Baseball opens with a bang
Last year's model of the Rice baseball team took flights at heights never reached by any of its predecessors. Before being eliminated in the NCAA regional tournament by eventual national champion California State University at Fullerton, the Owls rolled up a 43-19 record, good for a final ranking of 12th in the nation.
Eight months later, much has changed for Rice. Two of last season's leading men, record-breaking sluggers Jose Cruz Jr. and Mark Quinn, have departed for the greater fame and fortune of professional baseball.
The Owls also lost a cast of strong supporting actors -- Patrick Hallmark, Chris Boni, David Brooks and Mike Wilson.
Based on the four games they have played so far, the group of old faces, former apprentices and newcomers comprising this year's squad represent a metamorphosis from last year.
Gone are the days when Rice would attempt to offset a shaky pitching staff with an offensive juggernaut, and, with it, the resulting 21-18 and 16-9 games.
In its place, as shown in a split of a weekend home-and-home series with Lamar University and a doubleheader sweep of Southwest Texas State University on Tuesday, is a different balance of talent: a solid pitching staff and an inconsistent but potentially strong, offense.
"The pitching and the defense are better," said Head Coach Wayne Graham, who won his 100th career game at Cameron Field in the first game of the doubleheader. "The hitting has been adequate. We're going to hit."
It seems unlikely that a pitcher facing last season's team, with Cruz batting third and Quinn batting fourth, would have been able to retire 17 Owl batters in a row, as Southwest Texas' Jason Divin did in the first game of the doubleheader.
On the other hand, Rice has shown a potent offense at times -- a 19-hit attack in a 12-0 victory over Lamar on Sunday, and a 17-hit barrage in a 18-1 victory over Southwest Texas in the second game of the doubleheader.
In part, the inconsistency can be attributed to a lack of production from some veteran Owls. With one hit in his first 12 at-bats, third baseman Jacques Landry is off to a slow start.
Left fielder Lance Berkman and second baseman Jason Richards -- a transfer who had played at Texas A&M University -- are hitting decently, but Graham expects more from them.
"The problem is that Landry's off to a slow start," Graham said. "Berkman, even though he is OK right now, is going to be a force. I expect Jason Richards to hit a lot better."
Owl newcomers have been the offensive leaders so far. A pair of freshmen, right fielder-designated hitter William Ford, and center fielder Bubba Crosby, have lived up to their advance billing by leading the team in hitting.
"The two freshmen are the guys who are doing the job," Graham said.
Crosby, placed in the unenviable position of replacing Cruz as the third-place hitter and center fielder, seems to be handling his situation well.
"Jose achieved quite a bit," Crosby said. "I feel a little bit of pressure following him. I just want to do my best. I hope it's enough to take the team to where it wants to go."
Despite being retired by Divin in his first three at-bats in the first game of the doubleheader and suffering from a respiratory infection, Crosby drove a triple into the gap in left center in the eighth inning to drive in two runs and give Rice a 5-3 victory.
"I was surprised with myself," Crosby said. "Since I was sick, I didn't have much energy. I had to really concentrate on getting the meat of the bat on the meat of the ball."
He followed that with four hits in the second game.
"Crosby's a big talent," Graham said. "He's going to be a great player. He hustles harder than anybody on the field. I think it's an obsession with him -- he doesn't want anybody to outhustle him."
Graham also cites the good pitching that the Owls have faced as a cause for inconsistency, and he is confident that the offense will develop.
"We've come up against some pretty good early pitching. We're going to have to learn to move the ball against the good pitchers," Graham said.
"But early in the year, the good pitchers tend to dominate even the good offensive teams. I think we're going to evolve into a good offensive team."
Owl pitching and defense have been more consistent than the offense. Where last season's staff had problems throwing strikes, so far the pitchers have shown good control and have done a good job of keeping opposition batters off balance by moving the ball around in the strike zone. The result has been a minuscule 1.54 earned-run average.
Mark Taylor picked up the victory in the second game against Southwest Texas by pitching five innings, striking out six and allowing only one run.
Matt Anderson, who gained the victory in the first game of the doubleheader, and veterans Jeff Shaddix, Paul Doyle and Dana Davis appeared solid. Newcomers Stephen Bess, Shawn Onley and Jacob Baker have also looked sharp.
"Taylor's got great stuff," Graham said. "He's got a chance to be outstanding. Bess and Onley are horses. They are going to be very good."
Graham also pointed to improved defense as helping the Owls in the 1996 season.
The Owls committed only three errors in their first four games.
He feels that the Owls, who host Tulane University this weekend in a three-game series, have a good chance of contending for the final Southwest Conference title.
Rice has finished one game short of the SWC crown in both of the last two seasons.
"It's just a matter of how much we evolve," Graham said. "We've got talent, no question about it.
"There's still some question about how well the pitchers will evolve. I'd say we would be the darkhorse for the title."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the February 16, 1996 issue.
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