The Rice Owls are ranked 11th in this week’s Baseball America College Top 25. The team from Houston wouldn’t be there without four pitchers headed for the Texas Collegiate League this summer.

The Texas A&M Aggies have an 18th place ranking this week. They have also been helped tremendously by a hurler that will play for the Euless LoneStars when the second TCL season begins in less than two months.

The foursome at Rice, righthanders Josh Geer (7-1), Eddie Degerman (3-0), Ryne Tacker (3-0), and Bobby Bell (2-0) have combined for 15 of the Owls’ 21 victories.

Geer and Degerman continued their impressive performances last weekend, posting the Owls’ two victories in a three-game set versus Fresno State. Geer, headed back to the McKinney Marshals for a second season, allowed six hits and two runs with a career high 11 strikeouts in a complete game 8-2 win on April 1 to improve to 7-1, 1.72. The junior righthander is tied for the Western Athletic Conference lead in wins, has the second lowest era, and ranks third with 62 strikeouts in just 62.2 innings. He has also averaged a conference best seven innings per start.

Degerman is 3-0, 2.04 after pitching 8.2 innings and fanning ten, both career bests, in a 9-0 victory over Fresno State on April 2. The junior, who will play for the Denton Outlaws, has the third lowest era in the WAC and has recorded 46 strikeouts, fifth in the conference, in 39.2 innings.

Tacker, who will pitch at Coppell, is 3-0, 4.50 in his nine appearances. Bell has been a pleasant surprise in his freshman year, going 2-0, 1.96 in ten games. Headed to the Weatherford Wranglers, Bell has fanned 23 in 23 innings of work.

Another freshman, righthander Chance Corgan, has been a big part of Texas A&M’s 22-10 club. He allowed just three hits and two runs in seven innings to beat Kansas in his last start on April 3, improving to 3-0, 2.43. His era is second lowest on the Aggies staff and he has recorded 29 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. Corgan will be a key member of the Euless LoneStars staff this summer.

TCL NOTEBOOK
Stats are through games of April 6. Ranking are from Baseball America. TCL club is listed in parentheses.

ARKANSAS: DH Danny Hamblin (Coppell) is 7-16 with a homer and five rbi in his last four games for the 14th ranked Razorbacks (22-6). He was 3-4 with his fourth homer of the year on April 5 against Northern Colorado, improving his season mark to .340, third on the Razorbacks, with 22 rbi in 28 games. OF Clint Arnold (Weatherford) has a .330 mark and 14 rbi. RHP Daryl Maday (Highland Park) is 3-0, 2.95 in eight games. He worked 2.2 scorleless innings in relief to defeat Auburn on April 3.

BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN: CF Casey Bond (Highland Park) has a .267 average in 29 games.

CAL STATE FULLERTON: John Curtis (McKinney) has started 25 of 27 games behind the plate for the second ranked Titans (20-7). Cal State Fullerton is 7-1 when Curtis drives in at least one run.

CLEMSON: Freshman Stan Widmann (Euless) is hitting .290 and has started all 28 games at shortstop in his freshman season.

DALLAS BAPTIST: RHP Randall Taylor (McKinney) is the Patriots leadfing winner at 5-3, 3.56 in 11 games. RHP Stuart Sutherland (Highland Park) is 4-3, 3.89 in a team high 15 appearances. RHP Rodney Brantley (Highland Park) is 3-4 in his 12 outings.

DARTMOUTH: LHP Russell Young (Graham) turned in a pitching gem in his debut in Ivy League competition, defeating Columbia on April 5. The freshman from Cleburne, Texas issued six singles and no runs in seven innings, throwing 78 pitches and getting 11 ground ball outs. The performance earned Young a spot on the Ivy League Honor Roll for the week. Overall, the lefty is 2-0, 3.12 in his 3 starts for Dartmouth this season.

FLORIDA STATE: LHP Trent Jarvis (Coppell) has posted a 1.69 era in nine appearances for the 20th ranked Seminoles (29-7).

