Rice baseball players earn accolades

Rice baseball players earn accolades
St. Clair, Berry and Zornes named to All-South Central Region team

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

The Rice trio of Ryan Berry, Cole St. Clair and Adam Zornes were named to the All-South Central Region team by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the organization announced June 12.

	TOMMY LAVERGNE

Berry, a Hanszen College sophomore (8-4, 3.31 ERA), was also named a first-team All-Conference USA selection by the league’s head coaches. He leads the Owls’ impressive pitching staff in strikeouts (85), innings (100.2) and games started (16).

This season St. Clair ’08 posted a 10-2 record with five saves and a 2.61 ERA. He has struck out 63 batters in 58.2 innings of work, and he’s held 210 hitters to a composite .224 batting average.

Zornes, a Baker College senior, was one of the stars of the Owls’ NCAA Super Regional-clinching win over Texas A&M. The catcher is hitting .308 for the year and leads the team with 12 home runs. His two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning June 8 lifted the Owls to a 6-5 win over the Aggies and helped Rice secure a third-straight trip to the College World Series.

The ABCA’s all-region honorees are eligible to earn national All-America honors from the organization later this month. The ABCA is a nonprofit organization represented by more than 5,000 members from all 50 states.

The 2008 College World Series begins this weekend in Omaha, Neb. Rice’s first game is set for Sunday against Fresno State at 1 p.m. The game will be televised live across the nation on ESPN-HD.

Rice will play again Tuesday at 1 p.m. if they lose or at 6 p.m. if they win.

For more coverage, visit http://www.riceowls.com. To congratulate the Owls on a job well done, visit http://riceowls.cstv.com/chat/060608aaa.html.

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