McDowell has already been announce as the Rice starter. Though Pierce has yet to name his starter, it will almost assuredly be...

So RHP Tyler Eppler: 7 app, 4 starts, 1-1, 18.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, .242 BAA, 16 hits, 11 BBs, 13 Ks

Though Coach Pierce has used one or two of his regular weekend trio of starters in mid-week games earlier this year, all three pitched at least 6 innings of work this past weekend against TAMU-CC. I suppose he could, conceivably, use them (Caleb Smith, Cody Dicksen, Andrew Godail) is short relief against us tonight, but they won't be starting.

Eppler started our earlier game againt SHS and pitched 3.1 2-hit, shutout innings, with their primary middle reliever and bullpen workhorse, Jr RHP Jason Simms (20.0 IP, 2.70 ERA, .207 BAA9 BBs, 21 Ks) shutting us down for 4 innings to close the deal in their 3-0 win at Reckling.

The Bearkats enter the game with a 12-11 overall record (7-7 at home, 6-7 vs. Top 100, 5-5 last 10 games), but with wins vs. Baylor, UT, Connecticut and Central Arkansas, in addition to their road win against us. Here's their schedule/results to date...

http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2013/sch...ston-State

Offensively, they're hitting .283/.355/.386, averaging 3 extrabase hits and 4.8 runs per game. They've stolen 20-23 bases (87%). However, they are a very aggressive, free-swinging team, with over twice as many strikeouts (155) as walks (70), and averaging 7 Ks per game. Four everyday players already have 18+ strikeouts on the season. Only one player has more than 8 BBs on the season. They're led by Carter Burgess (.363/.402/.473, 13 RBIs). McDowell should definately be leading with off-speed and breaking stuff to these guys to take advantage of their aggressiveness and penchant for early in the count swinging. Here's SHS's individual/team stats for their first 23 games...

http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/19900/st...amcume.htm

Really need this win not only for payback, but to keep our momentum going. Let's be road warriors once again and improve upon our already lofty 8-2 road record. Go Owls!

High today in Houston was only 63. Clear skies. Should be fine tonight.
6:30 start

Tonight's lineup...

Quote:Rice Owls‏@RiceOwlsdotcom14m
Rice lineup: Byrd CF, Stainback SS, Cook LF, Stringer 2B, Perrott C, Aquino DH, Teykl 3B, Ratterree RF, Ewing 1B, McDowell P. 6:30pm start.

Wow, Perrott moved up to the #5 hole! A bit surprising that Teykl is batting only #7 against a RHP. Still wish Cook and Stainback would switch places in the order, as Ford has repeatedly failed to move Byrd into scoring position from the #2 hole.

Play ball!

Byrd struck out swinging.
Stainback flied out to CF.
Cook reached on E-6.
Stringer popped to 3B. Christian has all but stopped hitting line drives the past 2 weeks. Wonder if it's something with his swing.

Scoreless heading to the bottom of the first inning.

Quick 1-2-3 inning for Chase to start things off (strikeoutK, ground out, pop to P). Let's work the count on the pitcher a bit, as he has had some control issues so far this season.

Perrott grouned out to SS.
Aquino line single to LF.
Teykl grounded out to 2B, with Aquino advancing to 2B. Two outs.
Ratterree flied out to LF.

Scoreless heading to the bottom of the second inning.

Another struggle for runs tonight?

(03-26-2013 06:45 PM)elf owl Wrote:  Another struggle for runs tonight?

We actually hit Friday night starters better than we hit mid-weekers. Real head scratcher.

Is it my imagination or do we get a lot of runners thrown out at home?

Eppler wiggles off the hook.

Chase gives up a two-out single, but strands him at 1B (ground out, strikeoutKK, infield pop). Come on, offense, this guy has now thrown 5.1 shoutout innings against us in two starts, while everyone else has hit him to a 4.75 ERA.

Ewing leadoff single up the middle. Can Leon moving him to 2B?
Byrd successfully sac bunts the runner to 2B with one out. Now the clutch hit. Ford needs to at least pull the ball to the right side so, if on the groun, Leon can advance to 3B.
Stainback walked. Runners on 1B and 2B, one out.
Cook singled, but Ewing thrown out at the plate. Aggressiveness is great, but not with an average runner at best, and with only one out. IMO, that was bad baseball by sending Ewing home. We're just not playing smart and going with the percentages.
Stringer walked to load the bases. Ugh, given them that out could prove extremely costly. Let's score here.
Perrott ground out.
Another wasted opportunity (2 hits, 2 BBs and no runs) thanks to a questionable baserunning decision. Same old, same old, as we keep inventing ways NOT to score.

Scoreless heading to the bottom of the third inning.

(03-26-2013 06:57 PM)elf owl Wrote:  Is it my imagination or do we get a lot of runners thrown out at home?

That was just a dumb call by our 3B coach, IMO-- given it was Ewing running and only one out, with our #4 and #5 hitters due up.

Chase gives up a one-out ground single, but that's quickly erased with a round the horn 5-4-3 double play.

Aquino reached on an E-5. Need to capitalize. Let's get the bunt down here.
Teykl fails to move Aquino to 2B; force out. Runner on 1B, one out. Lack of execution once again as we continue to be incredibly inefficient with our baserunners on offense.
Ratterree grounded into doubleplay.
And our wastefulness continues. Eppler has now thrown 7.1 scoreless innings against us.

Scoreless heading to the bottom of the fourth inning.

3 up, 3 down in B4

Ewing fly out to center.

Byrd double to LF, very close play @ 2nd. SHS coach argued it.

Byrd at 3rd with 2 out on FC

Cook K'd on four pitches.

Very quick 1-2-3 inning for Chase (two ground outs, fly out). Offense needs to give our pitcher a semblance of run support here.

Ewing flied out to CF.
Byrd double into the LCF gap. Again, Ford needs to try to pull the ball so, if on the ground, Leon can get to 3B. Situational hitting here.
Stainback grounds out to SS, but Leon still makes it to 3B. Lucky.
Cook struck out.
Yet another runner left in scoring position.

Scoreless heading to the bottom of the fifth inning.

Single with 1 out.