2003 Rice Owls baseball team

2003 Rice Owls baseball
College World Series champions Western Athletic Conference champions
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	58–12 (25–5 WAC)
Head coach	Wayne Graham (12th year)
Assistant coaches	David Pierce (1st year) Mike Taylor (3rd year) Zane Curry (4th year)
Home stadium	Reckling Park
Uniform
Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 Rice Owls baseball team represented Rice University in the 2003 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Owls played their home games at Reckling Park. The team was coached by Wayne Graham in his 12th season at Rice.

The Owls won 30 consecutive games to open the season 33–1 and won the Western Athletic Conference championship. Rice went on to win the College World Series, defeating the Stanford Cardinal in the championship series. It was the first national title that Rice had ever won in a team sport in the school's 91-year history.

Roster

2003 Rice Owls roster
	Pitchers 21 Philip Humber – Sophomore 33 Jeff Niemann – Sophomore 30 Wade Townsend – Sophomore 20 Josh Baker – Junior 14 David Aardsma – Junior 24 Colin Matheny – Freshman 34 Steven Herce – Senior 10 Lance Pendleton – Freshman 17 Justin Farris* – Senior 8 Marcos Ramos** – Sophomore   *Injured reserve **not on postseason roster		Infielders 1 Sean Hirsch – Junior 5 Drew Skaggs* – Senior 11 Paul Janish – Sophomore 13 Enrique Cruz – Junior 15 Matt Moake – Sophomore 22 Matt Ueckert – Freshman 23 Craig Stansberry – Junior 27 Vincent Sinisi – Junior		Outfielders 2 Matt Emerson – Freshman 3 Matt Cavanaugh – Freshman 4 Jeff Jorgenson – Sophomore 7 Chris Kolkhorst – Junior 9 Austin Davis – Sophomore 16 Dane Bubela – Senior Catchers 12 Jeff Blackinton – Junior 19 Justin Ruchti – Senior 29 Jon Gillespie – Sophomore 35 Lyndon Duplessis – Freshman

