Flood Gates Open for Rice

Saturday, February 17

Houston, Texas

3:00 PM

Long Beach State University

5-3

Rice

4-4

Long Beach State

Rice

2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Rice Evens Series with Big Day from Berry
Luna Drives in Four in the Win as Rice Opens the Flood Gates with Seven Runs in the Late Innings

February 17, 2007

BOX SCORE

HOUSTON, TX-- Aaron Luna drove in four runs with a solo home run and a three-run triple as No. 6-ranked Rice (4-4) evened its series with visiting No. 20-ranked Long Beach State (5-3), 11-2. Ryan Berry (2-0) pitched seven and two third innings for the Owls, striking out a career-best eight, while giving up just two runs on seven hits. Rice broke open the game with seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

Rice extended the lead to 7-2 when Luna cleared the bases with a triple, after Dirtbag righthander David Roberts loaded the bases with two outs in a 4-2 game in the seventh. A bases loaded triple in the eighth by Diego Seatrunk then made it 11-2, as LBSU used seven pitchers on the day.

Junior Kyle Morgan went 2-for-2 with a solo homer and a walk in the loss in his first start in right field for LBSU.

A close game ensued through the middle innings as Berry kept LBSU just out of reach, as the Dirtbags twice closed to within a run.

Shane Peterson (0-1) went the first three innings for The Beach, giving up a two-run double by Chad Lembeck in the third, as Rice built an early 2-0 lead. Morgan's homer into the wind in right cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth, before an Aaron Luna leadoff homer off of Andre Lamontagne made it 3-1.

A sacrifice fly by Robert Perry cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, before Joe Savery's RBI double made it 4-2. Lamontagne gave up two runs in two-plus innings of work.

The series concludes on Sunday at 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time with Texas native Omar Arif (1-1, 1.86) throwing for The Beach against Joe Savery (1-0, 0.00)