Baseball's winning streak hits 11
The baseball team is moving up the national charts at a rate that would impress even Casey Kasem.
The Owls, who picked up their 11th consecutive victory in an 8-5 triumph over Sam Houston State University Wednesday in Huntsville, have been rewarded for their recent success by the fragmented national rankings system.
In the USA Today/Baseball Weekly poll, Rice moved up six notches into a tie for 19th. Rice equaled that gain in the Collegiate Baseball poll, which ranks them 21st. In the Baseball America poll, the Owls inched up one place to 24th.
The main impetus for their rise was a tidy sweep of the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Louisville and Lamar University last weekend at the Big Ball Sports/Rice Classic. The three-game sweep, in which the Owls outscored their opponents 38-11, allowed Rice to run the table on their 10-game homestand.
"We're starting to play a little more consistently," Owl first baseman Paul Doyle said. "I think the difference is that everyone has been focused and playing well."
Mark Taylor provided the biggest thrill over the weekend. Pitching against Louisville on Saturday, he toyed with Rice's first no-hitter since the 1983 season before finishing with a one-hit, 11-0 triumph.
Taylor held the Cardinals without a hit for the first eight innings and retired the first batter in the ninth. Louisville's Tim Harper then hit a fly ball to right. Owl right fielder William Ford misjudged the ball, and it fell in for a double.
Taylor, who was named Collegiate Baseball's National Co-Player of the Week, lowered his earned-run average to 0.93 and improved his record to 3-0.
"[Taylor] has always had the stuff," Pitching Coach Jon Prather said. "It's just been getting him comfortable on the mound to where he has the confidence he needs. His performance this weekend is an indication of what he can do."
Ford atoned the next day against Lamar. His early two-run homer helped Rice to a 5-1 lead, and his bunt single drove in an insurance run in the eighth inning of the Owls' 6-3 victory.
"Lamar really played an extremely good ballgame, and we were still able to win," Head Coach Wayne Graham said. "That's very significant for us. The lefthander who pitched for them is one of the best in the country. That's one thing we have to do in the conference -- beat left-handers."
The Owls opened the weekend with a 23-hit attack in a 21-7 victory over UTSA. Jacques Landry, Lance Berkman and Jeff Venghaus hit home runs to lead the way.
Lost in the offensive and pitching heroics of the weekend was Rice's continuing development of a steady defense. The Owls, plagued by defensive problems in the last two seasons, turned nine double plays and committed only one error.
"We're sounder defensively than we have been in the past," Graham said. "All the way around, everything's been working well defensively."
Rice hosts the Harvey Suites/Rice Invitational this weekend. With games against Oklahoma State University -- tied with the Owls in the USA Today/Baseball weekly -- the University of Southern Louisiana and Lamar, the series presents a strong non-conference test.
"This coming weekend will be a good barometer for the future," Doyle said. "If we can win those games, then it will really say something. The past week was good, but we need to look ahead to the next weekend and see where we are."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the March 1, 1996 issue.
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