Dominic de la Osa picked the right time for his first hit of the season. The Vanderbilt right fielder entered Sunday’s game against Baylor in a season-opening 0-for-9 slump, and he struck out swinging in his first two at-bats against Baylor starter Jeff Mandel. But in the fifth inning, with the score tied 3-3, de la Osa came to the plate with the bases loaded and the Baylor fans chanting, “Zero, zero”–a reference to de la Osa’s batting average. He reached for a pitch over the outside corner and pulled it through the hole between third base and shortstop, driving in two runs. The Commodores added two more in the inning to break the game open a bit.

I won’t be around for the late game tonight–have to catch a 7:15 p.m. flight back to Raleigh-Durham. That means I’ll miss an excellent pitching matchup between Rice’s Joe Savery and Texas A&M’s David Newmann, who has a terrific arm and just needs to command his stuff. But it’s been a great weekend of baseball here in Houston, with competitive, exciting games and terrific talent on display. The event is very well run and the ballpark is beautiful; I hope to make this an annual trip.