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2003 Rice Owls baseball team

American college baseball season

Field	Value
year	2003
team	Rice Owls
sport	baseball
logo	Rice Owls logo.svg
logo_size	150
conference	Western Athletic Conference
short_conf	WAC
record	58–12
conf_record	25–5
head_coach	Wayne Graham (12th year)
asst_coach1	David Pierce (1st year)
asst_coach2	Mike Taylor (3rd year)
asst_coach3	Zane Curry (4th year)
stadium	Reckling Park
champion	[College World Series champions](2003-ncaa-division-i-baseball-tournament)
Western Athletic Conference champions
uniform	[[File:Rice Baseball Uniforms 2021.png	250px]]

Western Athletic Conference champions 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

Schedule

! style="background:#5e6062;color:white;"| Regular season |- valign="top" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 11 || || Reckling Park || 6–4 || Baker (W; 1–0) || 2,432 || 1–0 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 14 || || Minute Maid Park || 10–5 || Niemann (W; 1–0) || 8,405 || 2–0 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 15 || || Minute Maid Park || 4–3 || Humber (W; 1–0) || 14,484 || 3–0 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffdddd" | February 16 || || Minute Maid Park || 5–6 || Ueckert (L; 1–0) || 10,416 || 3–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 18 || at || Cougar Field || 3–0 || Townsend (W; 1–0) || 1,116 || 4–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 19 || at || Bobcat Baseball Stadium || 6–0 || Matheny (W; 1–0) || 1,608 || 5–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 22 || || Reckling Park || 11–6 || Humber (W; 2–0) || 2,323 || 6–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 22 || || Reckling Park || 6–0 || Niemann (W; 2–0) || 2,562 || 7–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 23 || || Reckling Park || 1–0 (10) || Aardsma (W; 1–0) || 2,657 || 8–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | February 28 || Southwest Texas State || Reckling Park || 8–3 || Niemann (W; 3–0) || 2,054 || 9–1 || – |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | March 1 || Southwest Texas State || Reckling Park || 7–5 || Baker (W; 2–0) || 2,317 || 10–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | March 2 || Southwest Texas State || Reckling Park || 10–4 || Humber (W; 3–0) || 2,275 || 11–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="#ddffdd" | March 4 || Houston || Reckling Park || 4–3 || Aardsma (W; 2–0) || 2,618 || 12–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 7 || at || J.C. Love Field || 4–3 || Niemann (W; 4–0) || 529 || 13–1 || 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 8 || at Louisiana Tech || J.C. Love Field || 5–3 || Humber (W; 4–0) || 1,011 || 14–1 || 2–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 9 || at Louisiana Tech || J.C. Love Field || 12–0 || Baker (W; 3–0) || 827 || 15–1 || 3–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 11 || Texas || Reckling Park || 2–1 (10) || Aardsma (W; 3–0) || 4,525 || 16–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 14 || at || Les Murakami Stadium || 9–4 || Niemann (W; 5–0) || 2,919 || 17–1 || 4–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 15 || at Hawaii || Les Murakami Stadium || 9–2 || Humber (W; 5–0) || 3,426 || 18–1 || 5–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 16 || at Hawaii || Les Murakami Stadium || 11–1 || Baker (W; 4–0) || 2,271 || 19–1 || 6–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 18 || || Reckling Park || 4–1 || Townsend (W; 2–0) || 3,359 || 20–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 19 || at Houston || Cougar Field || 7–6 (11) || Aardsma (W; 4–0) || 2,271 || 21–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 21 || || Reckling Park || 20–1 || Humber (W; 6–0) || 2,851 || 22–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 22 || Liberty || Reckling Park || 10–4 || Baker (W; 5–0) || 2,412 || 23–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 23 || Liberty || Reckling Park || 5–4 || Niemann (W; 6–0) || 2,348 || 24–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 25 || || Reckling Park || 4–3 || Townsend (W; 3–0) || 3,683 || 25–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 28 || || Reckling Park || 12–2 || Humber (W; 7–0) || 2,180 || 26–1 || 7–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 29 || San Jose State || Reckling Park || 21–1 || Niemann (W; 7–0) || 2,837 || 27–1 || 8–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | March 30 || San Jose State || Reckling Park || 8–1 || Baker (W; 6–0) || 3,118 || 28–1 || 9–0 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 1 || Houston || Reckling Park || 11–0 || Townsend (W; 4–0) || 3,320 || 29–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 4 || Hawaii || Reckling Park || 11–0 || Humber (W; 8–0) || 3,215 || 30–1 || 10–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 5 || Hawaii || Reckling Park || 2–0 || Niemann (W; 8–0) || 2,835 || 31–1 || 11–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 6 || Hawaii || Reckling Park || 8–1 || Baker (W; 7–0) || 2,614 || 32–1 || 12–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 8 || Texas A&M || Reckling Park || 8–0 || Townsend (W; 5–0) || 4,414 || 33–1 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | April 9 || || Reckling Park || 5–7 || Aardsma (L; 4–1) || 2,417 || 33–2 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | April 11 || at || Pete Beiden Field || 3–7 || Humber (L; 8–1) || 2,727 || 33–3 || 12–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 12 || at Fresno State || Pete Beiden Field || 9–2 || Niemann (W; 9–0) || 2,724 || 