CWS" »

Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Both teams will face plenty of pressure today, with Rice a win away from its sixth trip to the College World Series in the last 11 years, and Texas A&M needing to win to force a decisive Game 3 tomorrow. The best news for the Aggies is that they are unlikely to be fazed by trailing the series. A&M lost its Big XII Conference Tournament opener but rebounded to take the tournament title. In the regional round, the Aggies lost a winners' bracket game to Louisiana-Lafayette before rallying with a win over Ohio State and back-to-back triumphs over ULaLa to reach this weekend. The Aggies will start sophomore righthander Kyle Thebeau (3-5, 4.50), pitching on four days' rest after a career outing in Monday's regional final. Rice will counter with sophomore righthander Matt Langwell (7-1, 1.73), the team's ace of sorts during the latter part of the season.

There's more to this preview, but once the game begins, you will have to resort to GameTracker to follow along.

Continue reading "Houston: No pressure, guys" »

Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a game. There are a ton of things to talk about after this one, but first a quick look ahead to tomorrow's Game 2. A&M head coach Rob Childress was a bit coy when asked for tomorrow's starter, saying he would wait for Rice to name its starter. Moments later, he confirmed the obvious - it will be either lefthander Kirkland Rivers (2-3, 5.61) or righthander Kyle Thebeau (3-5, 4.50), the regional hero, tomorrow. Rice head coach Wayne Graham announced righthander Matt Langwell (7-1, 1.73) as his starter.

Continue reading "Houston: Breaking down Game 1" »

Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ignored in the draft earlier today, Rice junior leftfielder Jordan Dodson came through with the game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th inning after starting the game-tying rally in the ninth as Rice rallied to beat Texas A&M 3-2 Friday night at Reckling Park in Houston before a crowd of 5,074.

Continue reading "Houston: Owls pull out amazing win in 10th inning, 3-2" »

Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're not going to be able to bring you anything interesting during the game (thanks, NCAA) but here's a bt of a preview for today's Rice-A&M opener at Reckling Park in Houston.

Once the game begins, your best bet is following along on GameTracker.

Continue reading "Houston: Sneaking one in before NCAA-imposed silence" »

Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 06:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the weekend's super regional between No. 2 national seed Rice and Texas A&M on tap for the weekend, the focus at Thursday's press conference was supposed to be on the college game. But when Joe Savery's cell phone went off during the Rice portion of the press conference, Major League Baseball stole the show, and Rice head coach Wayne Graham choked up at the mic.

Continue reading "Houston: Emotional draft day for Rice" »

Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)