Published: May 31, 2008 02:55 pm            

Close call for ranked Rice

HOUSTON — It was close. Awfully close, but Sam Houston State couldn't send top-seeded Rice to the loser's bracket at the Houston Regional on Friday night at Reckling Park.

Despite a solid performance from freshman hurler Dallas Gallant, the Bearkats dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Owls and will fight for their postseason lives today in an elimination game against Texas at 2 p.m.

Gallant (9-4) scattered seven hits over eight innings, allowing three earned runs to pick up the loss on the mound. Senior center fielder Todd Sebek led the Kats with a pair of singles, while Bobby Verbick, Seth Hammock, Nick Zaleski and Braeden Riley all hit safely in the loss.

It was the third time this season that Rice (43-13) and Sam Houston played a one-run game. The two teams split the regular-season meetings, but the Owls won the big one Friday.

“We have played Rice three times this year and all three have been one-run games with Rice winning two,” SHSU head coach Mark Johnson said. “They have a good ballclub. I thought (Rice starter Ryan) Berry threw very, very well and I thought our freshman (Gallant) did very, very well. Dallas gave us a chance to get the win, but it comes down to whether you hit into a couple of double plays. We hit into a couple of double plays that got us out of some innings.”

Gallant cruised through the first two innings before the Owls finally got on the board with a pair of runs in the third. Jimmy Comerota and Derek Myers, Rice's No. 8 and 9 hitters, got the rally started with a single and a hit-by-pitch.

Center fielder Jared Gayhart then tied it at 1 with an RBI single to right field. After Gallant got first baseman J.P. Padron to strikeout swinging, Owls leading hitter Diego Seastrunk made it 2-1 with a grounder to first.

“First of all, they hit the ball good and put the ball in play when I made mistakes,” Gallant said. “I felt really good on the mound, felt comfortable. I got into a groove there after they scored their third run and just tried to keep us in it so our offense could get some runs across.”

The Bearkats got the scoring started with a run in the top of the first inning off Berry (8-4), who gave up one earned run in six innings to go along with four strikeouts to notch the win.

Sebek opened the game with a single that ricocheted off Rice shortstop Rick Hauge's glove and fell into left field to begin the frame. The All-American advanced to third on a grounder to short by Keith Stein and scored when Verbick poked a shot through the middle for an RBI single.

The Bearkats battled back to tie it at 2 in the fourth when Rice committed a couple of errors to set up an RBI single by Riley. But the Owls went back up 3-2 when Hague, who lead off the inning with a double, scored on a sacrifice fly by Chad Mozingo, just beating a throw from Stein in center.

Sam Houston started off hot, recording seven hits through the first six innings, but Rice put the ball into reliever Bobby Bell's hands to begin the seventh. The junior from Aledo shutdown the dangerous Bearkat offense, tossing three perfect innings (his longest outing of the season) to earn the save.

SHSU left fielder Ryan Trevino just missed a potential game-tying home run in the eighth, but it got hung up in the wind and only made it to the warning track. That was the only mistake Bell made.

“It's like coach (Wayne Graham) said, 'When you are faced with a good hitting ballclub that is hitting well you have to change speeds and locations,'” Bell said. “That was what I was trying to do all night and that is what I contribute my success to.”

The Bearkats will face the Longhorns, who dropped a 2-1 contest to St. John's on Friday, today in the opening game. It's a familiar situation for Sam Houston, which fell in the opener of the Oxford (Miss.) Regional last season before eliminating Troy and Southern Miss to make it to the championship game.

“We have been in this opportunity last year. We were down in our first game and ended up coming back to the finals,” Sebek said. “We got a ways to go. This is a great regional with Texas and St. John's. St. John's is sitting real well — not using many of their pitchers — and Texas is a great team too. We just have to rebuild our team and get ready to go tomorrow.”

The Bearkats are going to start sophomore Ryan Tepera (3-2, 5.49 ERA) in today's elimination game. Tepera will try to outduel Texas ace Chance Ruffin (7-3, 2.04 ERA) to help Sam Houston State stay alive in the regional.

        

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