Schedule

2003 Rice Owls baseball game log
Regular season
February Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Rice Decision Attendance Overall record WAC record February 11 Texas-San Antonio Reckling Park 6–4 Baker (W; 1–0) 2,432 1–0 – February 14 Texas A&M Minute Maid Park 10–5 Niemann (W; 1–0) 8,405 2–0 – February 15 Baylor Minute Maid Park 4–3 Humber (W; 1–0) 14,484 3–0 – February 16 Alabama Minute Maid Park 5–6 Ueckert (L; 1–0) 10,416 3–1 – February 18 at Houston Cougar Field 3–0 Townsend (W; 1–0) 1,116 4–1 – February 19 at Southwest Texas State Bobcat Baseball Stadium 6–0 Matheny (W; 1–0) 1,608 5–1 – February 22 Stetson Reckling Park 11–6 Humber (W; 2–0) 2,323 6–1 – February 22 Mississippi Reckling Park 6–0 Niemann (W; 2–0) 2,562 7–1 – February 23 Texas–Arlington Reckling Park 1–0 (10) Aardsma (W; 1–0) 2,657 8–1 – February 28 Southwest Texas State Reckling Park 8–3 Niemann (W; 3–0) 2,054 9–1 –
March Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Rice Decision Attendance Overall record WAC record March 1 Southwest Texas State Reckling Park 7–5 Baker (W; 2–0) 2,317 10–1 – March 2 Southwest Texas State Reckling Park 10–4 Humber (W; 3–0) 2,275 11–1 – March 4 Houston Reckling Park 4–3 Aardsma (W; 2–0) 2,618 12–1 – March 7 at Louisiana Tech J.C. Love Field 4–3 Niemann (W; 4–0) 529 13–1 1–0 March 8 at Louisiana Tech J.C. Love Field 5–3 Humber (W; 4–0) 1,011 14–1 2–0 March 9 at Louisiana Tech J.C. Love Field 12–0 Baker (W; 3–0) 827 15–1 3–0 March 11 Texas Reckling Park 2–1 (10) Aardsma (W; 3–0) 4,525 16–1 – March 14 at Hawaii Les Murakami Stadium 9–4 Niemann (W; 5–0) 2,919 17–1 4–0 March 15 at Hawaii Les Murakami Stadium 9–2 Humber (W; 5–0) 3,426 18–1 5–0 March 16 at Hawaii Les Murakami Stadium 11–1 Baker (W; 4–0) 2,271 19–1 6–0 March 18 Nebraska Reckling Park 4–1 Townsend (W; 2–0) 3,359 20–1 – March 19 at Houston Cougar Field 7–6 (11) Aardsma (W; 4–0) 2,271 21–1 – March 21 Liberty Reckling Park 20–1 Humber (W; 6–0) 2,851 22–1 – March 22 Liberty Reckling Park 10–4 Baker (W; 5–0) 2,412 23–1 – March 23 Liberty Reckling Park 5–4 Niemann (W; 6–0) 2,348 24–1 – March 25 Baylor Reckling Park 4–3 Townsend (W; 3–0) 3,683 25–1 – March 28 San Jose State Reckling Park 12–2 Humber (W; 7–0) 2,180 26–1 7–0 March 29 San Jose State Reckling Park 21–1 Niemann (W; 7–0) 2,837 27–1 8–0 March 30 San Jose State Reckling Park 8–1 Baker (W; 6–0) 3,118 28–1 9–0
April Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Rice Decision Attendance Overall record WAC record April 1 Houston Reckling Park 11–0 Townsend (W; 4–0) 3,320 29–1 – April 4 Hawaii Reckling Park 11–0 Humber (W; 8–0) 3,215 30–1 10–0 April 5 Hawaii Reckling Park 2–0 Niemann (W; 8–0) 2,835 31–1 11–0 April 6 Hawaii Reckling Park 8–1 Baker (W; 7–0) 2,614 32–1 12–0 April 8 Texas A&M Reckling Park 8–0 Townsend (W; 5–0) 4,414 33–1 – April 9 Lamar Reckling Park 5–7 Aardsma (L; 4–1) 2,417 33–2 – April 11 at Fresno State Pete Beiden Field 3–7 Humber (L; 8–1) 2,727 33–3 12–1 April 12 at Fresno State Pete Beiden Field 9–2 Niemann (W; 9–0) 2,724 34–3 13–1 April 13 at Fresno State Pete Beiden Field 3–2 Townsend (W; 6–0) 2,564 35–3 14–1 April 15 at Sam Houston State Don Sanders Stadium 1–8 Aardsma (L; 4–2) 481 35–4 – April 16 at Houston Cougar Field 1–5 Herce (L; 0–1) 1,672 35–5 – April 18 Nevada Reckling Park 10–5 Matheny (W; 2–0) 3,103 36–5 15–1 April 19 Nevada Reckling Park 3–0 Niemann (W; 10–0) 3,314 37–5 16–1 April 20 Nevada Reckling Park 5–6 Herce (L; 0–2) 2,313 37–6 16–2 April 22 at Lamar Vincent–Beck Stadium 5–9 Matheny (L; 2–1) 1,406 37–7 – April 24 Louisiana Tech Reckling Park 2–1 Humber (W; 9–1) 2,715 38–7 17–2 April 25 Louisiana Tech Reckling Park 13–3 Niemannn (W; 11–0) 3,156 39–7 18–2 April 26 Louisiana Tech Reckling Park 8–2 Baker (W; 8–0) 3,044 40–7 19–2
May Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Rice Decision Attendance Overall record WAC record May 7 Sam Houston State Reckling Park 10–5 Herce (W; 1–2) 2,820 41–7 – May 9 at Nevada William Peccole Park 13–11 Humber (W; 10–1) 1,206 42–7 20–2 May 10 at Nevada William Peccole Park 7–4 Niemann (W; 12–0) 1,636 43–7 21–2 May 11 at Nevada William Peccole Park 7–8 (10) Aardsma (L; 4–3) 1,875 43–8 21–3 May 14 at Saint Mary's Louis Guisto Field 10–6 Matheny (W; 3–1) 356 44–8 – May 16 at San Jose State San Jose Municipal Stadium 12–6 Aardsma (W; 5–3) 553 45–8 22–3 May 17 at San Jose State San Jose Municipal Stadium 11–0 Niemann (W; 13–0) 612 46–8 23–3 May 17 at San Jose State Blethen Field 6–8 Townsend (L; 6–1) 553 46–9 23–4 May 23 Fresno State Reckling Park 1–2 Humber (L; 10–2) 3,015 46–10 23–5 May 24 Fresno State Reckling Park 13–2 Niemann (W; 14–0) 2,938 47–10 24–5 May 25 Fresno State Reckling Park 3–2 Townsend (W; 7–1) 3,105 48–10 25–5
NCAA tournament: Houston Regional Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Rice Decision Attendance Overall record May 30 vs. McNeese State Reckling Park 3–2 (10) Townsend (W; 8–1) 4,014 49–10 May 31 vs. Wichita State Reckling Park 10–1 Niemann (W; 15–0) 3,769 50–10 June 1 vs. Wichita State Reckling Park 5–2 Townsend (W; 9–1) 3,528 51–10
NCAA tournament: Houston Super Regional Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Rice Decision Attendance Overall record June 7 vs. Houston Reckling Park 2–5 Humber (L; 10–3) 4,427 51–11 June 8 vs. Houston Reckling Park 10–2 Niemann (W; 16–0) 4,435 52–11 June 9 vs. Houston Reckling Park 5–2 Townsend (W; 10–1) 4,417 53–11
NCAA tournament: College World Series Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Rice Decision Attendance Overall record June 14 vs. SW Missouri State Rosenblatt Stadium 4–2 Niemann (W; 17–0) 23,248 54–11 June 16 vs. Texas Rosenblatt Stadium 12–2 Townsend (W; 11–1) 24,842 55–11 June 18 vs. Texas Rosenblatt Stadium 5–4 Aardsma (W; 6–1) 23,170 56–11 June 21 vs. Stanford Rosenblatt Stadium 4–3 (10) Aardsma (W; 7–3) 23,741 57–11 June 22 vs. Stanford Rosenblatt Stadium 3–8 Townsend (L; 11–2) 17,907 57–12 June 23 vs. Stanford Rosenblatt Stadium 14–2 Humber (W; 11–3) 18,494 58–12

