KFDM COOP Posted March 18, 2007 Report Posted March 18, 2007 Rice gets Graham No. 700Owls top Cal Poly to earn milestone victory for coachA bottle of Dom Perignon rested on the desk of Rice coach Wayne Graham on Saturday afternoon, a special gift commemorating the Owls' 7-2 win over Cal Poly at Reckling Park — Graham's 700th victory in 15-plus seasons on South Main.When asked how he would celebrate, Graham didn't need much time to muster a response.Given the Owls' penchant for late-inning heroics and the scheduled first pitch of the series finale, Graham said, "Rest. We've got to play at noon."After rallying for three runs in the ninth inning to claim Friday's opener 9-8, the eighth-ranked Owls (16-7) snapped a tie at 2 with a three-run seventh Saturday.Rice then finished off Cal Poly (13-12) with two in the eighth, clinching its 34th consecutive home series.Danny Lehmann, in the lineup as the designated hitter for the second time this season, capped the rally with an RBI single in the eighth that brought in Brian Friday, who posted his second four-hit game by going 4-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.The Owls rolled into three double plays through five innings but scored three times in the seventh with two outs. Lehmann's base hit in the eighth also came with two outs."We definitely had our fair share of two-out RBIs," Lehmann said. "We need to start doing a better job of attacking teams early, getting in front of them, and building off of that."We've had a lot of nerve-wracking games, kind of like (Friday) night."Righthander Matt Langwell (2-1) minimized the drama by working seven strong innings.Making his first weekend start, Langwell allowed two runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Better still he maintained his poise, even through a troublesome fourth."The coaches told me to get back out there and keep attacking the zone," Langwell said of the fourth inning. "They let me get a chance (to make a weekend start) and told me to take advantage of it, and I just went out there and tried to compete as best as I could."
JMay Posted March 19, 2007 Report Posted March 19, 2007 The Aggies are in Houston tomorrow. Possibly the best baseball match-up of the day nationally.
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