HOUSTON—In Friday's loss to Texas, Rice's ballyhooed duo of sophomore righthanders—Austin Kubitza and John Simms—lacked their best stuff, and they struggled.

On Saturday, senior righty Matthew Reckling lacked his best stuff, too, but he was able to turn in a quality outing anyway, gutting his way through 6 2/3 innings and allowing just a pair of first-inning runs and four hits in a 6-2 win against Texas Tech.

"I really appreciate what he did. He started weak, but then he came on strong," Rice coach Wayne Graham said. "A creditable outing, when he didn't have his best stuff. He can throw a little harder than that, his curveball can be a little sharper than that, but he used his changeup some, and it was pretty good."

In his first two dominating outings this season, Reckling threw harder than he did Saturday night, when his fastball ranged from 86-91 mph. But of course, Reckling had struggled even when he had good velocity in years past because his command of his fastball was inconsistent. It was a more effective pitch Saturday, even without its best velocity.

"I think I have a lot more movement on my fastball this year," Reckling said. "Last year I threw a lot of four-seams, today I only threw two-seams. Sometimes I'll elevate a four-seam to get it by someone. On the (three) guys that I hit, those were four-seams. So I was like, I'm only throwing two-seams, which I've been doing all year. It's been running a lot, and just trying to keep guys off, move the fastball around." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—It's still early March, and Dave Serrano's rebuilding project at Tennessee is still in its infancy, but Serrano did not try to downplay the significance of his team's 5-4 win against Texas on Saturday.

"That was a big win—there are no ifs, ands or buts about it," Serrano said. "We try to say it's another game—it isn't another game. We played the University of Texas, and we came out on top."

It was an important day for the Volunteers, just as it was for Houston, which improved to 2-0 at the Houston College Classic with a 4-1 win against No. 4 Arkansas earlier Saturday. Second-year Houston coach Todd Whitting is a little further along in his rebuilding effort, but both teams can use Saturday's victories to take stock of their progress and build some confidence.

"It doesn't matter who we're beating, we're winning, and that's the main thing," Whitting said. "That's what these guys need. I thought until today's game, even last night, we didn't play games to win. And today they absolutely went out there and they played to win, they didn't play to lose at all. Everybody was aggressive. We continued for two days in a row to be aggressive at home plate. If we can continue to do that, we'll beat some people." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—When Texas coach Augie Garrido turned to address the media Friday night, a reporter jokingly told him the Longhorns are an offensive juggernaut.

"You bet your sweet ass," Garrido responded without missing a beat.

A little levity was in order after the Longhorns scored 11 runs on 13 hits against a very talented Rice pitching staff, en route to an ugly 11-8 win. Texas had scored just 21 runs total in its previous eight games, scuffling to a 4-4 start.

Garrido said even before his team got annihilated in a three-game sweep at Stanford that his hitters had been out of sync, out of rhythm and out of character. Garrido's message never changed: His hitters needed to stop trying so hard ("They say there's no crying in baseball; well, there's no trying in baseball, or else you'll fail," he said two weeks ago) and focus more on the process than the results. [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Jared Ray hasn't had many days over the last two years when his arm felt as good as it did Friday, in Houston's 7-4 win against Tennessee in the Houston College Classic. So he wanted to take full advantage, as he said later, and that's just what he did.

A fifth-year senior righthander for Houston, Ray has had three shoulder surgeries in his career, causing him to miss all of 2010 and most of 2011. But he built confidence by returning from his rehab to make five starts down the stretch last year, and he entered this spring feeling stronger than ever.

On Friday, he looked better than ever, striking out a career-high 10 batters over seven innings, allowing just a run on five hits and no walks.

"I knew I felt good coming into the game," Ray said. "It feels good to be healthy again and not ahve to worry about, week-to-week, how I'm going to feel. Just being able to go out here every day and prepare, knowing that I'm going to have my stuff that week."

He certainly had his stuff Friday. Ray maintained 90-91 mph velocity throughout his start, pumping 92-93 mph heat in the second inning. He started the game by striking out the first six hitters he faced, three of them on fastballs and three on low-80s sliders down and away. He relied almost exclusively on his fastball and hard-breaking 78-83 slider, throwing only a couple of changeups (and not effectively). [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Rice held a press conference today for Wayne Graham, who is part of the 2012 College Baseball Hall of Fame induction class, announced today.

Listening to Graham reminisce about the baseball wisdom he learned from Bibb Faulk and Casey Stengel during his playing days made me realize once again how lucky Rice's players are to learn the game from Graham, one of the great teachers in baseball history. Graham is a direct link to some of baseball's richest history, and I feel like I learn something new about the game every time I speak with him.

The 75-year-old Graham reiterated today that he plans to keep on coaching until he feels like he's no longer an asset to the Owls. Lucky for college baseball.