Awards and honors

Dane Bubela

• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Enrique Cruz

• All-America Third Team^[1]
• College World Series All-Tournament Team^[2]
• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Austin Davis

• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Philip Humber

• All-America Second Team^[1]
• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Paul Janish

• All-WAC Second Team^[1]

Jeff Jorgensen

• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Chris Kolkhorst

• College World Series All-Tournament Team^[2]
• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Jeff Niemann

• All-America First Team^[1]
• College World Series All-Tournament Team^[2]
• WAC Pitcher of the Year^[1]

Justin Ruchti

• All-WAC Second Team^[1]

Vincent Sinisi

• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Wade Townsend

• All-America First Team^[1]
• All-WAC First Team^[1]

Owls in the 2003 MLB Draft

The following members of the Rice Owls baseball program were drafted in the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	MLB Team
David Aardsma	RHP	1st	22nd	San Francisco Giants
Vincent Sinisi	1B	2nd	46th	Texas Rangers
Craig Stansberry	3B	5th	135th	Pittsburgh Pirates
Jeff Jorgensen	OF	7th	209th	Houston Astros
Justin Ruchti	C	9th	266th	Seattle Mariners
Enrique Cruz	SS	14th	424th	New York Yankees
Steven Herce	RHP	17th	495th	Pittsburgh Pirates
Dane Bubela	OF	22nd	646th	Texas Rangers

References

External links

• "A look at Rice's national title baseball team 10 years later". Houston Chronicle. June 22, 2013.