After a 16-2 beatdown of 14th-ranked (Baseball America Poll) Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg on Friday, the Rice Owls clinched a share of the 2011 Conference USA Title. Rice has won outright, or shared in a Conference USA baseball title for 16 straight years.
↵The Owls have won 10 of their last 11 games, and don't appear to be ready to slow down. Friday night, Rice notched single-game season-highs in runs, hits, and RBIs against the Golden Eagles, who they will face again on Saturday to wrap up their regular-season schedule.
↵The Houston Cougars, however, are ending the year with a barely-audible whimper that would embarrass even the tiniest domestic house cat. The Coogs gave up four runs to Memphis in the first inning and were never able to recover on the way to a 4-0 loss. Cougar hitters only managed two hits for the entire game. Houston has lost three games in a row, seven of their last nine, and sit at 24-30 overall and 11-12 in Conference USA play.
↵After each Houston-area team wraps up their regular season schedules today, both will pack it up and head to Pearl, Mississippi for the 2011 Conference USA Baseball Championship Tournament. Rice has the top-seed in the tournament locked up, and depending on how Saturday's games shake out, Houston could end up with either the fifth or sixth seed.
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