May 12, 2006

By Jeremy Mills

Special to CSTV.com

The last time the Rice Owls and Houston Cougars met in conference play, they were battling for last place during the final year of the Southwest Conference. Ten years and one day later, they've been reunited in Conference USA. The prize is bigger this time, as the two teams sit atop the conference standings. In addition to citywide bragging rights, the winner of the Silver Glove Series will likely claim the regular season title.

If the heated battle between intra-city rivals wasn't enough to fill Reckling Park, the Friday night pitching match-up finished the job. On the evening before receiving his diploma, Eddie Degerman took the hill for the Owls with a 9-0 record and 1.18 ERA. The Cougars countered with junior right hander Brad Lincoln, who sported a 10-1 record and 1.82 ERA of his own while also leading the Houston offense with 11 homers and 50 RBI. They were the top two strikeout pitchers in Conference USA, with Brad Lincoln's 132 whiffs good for second in the nation and Degerman standing at ninth with 111.

The two took very different paths to the Reckling Park mound on Friday evening. Brad Lincoln was recruited by Houston out of Brazoswood High School in 2003, and joined the Cougar rotation almost immediately after making the hour drive to campus. He started 10 games as a freshman and finished with a 3-2 record in 2004. Lincoln emerged as a potential two-way star in 2005, playing all but two games in the field and finishing with a .337 average and 7 home runs. Though he struggled on the mound, posting a disappointing 4-7 record and 4.76 ERA, Lincoln did offer a glimpse of things to come by striking out 106 batters in 102
innings.

Eddie Degerman started his career at UC Irvine after graduating from Granada Hills High School in California in 2001. He did not play during his two years with the Anteaters, and after a discussion with two Owls during the 2003 California Coastal League decided to transfer to the defending national champions. He spent 2004 in the Rice bullpen, striking out 39 hitters over 26 2/3 innings. Degerman joined the starting rotation last season and continued to pile up strikeouts, amassing 117 over 98 2/3 innings while finishing the season with an 8-1 record and 3.28 ERA. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 41^st round, but chose to return to Rice for his senior season.

On a beautiful Friday night in Houston, fans from both schools packed the park to witness what was expected to be one of the best pitchers' duels in the country this season. The crowd of 4,793 was the second largest of the season at Reckling Park, and was the fifth largest crowd to see a game in the stadium's seven-year history. And the match-up lived up to the hype, as both pitchers were near the top of their game for this one. Timely hitting helped the Cougars to a 3-0 victory over the Owls, the twelfth time the Owls have been shut out in series history. With the victory, the Cougars have won 66 games and lost 68 games in series history.

Brad Lincoln lit up the radar guns with a 94 mph fastball on his first pitch, and was still throwing in the mid-90s into the ninth inning. His best sequence of the game was in the second. He struck out Owl first baseman Joe Savery on a knee-buckling curveball for the second out of the inning, then blew a 95 mph fastball past Adam Zornes to end the frame. Two strikeouts to end the eighth inning and a charged up Cougar crowd had Lincoln jumping off the mound with a fist pump as he headed back to the dugout. He limited the Owls to five hits and struck out nine batters while throwing his second shutout and third complete game of the season.

There was no doubt that Lincoln was going the distance. According to Houston coach Rayner Noble, "His eyes were saying `Don't take me off this mound'". The Cougar ace added, "I wanted to finish this game, and I was going to finish this game."

Eddie Degerman was almost as sharp for the Owls. He limited the hot-hitting Cougars to four hits during his season-high 8 2/3 innings. Sporting a low-90s fastball and a back-breaking curveball, Degerman had Houston hitters guessing for most of the evening. The Cougars scored their first run in the second inning. After a leadoff walk to clean-up hitter Matt Weston, Josh Stirneman hit a ball to the gap in right-center. Tyler Henley dove but was unable to catch the ball, as Stirneman rounded the bases for his third triple of the year. Four innings later, a leadoff hit again set the stage for a Cougar rally. Degerman left a 91 mph fastball over the plate, and Matt Weston sliced the ball through the wind for a home run just to the right of the batters' eye in centerfield. It was only the second homer surrendered by Degerman on the season, and the three runs would hold up for Houston.

"Anytime you give him three runs, the game is in his hands," stated offensive star Matt Weston, who finished the game 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs scored. Cougar skipper Rayner Noble added, "Degerman pitched a whale of a game ... (the home run) was his only mistake."

The bullpen of the two teams was only called on for one batter in the game. Owl righty Bryce Cox struck out the only batter he faced, retiring Luis Flores on a 96 mph heater. Degerman finished the game with eight strikeouts, while the three runs he surrendered tied for his highest total this season.

The series continues with games on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 and Sunday afternoon at 1:00. The Cougars will also return to Reckling Park for the Conference USA tournament at the end of May.