Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Rice
Baseball Falls 12-5 Against No. 3 Rice
3/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 30, 2002
HOUSTON - Fresno State (17-15, 5-3 WAC) fell to 0-3 on the Houston road trip falling 12-5 against Rice (25-5, 8-0 WAC). It was the second straight game the Bulldogs lost to the Owls. FS fell to Houston earlier in the week to start to road trip.
"Things aren't falling are way right now. We're hitting the ball well, but right at the fielders. Our confidence is still high, though, and we just have to keep playing hard," said junior designated hitter Brian Pierce (Fresno, Calif.).
Senior RHP Bob Runyon (Atwater, Calif.) suffered his sixth loss of the season going 5.1 innings giving up a season-high nine runs with eight being earned.
Rice jumped on FS early hitting two singles, two doubles and home run, all before the first out of the game in the first inning.
Third baseman Hunter Brown blasted a three-run homer over the left field wall to spark the five-run first for Rice.
The Bulldogs capitalized on Owls' miscues in the second inning to get in the game. Junior first baseman Ben Fritz (San Jose, Calif.) scored from second base on a throwing error by shortstop Enrique Cruz. Later in the inning senior catcher Brad Harper (Madera, Calif.) grounded out to the shortstop to bring in outfielder Jason Gutknecht (Madera, Calif.) who had advanced to third on a wild pitch.
The Bulldogs chipped away three more times, getting a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings off Rice starter RHP Philip Humber. Sophomore third baseman Casey McGehee (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Harper drove in runs in the fifth and sixth innings off a single and ground out, respectively.
The Owls jumped on Runyon once, however, in their half of the sixth inning, scoring four runs to put upped their lead to 11-5. Designated hitter Dane Bubela doubled down the right field line to drive in two.
The loss marked the sixth straight for Fresno State against ranked opponents. The last ranked opponent FS has defeated, was No. 21 Long Beach State.
It was Runyon first loss since losing to San Jose State on March 8, when he went 7.1 innings and gave up five runs.
McGehee extended his hitting streak to eight games going 1-for-4 on the day with an RBI.
Fresno State and Rice will wrap up their series tomorrow at 11 a.m.