The other members of a star-studded induction class: Nomar Garciaparra, a standout shortstop at Georgia Tech from 1992-94; Lou Brock, an outfielder at Southern from 1958-60; Brad Wilkerson, a two-way star at Florida from 1996-98; Ed Cheff, who coached Lewis-Clark (Idaho) State from 1977-2010 and won 16 NAIA national championships; Tim Jorgensen, star shortstop at Wisconsin-Oshkosh from 1992-95; and the late Frank Sancet, who coached Arizona from 1950-72.

“This class has plenty of star power,” said Mike Gustafson, executive director of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. “We have players who excelled both in college and the pros and a longtime coach who has been successful at both the junior college and Division I level. It is a truly impressive group.”

HOUSTON—Arkansas sophomore righthander Ryne Stanek has picked up this spring right where he left off at the end of last season. In Friday's 3-1 win against Texas Tech in the Houston College Classic, Stanek continued to demonstrate just how much he has matured since he first arrived in college.

Stanek, an unsigned third-round pick out of high school in Kansas, struggled with his mechanics—and consequently his command and efficiency—throughout much of his freshman year in 2011. In his final regular-season outing, he recorded just one out before getting pulled in the first inning. But the following week in the Southeastern Conference tournament, Stanek suddenly began to harness his electric stuff, going 7 2/3 strong innings. He followed that up with a complete-game gem in regionals against Charlotte.

After a strong summer with Team USA and in the Cape Cod League, Stanek returned to campus with loads of confidence. He stepped onto the mound at a major league park on Friday and said he did not feel nervous—and he did not look nervous, either.

"I thought he did a great job in a big league ballpark, great atmosphere, he came out and was calm and under control," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "We did a good job spotting him a couple of runs, and he did the rest from there." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Saturday's final game at the Houston College Classic lasted just one hour, 45 minutes, making it the shortest game in the tournament's history by 25 minutes. Texas A&M sophomore righthander Michael Wacha and Rice freshman righty Austin Kubitza simply pounded the strike zone, and Kubitza was spectacularly efficient in the Owls' 1-0 win.

Kubitza needed just 88 pitches to throw a complete-game shutout of the Aggies, and 66 of those pitches were strikes. He struck out seven and scattered six hits. Not only did he issue zero walks, but he did not even go to a single 2-and-0 count all night.

"I'd look up there, and I don't think I ever remember him throwing a ball, it seemed like," Wacha said of Kubitza. "He was just pumping the strike zone, and that's how you have to do it."

In front of a large crowd in a major league stadium, the freshman Kubitza was not intimidated. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"After our (pregame) prayer huddle, everyone was like, 'Oh, he's scared,' " Kubitza said. "I was like, 'Hey, I'm pitching a shutout, y'all just need to get me a run.' Everything was just there for me, and they scored the run for me I needed." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—It was a good day to be a top prospect at the Houston College Classic. Logan Verrett and Brooks pinckard shined for Baylor in Friday's first game. John Stilson pitched very well in a no-decision for Texas A&M, and C.J. Cron reached base five times for Utah in the second game. And the best prospect in college baseball—Anthony Rendon—had three hits, two runs and an RBI to lead Rice to an 8-7 win against Kentucky in the third game.

Both of Rendon's first two hits were lasers to left field—a double down the line on a 1-and-2 pitch from lefthander Taylor Rogers in the first, and a single to left on a 2-2 offering in the third. He battled back from an 0-2 hole in that at-bat, then hit a couple of hard foul balls before whipping his bat through the zone for a line-drive single.

"I guess the first couple pitches in the count, I'm just trying to swing as hard as I can, put the barrel on the ball," Rendon said. "Good things will happen when you swing hard, you have good bat speed and you put the barrel on it, obviously. Then with two strikes, I like to open up a little bit, keep my weight back a lot more so I'll see the ball longer, then I'll try to spray wherever the pitch is going." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Preseason All-Americans John Stilson and C.J. Cron were the main prospect attractions in the day's second game here at Minute Maid Park. Stilson pitched well for Texas A&M, and Cron hit well for Utah, but both were upstaged by Utes pitchers Rick Anton and Tyler Wagner, who carried Utah to a 2-1 win, its first of the season.

Anton, a senior lefthander, allowed just one run on five hits and a walk while striking out eight over seven strong innings. Wagner, a sophomore righty, followed with two scoreless innings to pick up the save.

The Aggies threatened repeatedly, but Anton and Wagner made big pitches in big spots. Six times A&M put its leadoff man aboard but failed to score. A&M stranded three runners at third base and two more at second. All told, the Aggies were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-18 with runners on base. [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—As usual, the Houston College Classic is a feast for scouts, with six teams stocked with plenty of quality prospects. No fewer than eight major league scouting directors numbered among the dozens of scouts in attendance Friday at Minute Maid Park, and the first game of the day gave them a look at a pair of potential top-three-rounds picks in Baylor junior righties Logan Verrett and Brooks Pinckard. Both pitched well in Baylor's 5-2 win against Houston.

