While Rice advanced to the finals of the Conference USA tournament today with a 20-9 win over Memphis, Rice junior lefty Joe Savery was unimpressive.

He was lifted in the sixth inning after allowing six earned runs off nine hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

“That was it?” asked a scout based in the Southeast after watching Savery for the first time today. “I know he’s played first base for four games and was saved to come in for the second game of a doubleheader, but if you’re a first-rounder, I generally am expecting a little bit more.

“He was 90-91 and started to get feel for his changeup, but he was pushing it more than anything and he couldn’t throw his breaking ball for a strike. Here’s a lefthanded guy who’s big and strong, and to his credit, he seems to be able to make a pitch to get out of jams, but I think his delivery needs an overhaul . . . He lands closed, comes across his body and today he really struggled to throw strikes, and when he did, there weren’t many pitches spotted in the zone where he wanted them.

“He’s facing Memphis, and their hitters looked like there were beach balls coming up there.”