Saturday, June 17, 2006
Eddie Degerman was bidding to become the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter at the CWS in 46 years.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Rice led by two runs and pitcher Eddie Degerman had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning against Georgia. But when the Owls came to bat in the bottom half, Degerman was out of the game and they found themselves down by two.
"The overall feeling was, 'There's no reason we should be losing this game,"' Rice first baseman Joe Savery said. "It got us in gear."
Savery's two-run single keyed a four-run rally that put the Owls ahead again in a 6-4 College World Series victory Saturday. It was the Owls' 38th win in 41 games.
The opponent
Rice (56-11) advanced to a Monday game against the winner of Saturday night's Oregon State-Miami matchup, which was delayed by rain and not completed for today's edition. Georgia (47-22) will play a Bracket 2 elimination game Monday against the Oregon State-Miami loser.
Degerman, a fourth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, was bidding to become the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter at the CWS in 46 years.
Degerman, who struck out nine, walked eight but held the Bulldogs without a hit for 61/3 innings.
Degerman walked Bobby Felmy and Jason Jacobs to open the seventh before Ryan Peisel broke through with an RBI single up the middle.
With the no-hit bid over, it was an easy decision for Rice coach Wayne Graham to take out Degerman, who threw 116 pitches.
Cole St. Clair came on, and Matthew Dunn hit a chopper down the third-base line. Josh Rodriguez was far off-target with his hurried throw to first, allowing Jacobs to score from second and tie it at 2.
RBI single
Jonathan Wyatt's hard line drive off Rodriguez's glove gave Georgia the lead and chased St. Clair. Joey Side greeted Bryce Cox (5-1) with an RBI single to make it 4-2.
The Bulldogs were in position to score even more after loading the bases with one out. But Cox struck out cleanup batter Josh Morris and got Bobby Felmy to ground out.
Rice came back in the bottom half against Rip Warren (8-3) to regain the lead with Brian Friday's RBI double, Savery's two-run single and Jordan Dodson's RBI base hit.
Warren, charged with four runs on five hits, came into the game having allowed just one run in 101/3 innings in the NCAA tournament. It was the most runs the senior left-hander had allowed in 29 relief appearances this season.
Georgia starter Brooks Brown, a first-round supplemental pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks, held Rice hitless until Savery, who went 3-for-3, lined a ball into center in the fourth.
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