welcome to reckling park at houston, texas. they meet their cross town rivals the rice owls. in the season series. and good evening i'm matt stuart. joined by steve parks. this might be game two of their season series. but is game one of the conference series. which makes it so important. no more sol than for rice. the team that has been toisech college world series in the last 13 years. they are 14-12 on the season.

and 1-2 in the conference usa. >> that's right. coach graham seems dissatisfied in our talk with hem. he seems the offense is starting to click. he should see more pitches to hit. >> you mentioned anthony rendon the 2009 national freshman of the year. no sophomore slump for anthony in 2010. >> absolutely not. leading the nation in walks. definitely and the country. everybody knows what he did last year. he is picking up where he left off. >> 2-1 in conference usa. they are at the bottom or near the bottom in run, scores, hit or doubles. his third year starting. >> lake kelso is the ignition of this team.

guys like this at the shortstop position tend to lead the guys on position. >> our two starting pitches tonight both are sophomores for the cougars. michael goodnight. the left hander for rice. all conference usa. he is 0-4 to start this season. it's the riow two game losing streak. game losing streak. first pitch is coming up next.

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a boey-cn cr [ ] natie, in! and we are back at reckling park in houston, texas for game one. for these conference town rivals. the second meeting between these two teams. rice won last month by a score of 8-2. let's take a look at the batting order for the cougars. leading off the shortstop. blake kelso. followed by gracey. joe d. follcodey morehouse.

cristaller the catcher bats 8t eirihas on ftha ine tt 'sdefe esatt . ae cose mmm edisthcond . onnde third base. jeremy -- on the mound for the rice owls tonight. 6'2" sophomore left hander. taylor wall. you see taylor's numbers on the season. he is yet to win a ball game. he is 0-4 with a 5.61 e.r.a..

13 walks. 25 strikeouts. opponents hitting .213 against him. the weather. >> taylor wall. is certainly one of the most consistent guys on the rice staff. had trouble a little bit with lefties i'm surprised that houston has so many right handers in this. >> matt: we have clouds rolling in right now. 71 degrees. a brisk wind. right now it downside look like the wind is blowing in. at batting practice it was batting in. s >> i think a lot of the right handers got bad habits. trying to muster up a little bit more the ball is to die at the warning track. we'll see how it plays out at the game. >> matt: here is blake. homer and 14 rbi on the season.

first pitch to kelso is a fast ball strike. and we're under way at 0-1. kelso a junior at texas. count those 1-1 to him. 5'10" a spark plug shortstop. >> i think he is going to get a chance at the next level there. are a lot of scouts around the area that loves his attitude. >> matt: loves the skill set. here's at 2-1 pitch to kelso. pops it out of play. he is number one in conference usa with four triples. one of the reason the cougars lead the conference with triples. they lead the conference in triples but ninth and dead less in double and eighth next to last in home runs. >> must have been playing a lot of ballparks with the big

alleys. nobody is tricking anybody into thinking they have a lot of power on this team. they are fast. >> matt: 3-2 pitch fouled out of play. trying to manufacture some things. some wasn'tings. moving the runners. getting the defenderrings to move around. 3-2 to kelso. fouled back. stays alive. scouting report 85 pretty much all the time. sits at 85. they can run it up there close to 88. pretty good slider and a pretty good change up. kelso making him work. going to see all the pitches here. >> taylor will let you know early on in the game he is throwing a change up. he has confidence in that pitch maybe more than a fast ball. >> matt: coach wayne graham said his changeup is a good pitch for him when he's pitching right. here's at 3-2 pitch.

fouled out of play. >> this is definitely the way you draw it up. sometimes this a full evening for taylor wall. >> matt: three balls and two strikes. they called strike three. >> great pitch on the inside corner. see the fast ball low and in kelso is looking away right there. busted him inside and leading 26 strikeou

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>> matt: back in houston texas. on the campus of rice university. let's take a look at the rice owls. right fielder. chad. in rifield michael. anthony rendon llowed b batting sixth. craig is the designated hitter. and gonzales is at first base tonight batting ninth. here is the defense they almost face chris wallace. matt creel at first base.