Verrett admitted he was feeling some jitters taking the mound in a big league park, and he worked at 87-90 mph in the first inning. Soon he settled into the 89-91 range and topped out at 92. He located his fastball well and mixed in an 82-85 mph slider, and a few changeups later.

"I was pleased with the start after the first two innings—I kind of settled down, got in my groove, and just played catch with Joey (Hainsfurther)," Verrett said. "The first time through the lineup, we started everyone off with fastballs, trying to get ahead. They caught onto that, and started putting balls in play, so we started mixing it up, just to keep them off balance." [...] Continue Reading »

Strike One: Return Of The Pac

In Southern California, up is down, black is white, night is day. Maybe it's La Nina.

Perennial superpower Cal State Fullerton, ranked No. 4 in the preseason, has lost its first three weekends and tumbled all the way out of the Top 25. Fellow Big West heavyweight UC Irvine lost a series last week for the first time in 20 weeks and sits just 6-5. San Diego, with one of the most talented rosters on the West Coast, has lost six of its last seven to match Fullerton's 4-6 start. And Southern California, the most storied program in college baseball history, is just 5-6 after losing a home series to New Mexico.

But UCLA, a notorious slow starter and underachiever, has raced out to a 9-0 start for the first time on record (dating to 1955). The 15th-ranked Bruins swept Nebraska this weekend and have quality wins against Vanderbilt, Long Beach State and USC.

UCLA coach John Savage said the offense—run by assistant coach Rick Vanderhook, previously George Horton's assistant at Cal State Fullerton—has been the key to his team's perfect start, and an area scout in SoCal agrees.

“Right now it seems like the only team out here playing to their capabilities is UCLA," one area scout said. "You want to know why? Rick Vanderhook. He brings energy to the game, and he wants a tough player. Once they buy in, they will be successful, because John Savage is a really good pitching guy and a really good recruiting guy. They complement each other really well, they do. Hook is a no-BS, get-after-it kind of guy. Hook has always been a winner. I think the marriage of Hook and Savage—watch out. I really think there's a lot to be gained there." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—After mustering just five runs on 13 hits in their previous three games heading into Sunday, Texas' hitters decided something had to be done.

"We kind of struggled in the first two games (at the Houston College Classic this weekend)—we faced good pitching—so today we wanted to come out and prove ourselves to the people here," junior outfielder Kevin Keyes said. "We'd been struggling, so we had a little team talk last night, the hitters, and I think it really worked well. We found our confidence today, and hopefully it'll carry over to the rest of the year."

But it took until the sixth inning for the Longhorns to find their confidence against Missouri on Sunday. Trailing by two runs, Texas finally put together a big inning, erupting for six runs in the fifth en route to an 8-5 win. The big blows were Jordan Etier's two-run single and Tant Shepherd's two-run double off the left-field wall. [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Immediately after the final out was recorded and the postgame handshakes were completed, all of Rice's players and coaches disappeared into the tunnel behind the third-base dugout at Minute Maid Park.

More than 20 minutes later, the players filed back out to collect their equipment. From the solemn expressions on their faces, you'd never guess the Owls had just beaten Texas Tech 3-2.

Finally, Rice coach Wayne Graham ambled out of the tunnel.

"I'm sorry guys," Graham said to the group of reporters waiting outside the dugout, "but I had to—what do you call it?—vent my wrath.

"I was stretching the bounds of my vocabulary."

So, what made Graham so upset after a 3-2 victory against a quality opponent?

"The baserunning," he said. "It was unbelievable. It isn't that we gave up three outs on the bases, it's that we gave up three baserunners. That's much worse than just giving up three outs. We can't do that. You just can't run yourself out of innings, in a situation where it isn't even that tough of a baserunning situation." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—The first two pitches of the game made all the difference.

Houston shortstop Blake Kelso jumped on Texas righthander Brandon Workman's first pitch of the game for a triple to right-center field.

Workman's next pitch, a curveball, bounced in the dirt and scooted away from catcher Cameron Rupp, allowing Kelso to race home for the game's first run.

It would also be the game's last run. Workman settled down in a hurry, retiring the next 14 batters he faced en route to a sparkling eight-inning outing, but Houston starter Michael Goodnight was even better. The sophomore righthander allowed just two hits and four walks while striking out nine over seven shutout innings, and Houston stunned the No. 3 Longhorns, 1-0.

