2003 Rice Owls baseball team

2003 Rice Owls baseball
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
	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

*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

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "2012 Rice Baseball Fact Book" (PDF). RiceOwls.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "CWS Record Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
^ "2003 Rice University". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved 16 June 2012.

External links

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

[Owls-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "2012 Rice Baseball Fact Book" (PDF). RiceOwls.com.

[CWS-2] "CWS Record Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 18 June 2012.

[3] "2003 Rice University". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved 16 June 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Rice Owls 2003 College World Series champions
10 Lance Pendleton 11 Paul Janish 14 David Aardsma 21 Philip Humber 23 Craig Stansberry 27 Vincent Sinisi 30 Wade Townsend 33 Jeff Niemann
Head Coach 37 Wayne Graham Assistant Coach David Pierce
Regular season NCAA tournament College World Series

v t e Rice Owls baseball
Venue	Cameron Field (1978–1999) Reckling Park (2000–present)
Rivalries & tournaments	Silver Glove Series (Houston) Houston College Classic
People	Head Coaches
Seasons	1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National Championships in Bold; College World Series appearances in italics