Feb. 18, 2011
HOUSTON, Texas-- Ben Clowe had three hits and Justin Ringo hit his first career homerun as No. 10-ranked Stanford (1-0) won its opener at No. 17-ranked Rice (0-1) 5-3 on Friday evening.
Stanford took a 3-2 lead in the seventh after first baseman J.T. Chargois dropped a groundout to short, allowing the inning to be extended . The error scored Clowe from third, before a double play ball gave Stanford its second lead of the night.
Ringo then made it 5-2 in the eighth with a two-run shot down the right field line, making a loser out of reliever Chase McDowell (0-1).
Scott Snodgress (1-0) who stranded the tying run at second base in the fifth, picked up the win with 3.1 innings to close out the game. Snodgress retired seven in a row before back-to-back two-out singles in the ninth followed by a wild pitch made it 5-3. After a walk put the tying run on first base, Chargois struck out looking to end it.
After four shutout innings by both sides, Rice took a 2-1 read in the fifth. Mark Appel had a solid season debut, giving up two runs on eight hits over a career-best 5.2 innings, before yielding to Snodgress in the sixth..
Rice went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning with four hits, after Appel scattered just three hits over the first four shutout innings. Back-to-back singles and a double play ball in the fifth gave the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.
Freshman starter John Simms gave up a single run on five hits with four strikeouts in his collegiate debut.
NOTES: Rice centerfielder Jeremey Rathjen robbed Austin Wilson of extra bases with a diving catch in the right-centerfield alley, doubling off Stephen Piscotty from first base in the third... Appel was making his fourth career start... Appel struck out four of the first seven Owls in the game... Saturday's game is at noon PT and Sunday's finale is at 11 a.m. PT... Stanford opens at home on Tuesday with a midweek game with Cal.