HOUSTON - Kyle Russell pumped his fist right as the ball went off his bat. He knew that he had just broken the Texas single-season record for home runs with 21.
"I'm usually not the kind of guy to do that kind of thing," Russell said. "I can't control my emotions sometimes. I was so excited for this to finally happen, and it was a great honor, but I'm not ever going to do that again."
Russell's shot was about the only legitimate offense Texas could muster against Rice's pitching staff. Owls starter Chris Kelley struck out seven batters in six innings of work, setting up a 7-4 win.
"I think our hitting has come around," Rice coach Wayne Graham said. "Texas played a fantastic defensive game, or we would have scored a lot more."
Rice started hitting as early as the first pitch.
Tyler Henley led the game off for Rice by drilling Austin Wood's first pitch to center field for a triple and then scored on a Chad Lembeck sacrifice fly.
"I know that [Wood] has a tendency to throw a lot of first pitch fastballs, and I went for it," Henley said.
Wood then settled down and retired the side for two more innings before struggling again in the fourth, getting pulled for Pat McCrory. From that point on, Rice toyed with Texas' pitchers with a series of quality at bats.
"It isn't always about what you're doing wrong," Texas coach Augie Garrido said. "Sometimes it's about what they're doing right. They took their walks, and they were very aggressive. They did a better job of responding than we did."
Even despite all the Rice runs, Texas could still have rallied in the seventh inning thanks to a couple of Rice mistakes.
Nick Peoples hit a single just one pitch after fouling a ball into his own wrist. After that, Rice pitcher Scott Lonergan misthrew a routine play to third base on a fielder's choice, allowing Peoples to score. Chais Fuller then scored on a wild pitch, ushering in Rice closer Cole St. Clair.
St. Clair, who dominated last year as Rice's closer, had missed the season's first half to a left shoulder strain. He struck out two batters and threw three innings of no-hit ball to finish out the game.
"I felt fine," St. Clair said. "I didn't have much time to warm up. Every time I get out there, I get to feel a little bit more like I did last year. It's been a while since I've seen hitters in a game situation."
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