Goodnight found his groove in the middle innings, retiring 13 straight Longhorns to end his outing, before handing off to relievers Ty Stuckey and Matt Creel. One area scout on hand said Goodnight held the velocity on his 89-92 mph fastball better than he has in the past, and his 81-83 slider looked better than ever. He also mixed in a slow 70-71 curve and four changeups. [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Texas righthander Brandon Workman has a big arm, but Longhorns coach Augie Garrido said in the preseason that Workman was starting to learn that there's more to pitching than lighting up the radar gun.

"I think he sees that less is better," Garrido said in February. "He came from a small school, and the thing that he could do is really throw hard—and he still can, but I think he sees the difference between pitching and throwing hard."

Workman still has the ability to throw a 93 mph fastball anytime he wants, but today against Houston he's had more success pounding the bottom of the zone with an 86-90 sinker. He's also mixed in a power curve at 76-77 and an 84 mph changeup against lefties.

After allowing a triple to Blake Kelso leading off the game, Workman has retired 12 straight heading into the fifth. Clearly, he is maturing as a pitcher.

HOUSTON—Like everyone else in Minute Maid Park on Saturday afternoon, Missouri coach Tim Jamieson saw why Texas Christian lefthander Matt Purke was a first-round pick out of high school last June.

"Great stuff. I was obviously impressed with him," Jamieson said. "No question, he's the real deal."

Purke had the best start of his young college career, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks while striking out seven over 5 1/3 innings. He earned a no-decision, as the TCU bullpen coughed up a two-run lead in the eighth inning, but th Horned Frogs won in extra innings, 4-3.

It was a sloppy finish, filled with baserunning gaffes by both sides, but Purke was the big story.

"It's a shame Purke didn't get a win, but certainly he pitched really well and threw a lot of strikes, and got his breaking ball over," TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "He's just like any other pitcher: You can't pitch with just your fastball." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Augie Garrido couldn't conceal his jubilation Friday night, and he didn't try to. The Texas coach had just watched his team pull out a thrilling 2-1 win to snap a four-game losing streak to rival Rice, and he seemed downright giddy as he held court in front of a handful of reporters along the first-base line at Minute Maid Park.

"It's an exciting win because it gives confidence to the players," Garrido said. "With these really tight games, they understand the importance of details. And when you lose those games it can motivate you too, because it was played in a championship environment. It was played like a championship game, and most of the games played at this time of year are not played at that level . . . Both teams had to grind it out. They both had to fight hard, and they both did. We just found a way to win this one, and that doesn't always happen. I am excited about it. It's good, at 71, to be excited."

For seven innings, the story of this game was Texas sophomore righthander Taylor Jungmann. He was utterly dominant against Rice's talented lineup, racking up eight strikeouts over seven shutout frames while allowing just two hits and two walks. He held the velocity on his 91-94 mph fastball deep into his outing and mixed in a devastating 79-82 power slurve and an 84-86 mph "screw-change", as he calls it. [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Raynor Noble said the Houston team he saw Friday afternoon bore little resemblance to the Cougars he saw over the team's first seven games. And the coach was not complaining.

The Cougars carried a 2-5 record into the Houston College Classic, and they were coming off an 8-2 loss to rival Rice on Tuesday.

But Houston got strong pitching from Chase Dempsay, William Kankel and Matt Creel on Friday in a 3-0 win against Missouri.

"We had a little come-together after that debacle against Rice, and made up our minds that we were tired of messing around," Noble said. "It showed today. Whether we can capture that and keep it remains to be seen, but this is a nice win for us." [...] Continue Reading »

HOUSTON—Texas Tech ace Chad Bettis had very good stuff Friday and appeared on his way to a dominating performance after striking out two in a scoreless first.

Texas Christian ace Steven Maxwell did not have his silver hammer or his good fastball, working at 87-89 instead of his usual 88-93, and he looked on his way to a rough outing after giving up two runs in the first.

But Maxwell battled through six innings—the last five of them scoreless—and Bettis was tagged for seven runs on 11 hits over his six innings (despite striking out nine), as the Horned Frogs cruised to an 11-2 win in the first game of the Houston College Classic.

It looked like things were only going to get worse for Maxwell when Taylor Ashby smacked a line drive off his hip for a 1-2-3 putout leading off the second. TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle and the Horned Frogs' trainer came out to check on Maxwell, who visibly gathered himself with a few deep breaths and a number of warm-up pitches between batters. He remained in the game, and the liner proved to be a turning point.

"It really got me on the hip bone, that joint where the leg moves, so I was definitely feeling it the whole game," Maxwell said. "But it kind of helped me force myself to get my adrenaline going so I wouldn't feel it as much, and that's the environment I pitch best in. So it actually helped me out a little bit, got me more focused." [...] Continue Reading »

It looks like next the Houston College Classic will have another strong field in 2010. The host Astros announced today that Missouri, Texas, Texas Christian and and Texas Tech will join annual participants Houston and Rice in the 10th annual event at Minute Maid Park. It will take place from March 5-7 next year.