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The Rice Thresher
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Spartans advanced to College World Series a year ago by Jose Luis Cubria thresher editorial staff
It has little to do with the head-to-head rivalry, since the Owls have always dominated the Spartans. Rice won five of six meetings between the two teams last year and owns an 11-2 advantage in the all-time series. No, Rice has another problem with San Jose State: the Spartans made the College World Series last year while the Owls had to watch it all unfold on TV. "It hurt," senior pitcher Kenny Baugh said. "We beat them five out of six and felt like we were a better team. It hurt big-time." Rice and San Jose State shared last year's WAC championship, but the Owls received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament thanks to their superior record in head-to-head meetings. The Spartans received an at-large bid. The Owls fell one game short of the Super Regionals after losing to the University of Houston in the Regional played at Cougar Field. Meanwhile, the Spartans shocked the college baseball world by emerging out of their Regional, played at the Baylor Ballpark in Waco. But San Jose State's magical run didn't end there. The Spartans upset heavily-favored UH, one of the top eight national seeds, in the Super Regionals to make their first-ever trip to Omaha. San Jose State (14-6-1, 5-3 WAC) lost a number of key players from that team - including three of its top four pitchers. But head coach Wayne Graham said the Spartans are still a good team, in large part due to last year's success. "If anything, [last year] truly shows our players that San Jose is a quality team," Graham said. "If we're to win, we have to be on top of our game. We must be." Graham's players agree. "Those guys went to the World Series last year, so we know they can win," Baugh said. "They played us hard all last year and they've got a lot of guys returning, so we can't go out there and think we can just walk out and win. They'll be aiming for us, and it's a conference series, so we have to be ready." But Graham points out that the Spartans will also be looking for some payback. "Even having gone to the College World Series, San Jose lost to us last year so they'll be on a high," Graham said. "They're facing, in their minds, a must-win series because they've lost three conference games." The Spartans, while still very solid on the mound, are more balanced than last year's squad, which relied almost exclusively on pitching. They return four all-WAC performers from last year, including defending WAC Player of the Year Junior Ruiz. Ruiz, a preseason second-team all-American, is off to a great start. He leads the team in nearly every important offensive category, including batting average (a WAC-leading .436), home runs (4) and RBIs (23). First baseman John Fagan, catcher Adam Shorsher and pitcher Tim Adinolfi - all second-team all-WAC players a year ago - also return, but San Jose State's talent doesn't end there. The Spartans return two pitchers - Jeremy Rogelstad and Andy Cook - who were expected to play big roles on last year's staff but missed the entire season with injuries. Throw in junior college transfer Gabe Lopez (.344/3/16), and it's not hard to see why the Spartans aren't just one-hit wonders. "They've got a lot of players back, and they've brought in a couple of quality recruits," Graham said. "Lopez is a super quality player. They have a good team, arguably good or better than they had last year. "They know they can play, and they have expectations of being in a regional and perhaps going to Omaha again. They're a good team." Rice (18-5, 8-1) may have some questions of its own. The biggest one is senior pitcher Jon Skaggs. Skaggs (5-0, 1.84 earned run average) strained an abdominal muscle in his last start, a 13-2 win at the University of Hawaii last week, and his status for this weekend is still up in the air. With or without Skaggs, the Owls know how significant this weekend will be. "It's tremendously important," Graham said. "We don't need any disasters, that's for sure."
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