Rice Owls ranked Preseason #1 by Collegiate Baseball

Rice returns seven position player starters and a bulk of pitching from last year's 57-13 team

Prior to Wayne Graham’s arrival in Houston in 1992, Rice had never been to the NCAA Tournament in baseball. The Owls made their first NCAA appearance in 1995 and over the last decade have exploded into one of college baseball’s premier programs.

During his 15 seasons at the helm of the Rice program, Graham has led the Owls to 12 NCAA tournaments, six super regionals and five College World Series. He has compiled a record of 684-270. In 2003, he captured Rice’s first ever team national championship in any sport. His teams have won eleven consecutive conference titles while spending time in the Southwest Conference, the WAC and now CUSA.

The 2007 Owls have the potential to carry on and add to this excellence. They were recently chosen preseason No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball News, as they return a wealth of talent from last year’s team that finished third in the CWS. Rice boasted a 57-13 record, and won 37 of its last 40 games. This impressive mark ranked them first nationally in winning percentage.

The returnees include multiple preseason All-America selections and are headlined by pitcher Cole St. Clair. St. Clair, who saw time as the closer last season, transitioned to more of a starting role toward the latter part of 2006 and may be in that role again this year. The 6’5”, 225-pound lefty posted a 7-2 record and 1.82 ERA as a sophomore. He struck out 100 batters while walking only 26. St. Clair also recorded 11 saves.

Rice also returns another quality left-handed starter in junior Joe Savery. Savery also plays first base and is one of the team’s leading hitters. He is also a leader off the field. On the mound, he went 5-1 with a 2.76 ERA last year while tallying 64 strikeouts and allowing 24 free passes. At the plate, Savery batted .335, drove in 66 runs and slugged 9 homeruns. He also had 22 doubles and stole 7 bases.

Defensively, the Owls are what all baseball teams strive to be, which is strong up the middle.

At shortstop, junior Brian Friday returns. Friday possesses tremendous range and is also solid with the stick. In 2006, he batted .353 with 9 homeruns and 57 RBI’s.

Aaron Luna, who set a freshman record with 16 homeruns last year, may see time at second base. He plays third base and left field as well, and may spend the bulk of his time there due to the personnel on hand.

Junior Danny Lehmann and senior Travis Reagan give Rice solid players behind the plate.

Tyler Henley, who batted .336 with 8 homeruns last season, will be the starter in centerfield. He led the team in doubles (26) and drove in 54 runs as a sophomore.

Rice will begin its quest to return to Omaha and the College World Series on February 3 rd when they welcome Central Missouri State to Reckling Park.

* Stay tuned for an in-depth Owls’ preview from our Rice correspondent Bob Schlanger. This preview, along with our other CUSA team previews, should be released by mid-January.