Sweep by TCU leaves Owls looking up

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by John Fredland

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Two weeks ago, the baseball team was hot. The Owls were sweeping through their non-conference schedule with a 20-2 record. They had enjoyed a meteoric rise in the national polls.

Now, those glory days are a fading memory. Little trouble spots that Rice had been able to overcome during their non-conference success bubbled to the surface during the Southwest Conference season-opening First Pitch Tournament.

They exploded in the Owls' faces last weekend against Texas Christian University, when Rice dropped three games. With their 2-5 SWC mark, the Owls now gaze up at the rest of the conference.

The team will try to turn their slump around this weekend when they travel to Austin for a four-game series with the University of Texas (20-13 overall, 2-2 in SWC).

The Owls and Longhorns open the series tonight at 7 p.m., play a double-header tomorrow at 2 p.m. and conclude with a game Sunday at 2 p.m.

Although he is displeased by the losses, Head Coach Wayne Graham feels that the adversity may turn out to have a positive impact on his squad.

"In this case, doubts may be good for our team," Graham said. "They had an overly optimistic view about where they were. They thought they had arrived, when I never thought so.

"Basically, the TCU series could be a reality check. We do have ability, but it is immature. If a lot of people can make small jumps, we can have a great ball club."

In Fort Worth, the Owls were not outplayed by TCU, but they squandered leads in the late innings of every game because they walked batters, committed errors and stranded men on base.

"The number-one thing is the same problem we had last year -- free passes," Graham said. "We had 24 free passes in 23.2 innings. You're not supposed to win if you do that. We also made some crucial errors.

"We did not hit well with men on base and two strikes -- not even tough pitches, but people went brain-dead. If you look at it that way, it's a wonder we were even in the games."

In the midst of the weekend disaster, Graham was forced to shuffle his lineup. He replaced third baseman Jacques Landry with Joe Cathey and moved Landry to left field and designated hitter.

"We're dissatisfied by Landry's defense at third base," Graham said. "Cathey is a good third baseman. Even though he made two errors, he got to balls that we weren't getting to and made plays we weren't making. Jacques is a good player, but he has struggled at third base for two years."

Centerfielder Bubba Crosby pulled his quadriceps in the series opener and had to miss the last two games. Crosby is expected to return to the lineup against the Longhorns.

The Owls will face a Texas squad that has struggled as much as any previous Longhorn team coached by Cliff Gustafson, who has won more games than any other coach in the history of college baseball.

Longhorn pitching, a traditional strength, has been a major liability this year. Gustafson was forced to use nine pitchers in one game of the First Pitch Tournament.

"Texas has questionable pitching, so they're vulnerable," Graham said. "If they get pitching, the rest of their team is strong. As with so many teams in the conference, with the exception of Tech, they have many vulnerabilities."

Since the SWC race remains closely grouped after the first two weeks of conference play, the Owls still have a chance to contend for the final conference title. Doing well against Texas, however, is essential.

"If we can't win at least two games this weekend, we're going to be pretty much behind the eight-ball as far as having any chance of winning the conference," Graham said.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the March 29, 1996 issue.

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