2/24/2011 12:43:04 AM
It was a fairly quiet Wednesday for most of the country, but there were some intriguing matchups on tap, including the game we were at between Southland Conference hopeful Texas State and No. 15 Rice.
* Rice finally woke up offensively against the Bobcats, and it did so against one of the nation's most talented arms in Bobcats right-handed pitcher Carson Smith. That was impressive and perhaps something that will get this offense going once and for all. Anthony Rendon, who hit .250 opening weekend against Stanford, has increased his average to .429 after another solid game. Interestingly, though, he only has one RBI and no home runs so far this season. Owls starting pitcher Chase McDowell didn't look particularly good against the Bobcats. But unlike last weekend against the Cardinal, he mixed in some 80-81 changeups with his 90-93 fastball. Rice won the contest 11-10.
* Florida Atlantic will be one of those teams at the end of the spring that will need some solid midweek wins. Well, go ahead and put one on its resume after defeating Miami 7-4 on Wednesday. FAU starting pitcher Ryan Garton struck out three and allowed just four hits in four shutout innings of work. The bullpen also did a nice job with Paul Davis, who threw two shutout innings, leading the charge. Miami starter Steven Ewing didn't have a particularly strong outing, allowing five runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings.
* Georgia Tech had been looking forward to freshman RHP Matt Grimes' debut for quite some time. Grimes surprised some when he was drafted in the fourth round and decided to go to college instead of signing with the Chicago White Sox. Grimes' first start wasn't overly impressive against Georgia Southern. He struck out just three hitters and allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings. It certainly wasn't a terrible outing, but wasn't dominant. Still, the Jackets have to be happy with the way the youngster threw on the road in a 7-4 victory. The Jackets also sent Jacob Esch to the mound in relief, where he struck out two hitters to close out the game. Esch is a position player for the Jackets, but coach Danny Hall began using him as a reliever during the fall. He's a guy with a tremendous arm.
* Georgia finally got on the winning side of the ledger Wednesday night with a hard-fought 6-4 win over Furman. There's not much to report from the game, but top sophomore prospect Zach Cone helped the Bulldogs in a big way with a three-hit night.
* Louisiana-Lafayette's woes continue on Wednesday with a tough 3-2 loss to Nicholls State. With the setback, the Ragin' Cajuns, who are expected to finish near the top of the Sun Belt, are now 2-3 with Siena coming to town this weekend.