Comments on: CBB Visit: Texas at Rice on October 26

By: waltgreenberg

waltgreenberg — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:48:54 +0000

Colin, nice assessment, though you do realize that two years ago the Owls won 8 of 9 road games vs. ECU, USM and UH. To give you an idea just how good the Owls defense could be this season (and Wayne Graham is already calling it the best defense since the 2003 championship team), the infield will be fielded by 5 high school SSs (Rendon 3B, Holt 2B, Hague SS, Comerota/Buenger 1B), all of whom had excellent defensive reputations. As for the OF, I’m not sure anyone in college baseball will have more speed and range than Rathjen, Sultzbaugh and Mozingo, and all of above average arms.

By: Brian Foley

Brian Foley — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:32:47 +0000

I am hearing alot about this Holt kid…Is he related to the one at Florida State?

By: Colin Weber

Colin Weber — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:31:07 +0000

I would still have Rice as a heavy favorite in Con-USA this year. With the return of Ryan Berry and Mike Ojala in the weekend rotation, the Owls will have a very strong weekend rotation. As walt mentioned, the bullpen would be the question mark as there are a lot of unproven arms (but definitely some talent). The conference schedule doesn’t set up very well for the Owls this year as they have to hit the road to play against three of the top four other teams in the coference, travelling to Southern Miss, East Carolina, and cross-town rival Houston. They do catch Tulane at home this season. I could see the Owls dropping a series or two with a tougher road schedule, but I expect Wayne Graham to win another conference championship and have a strong post-season team.

The key to Rice’s season is solidifying the bullpen and getting big contributions from several new faces – JUCO transfers Sultzbaugh (CF) and Holt (2B) and freshmen Wall (P), Rendon (3B), and Rathjen (OF). Keeping Buenger (DH) healthy will also boost the Rice offense.

By: Brian Foley

Brian Foley — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:52:20 +0000

I am just trying to figure out who would be the Owls toughest competition this season.

By: waltgreenberg

waltgreenberg — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:28:58 +0000

Brian, is that wishful thinking? IMO, despite considerable losses from last year’s team (Luna, Gayhart, Padron, Zornes, St.Clair, Bell, Price, Dodson), I honestly believe the ‘09 version of the Owls will be an all-around stronger team– superior defense, far superior baserunning, superior starting pitching and an offense that should be at least on par with last year’s edition. Yes, the bullpen will be a work in progress, with the exception of Soph Matt Evers (who moves into the closer role), but there are more than enough talented arms ready to step up, including a couple true Freshmen (Benak, Fazio) and several other previous redshirts (Hamilton, Harwood, Haynes).

As for C-USA, I’d give the early nod to Eastern Carolina as our stiffest competition. Tulane, USM and Houston should all be Top 40 calibre and jockeying for post-season positioning…and I expect continued improvement from Marshall, UAB, UCF and Memphis. Tulane and USM both need to find pitching beyond their Friday starter (especially after losing their two aces in Shooter Hunt and Bowden), but both should have solid offenses; whereas Houston could have the second best pitching staff in the conference, but can they replace their considerable losses on offense (Pound, Stewart, Cesario).

By: Brian Foley

Brian Foley — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:01:28 +0000

Great stuff Colin.

Do you think Tulane or someone else will knock off the Owls in Conference USA?