34–3 || 13–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 13 || at Fresno State || Pete Beiden Field || 3–2 || Townsend (W; 6–0) || 2,564 || 35–3 || 14–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | April 15 || at || Don Sanders Stadium || 1–8 || Aardsma (L; 4–2) || 481 || 35–4 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | April 16 || at Houston || Cougar Field || 1–5 || Herce (L; 0–1) || 1,672 || 35–5 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 18 || || Reckling Park || 10–5 || Matheny (W; 2–0) || 3,103 || 36–5 || 15–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 19 || Nevada || Reckling Park || 3–0 || Niemann (W; 10–0) || 3,314 || 37–5 || 16–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | April 20 || Nevada || Reckling Park || 5–6 || Herce (L; 0–2) || 2,313 || 37–6 || 16–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | April 22 || at Lamar || Vincent–Beck Stadium || 5–9 || Matheny (L; 2–1) || 1,406 || 37–7 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 24 || Louisiana Tech || Reckling Park || 2–1 || Humber (W; 9–1) || 2,715 || 38–7 || 17–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 25 || Louisiana Tech || Reckling Park || 13–3 || Niemannn (W; 11–0) || 3,156 || 39–7 || 18–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | April 26 || Louisiana Tech || Reckling Park || 8–2 || Baker (W; 8–0) || 3,044 || 40–7 || 19–2 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 7 || Sam Houston State || Reckling Park || 10–5 || Herce (W; 1–2) || 2,820 || 41–7 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 9 || at Nevada || William Peccole Park || 13–11 || Humber (W; 10–1) || 1,206 || 42–7 || 20–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 10 || at Nevada || William Peccole Park || 7–4 || Niemann (W; 12–0) || 1,636 || 43–7 || 21–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | May 11 || at Nevada || William Peccole Park || 7–8 (10) || Aardsma (L; 4–3) || 1,875 || 43–8 || 21–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 14 || at || Louis Guisto Field || 10–6 || Matheny (W; 3–1) || 356 || 44–8 || – |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 16 || at San Jose State || San Jose Municipal Stadium || 12–6 || Aardsma (W; 5–3) || 553 || 45–8 || 22–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 17 || at San Jose State || San Jose Municipal Stadium || 11–0 || Niemann (W; 13–0) || 612 || 46–8 || 23–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | May 17 || at San Jose State || Blethen Field || 6–8 || Townsend (L; 6–1) || 553 || 46–9 || 23–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | May 23 || Fresno State || Reckling Park || 1–2 || Humber (L; 10–2) || 3,015 || 46–10 || 23–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 24 || Fresno State || Reckling Park || 13–2 || Niemann (W; 14–0) || 2,938 || 47–10 || 24–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 25 || Fresno State || Reckling Park || 3–2 || Townsend (W; 7–1) || 3,105 || 48–10 || 25–5 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 30 || vs. || Reckling Park || 3–2 (10) || Townsend (W; 8–1) || 4,014 || 49–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | May 31 || vs. || Reckling Park || 10–1 || Niemann (W; 15–0) || 3,769 || 50–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | June 1 || vs. Wichita State || Reckling Park || 5–2 || Townsend (W; 9–1) || 3,528 || 51–10 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | June 7 || vs. Houston || Reckling Park || 2–5 || Humber (L; 10–3) || 4,427 || 51–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | June 8 || vs. Houston || Reckling Park || 10–2 || Niemann (W; 16–0) || 4,435 || 52–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | June 9 || vs. Houston || Reckling Park || 5–2 || Townsend (W; 10–1) || 4,417 || 53–11 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | June 14 || vs. || Rosenblatt Stadium || 4–2 || Niemann (W; 17–0) || 23,248 || 54–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | June 16 || vs. Texas || Rosenblatt Stadium || 12–2 || Townsend (W; 11–1) || 24,842 || 55–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | June 18 || vs. Texas || Rosenblatt Stadium || 5–4 || Aardsma (W; 6–1) || 23,170 || 56–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | June 21 || vs. Stanford || Rosenblatt Stadium || 4–3 (10) || Aardsma (W; 7–3) || 23,741 || 57–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffdddd" | June 22 || vs. Stanford || Rosenblatt Stadium || 3–8 || Townsend (L; 11–2) || 17,907 || 57–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="ddffdd" | 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

;Enrique Cruz

All-America Third Team
College World Series All-Tournament Team
All-WAC First Team

;Austin Davis

All-WAC First Team

;Philip Humber

All-America Second Team
All-WAC First Team

;Paul Janish

All-WAC Second Team

;Jeff Jorgensen

All-WAC First Team

;Chris Kolkhorst

College World Series All-Tournament Team
All-WAC First Team

;Jeff Niemann

All-America First Team
College World Series All-Tournament Team
WAC Pitcher of the Year

;Justin Ruchti

All-WAC Second Team

;Vincent Sinisi

All-WAC First Team

;Wade Townsend

All-America First Team
All-WAC First Team

Owls in the 2003 MLB draft

The following members of the Rice Owls baseball program were drafted in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft.

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

"2012 Rice Baseball Fact Book". RiceOwls.com.
"CWS record Book". NCAA.org.
"2003 Rice University". The Baseball Cube.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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