kelso at short. austin at third. codey. michael goodnight. >> just a big raw hard throwing guy. good sliders. that's going to be the key for michael tonight. if he can start throwing that breaking ball for strikes early on could with a long day. >> >> matt: see his numbers on the season. goodnight is making his seventh start of the night. leads the team 3-2. leads the team with 31 and 2/3 inning. fourth starting. and 37th strikeouts sixth highest number for pitchers in conference usa. components hitting 2.23 against

him. chad at .248. mozingo takes the pitch outside. >> he throws hard. tries to throw hard. as soon as he realizes he could pitch at 88 and 85% and have better results. >> matt: he is one of the guys that they count on this year. he was preseason all conference usa after hitting .319 with three homers 16 doubles and 15 rbis. he is only at .248 right now and not homered. >> he hurt his hand last year. hurt both ankles at different points. missed all summer league playing. he did not play in the fall. has been eighth month since he's seen live hitting. the hitting coach mike taylor said he's starting to heat up.

>> matt: 3-1 pitch right by the first baseman that is go going to be at least 1-2. to start this ball game. mozingo third double of the season. but a great start for the rice owls here tonight. >> really was. you talk a look

wallace. 1-1 pitch. 1-2k. good fast ball in the outer

half of the play. seastrunk saw -- i think he got froze an little bit on that pitch. see what he likes to go to. >> matt: here's the 1-2 pitch. that's the end of the inning. so after giving up a lead off double to chad mozingo. mike is able to get out in the evening. and one in done in houston. no score.

please visit flu.gov. top of the second inning. houston takes on rice. catch sportsnite weeknights at 5 and 10 game tonight. dennis scott will be in the studio. sportsnite weeknight here on css. codey morehouse will lead off the inning. morehouse making the eighth game start. he is also the pitcher on the cougars team. this is just his 30th plate appearance. actually 33rd plate appearance. if you count his three walks.

1-1 pitch. a lot of balls fouled off to the right side. >> steve: i think mostly because everybody has that change up in the back of their mind. the fast ball runs. the guys are a little bit late. >> matt: 1-2 pitch struck him out. four pitches to dispose of morehouse. second strikeout for wall. >> steve: he is showing a great breaking ball. go to that back foot and swing over that pitch. >> matt: one down. here is zach presley. might be the hottest batter. he bats near the top. see his numbers on the season. >> steve: he's on a nine game hitting streak. he has done a nice job. wall has had a tough time against left-handed hitters.

he took four hitters and hit three of them and walked one of them. the left hander is stairing at the hitter than the catchers glove. >> matt: .385 batting average a the highest. and seventh in the conference with a .488 on base. that is going to be an error on him. you have rick hague who has had trouble playing position but is your star on the national team. you take him out of the lineup. first ball hit the com are da. >> com com rot that. hit him. deeper into his body. >> matt: chris wallace. start things off.

only .269. he says. he should have ten home runs by now. >> steve: they were probably counting on that right now. he is starting to heat up a little bit. one of those guys that can handle the bat a little bit too. he has little bit of power but can go to the opposite way. >> matt: he is south of siper texas. so many of the ballplayers right here until metro houston. pick off move got him. easy picking. nice move by wall to pick him off. two down in the inning. >> steve: great move by wall. looked like presley was going on the first move. he moves toward the ball to create a little bit of a lane to throw in. a lot of times first bases will stand with they are. he did a nice job of moving.

>> matt: that's the third team leading pick off. wall led the staff in innings pitched last year with 94 and strikeouts as 77 starts with 15 and that was his freshman year. so the fact he's doing it here in his sophomore year is his followup. he is 0-4. wayne graham will be the first to to tell you he's pitched better than 0-3. >> steve: nobody feels better. >> matt: erase that error he got. three balls and two strikes that's the coach wayne graham in his 19th season here with the rice owls. 3-2 pitch. a six pitch walk for chris wallace. >> steve: good patients right there. see what they