Abductions cause students, university to evaluate security Gillis ...

'
SPORTS THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, APRIL 8. 1994 11
Rice baseball takes its share of lead in SWC race
by John Fredland
The Rice baseball team, ranked
17th in the nation, took two of three
games from the 19th-ranked University
of Texas last weekend in Austin.
That enabled Rice to move into a
four-way tie for first place in the Southwest
Conference with a 6-3 mark. The
Longhorns are also 6-3, with Texas
Christian University and Texas Tech
University both sporting 4-2 conference
records.
"Anytime you take two out of three
on the road, it's successful," Head
Coach Wayne Graham said. "Taking
two out of three on the road against
Texas is extremely successful."
"Two wins is okay, but I really
wanted the sweep," catcher Jeff
Brannen said.
Success against the Longhorns
meant more than just the opportunity
to move up in the standings, according
to first baseman Paul Doyle.
"This will show Texas what it will
be like for them in the Big 8," he said.
"There has been a lot of talk about
what conference they are going to be
in and what conference we are going
to be in. Because of that, it's good to
beat them like this."
Pitching wildness denied Rice a
series sweep, as the Longhorns salvaged
the second game of the April 2
doubleheader, 84.
Rice pitchers walked 13 Texas batters
in the second game. Sue of those
batters put on base by walks eventually
crossed the plate.
In the first and final games of the
series, Owl pitchers did not pitch the
Longhorn baiters aggressively, as they
issued 24 walks in the two games.
"We're trying to get them to do it,
but some of our younger pitchers are
still suffering control problems," Graham
said. "Fortunately they've got
good enough stuff so they can get by
with it We're hoping the control will
improve and the walks will go down."
With the score tied 4-4 in the fifth
inning in the finale, Stephen Larkin
led off with one of the walks against
Owl loser Jim Miller (1-2). Miller retired
the next two Longhorns, but
second baseman Matt Williamson
dropped Jerry Taylor's pop-up in short
right field, allowing Larkin to score for
a 5-4 Longhorn lead that the Owls
could not overcome.
In the first game of the doubleheader,
Rice snapped a tie with three
runs in the sixth inning and used heartstopping
relief work fromTim Byrdak
to hold off the Longhorns, 8-6.
With the score 4-4, Donald
Aslaksen led off the sixth with a single
to center against Longhorn loser Jay
Vaught (6-3). Mark Quinn followed
with another single. When Taylor
bobbled the ball Aslaksen took third.
He scored when David Brooks
bounced into a force-out, putting the
Owls in the lead. Then, Brooks scored
on a Brannen squeeze bunt and
Williamson doubled home Doyle for a
7-4 advantage.
After that the show belonged to
Byrdak, who turned in a relief performance
worthy of Harry Houdini.
Shutting down a Longhorn threat
-when he came into the game in the
sixth, Byrdak allowed two runs in the
seventh but closed outTexas with the
bases loaded.
The day before, the Owls used a
four-home run attack to rally past the
Longhorns, 12-9.
Just as in the final game of the
series, walks hurt the Owls. Seven
Longhorns puton base by walks would
eventually score.
Texas was cruising with a 4-0 lead
behind their ace Kj'os, who had given
up only one home run in 59.1 innings
on the season, when Rice turned on
the power in the top of the fifth.
Brooks started the onslaught with
a liner over the fence in left, cutting
the deficit to 4-1.
That opened the floodgates. Doyle
beat out an infield single. Brannen
walked on four pitches.
Kjos struck out Williamson for the
second out, but Boni drew another
walk to load the bases.
Cruz lined his fourth career grand
slam and 10th homer of the season to
the opposite field in left center, giving
the Owls a 5-4 advantage.
Texas responded with a run in the
bottom of the fifth to tie the game, but
Quinn put the Owls ahead to stay in
the top of the sixth, lin ing a so lo homer
to left field for a 6-5 lead.
Quinn, who finished eight-for-11 in
the series with six runs and four RBIs,
was named SWC Player of the Week.
The Owls added insurance runs to
take a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the
eighth and held off twoTexas rallies in
the late innings.
Byrdak pitched in and out of jams
in both innings to notch the save.
Aslaksen added insurance with Rice's
fourth homer of the night, a two-run
shot in the ninth.
This weekend, Rice hosts Baylor
University in a 7 p.m. game tonight,
and a 2 p.m. doubleheader tomorrow.
The Owls are happy with their position
in the conference race, as they
are perched in first at the halfway
point of the schedule.
"I want a ring, a conference championship,"
Brannen said. "1 don't th in k
Rice has ever won first place, and 1
want that I think we've really got a
good shot to win the conferencc, and
I think that's what the team wants."
"It's a good position, because we
have two out of our last three series at
home, which is a definite advantage,"
Graham said."We played the two
teams that were supposed to be the
best, Texas and A&M."
"We've still got to do our business.
We've still got a long way to go."
Jose Cruz: Rice's Centerfield Messiah sets sights on promised land
by John Fredland
Three days in the life of Rice
centerfielder Jose Cruz, Jr.:
On Thursday afternoon, the Owls
are hosting Oklahoma State University.
The Cowboys come into the game
ranked seventh in the nation, but the
Owls have pulled ahead 5-1 in the
sixth inning. With the bases loaded,
the Cowboys go to their bullpen. This
provides some relief, as the new
pitcher strikes out Chris Boni.
Cruz follows Boni to the plate. Junior
pulls the ball over the left field
fence, putting the game away with the
grand slam.
Friday night, Oral Roberts University
comes into town. The Golden
Eagles jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in
the top of the first, but Junior, now
batting left-handed, hits a three-run
homer to left center.
The Golden Eagles take an 8-5 lead
into the bottom of the ninth, but the
Owls put two men on base with one
out for Cruz.
Junior crushes the pitch into the
night and over the right field fence to
tie the game.
In the first game of Saturday's
doubleheader, Oral Roberts again
scores two runs in the top of the first
The Owls have the perfect counterpoint
in the-bottom of the inning.
Junior blasts another home run, this
one going to almost the same spot as
his game-tying shot the night before.
For his three-day display of power,
Cruz was named national co-player of
the week by Collegiate Baseball. This
honor continues the collection of accolades
and accomplishments that the
sophomore has achieved in his Rice
career, the most significant coming
last season when he was named cofreshman
of the year by Collegiate
Baseball.
Baseball excellence has not been
the domain of just one man named
Jose Cruz, however. Cruz's father Jose
Cruz, Sr., preceded his son with a 19year
major league career with the St
Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros and
New York Yankees.
Cruz, Sr. graced left field in the
Astrodome during the eighties with
his rainbow-clothed, line-drive hitting
presence.
While his father performed down
on the field, Junior was always with
him or around him.
"He came out a lot of times to the
clubhouse, but when the game started
he would play double-headers in the
batting cages," Cruz, Sr. said. "He
did^ like to watch as many games.
Hea get Nolan Ryan's kid and Phil
Garner's kid and they used to play a lot
of games in the indoor batting cages
that we used to have over there."
The fact that he spent his formative
years around a major league clubhouse
and had a celebrated father did