GEORGETOWN: OF Mark McLaughlin (Coppell) is second on the Hoyas with a .353 average to go along with four homers and 23 rbi. He is 5-10 with eight rbi in his last two games, including a grand slam in a win over Mt. St. Mary’s on April 6.

LAMAR: OF Collin DeLome (Graham) has a .344 average in 28 games for the 22-11 Cardinals. He was 2-4 with three rbi in a win over Nichols State on April 3, completing a three-game sweep. OF Matt Lambeth (Euless) is hitting .297 and C C.J. Ebard (McKinney) has a .303 mark in 25 contests, 21 starts. LHP Tim Erickson (McKinney) is 4-0, 2.88 in eight games.

McMURRY: LHP-OF Greg Erickson (McKinney) is 4-2, 4.99 with 35 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. At the plate,, Erickson has a .380 average and 22 rbi n 30 games.

McNEESE STATE: OF Charlie Kingery (Highland Park) is tied for the team lead with three homers and is tied for sixth in the Southland Conference with 21 walks. RHP Jacob Marceaux (McKinney) has the Southland’s ninth lowest era at 3.10 and has fanned 50 in 49.1 innings.

MISSOURI: 1B-3B John McKee (Euless) leads the 23rd ranked Tigers with 27 walks and is tied for first with four homers. He is hitting .333 with 29 rbi and is tied for third in the Big 12 Conference with 40 runs scored.

NEW MEXICO: LHP Jackie Smith (Denton) ranks second on the Lobos with 13 appearances and has fanned 14 in 12.2 innings of work.

NEW MEXICO STATE: C Brandon Lance (Graham) is batting .317 in 22 games.

OKLAHOMA STATE: 2B Justin Colbert (Graham) is tied for third among Big 12 Conference players with 40 runs scored. He has a .311 average and has started 34 games for the Cowboys. OF Steve Ptak (Graham) has posted a .309 average in his 25 contests.

PACIFIC: 3B Justin Baum (Coppell) blasted his Big West Conference leading 10th home run in an 11-5 victory over Hawaii-Hilo on April 5. Baum has 25 rbi in 30 games. OF Matt Berezay (Highland Park) has six homers and 22 rbi in 31 games. SS Anthony Jackson (Coppell) tops the Big West with 14 stolen bases.

PRINCETON: RHP Eric Walz (Mineral Wells) has fanned 16 in 23 innings for the Tigers.

RICE: OF Tyler Henley (Euless) leads Rice in runs (29) and stolen bases (7), the latter tied for third most in the WAC. 3B Greg Buchanan (McKinney) has a .314 average in 20 games. RHP Bryce Cox (McKinney) tops the staff in appearances (15) and saves (3).

SAM HOUSTON STATE: 2B Isaias Garcia (Euless) is tied for the Southland Conference leads with eight homers and ranks sixth with a .597 slugging percentage. Garcia, who has a .319 average and 26 rbi in 30 games, hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning on April 5 versus Texas A&M, a game that ended in a 6-6 tie. OF Tyler Martin (Graham), who was 3-4 against the Aggies, is hitting a team best .333 for the year. SS Jose Salazar (McKinney) has a .286 average and 22 rbi in 31 games.

ST. MARY’S (TX): 2B John Alvarez (Graham) has a team best 31 rbi to go along with a .337 average in 30 games.

SOUTH ALABAMA: OF Tyler Jones (Highland Park) leads the Jaguars in runs (34) and is second in hits (41). The sophomore is batting .323 and has eight steals in nine tries.

TEXAS: Freshman LHP Kenn Kasparek (McKinney) improved his record to 3-0, 2.74 with a 3-2 win over Texas State on April 5 (6 ip, 2 h, 1 r-er, 0 bb, 4 so). LHP Bryan Herrera (Coppell) has worked 3.1 scoreless innings in three outings for the top ranked Longhorns and freshman LHP Jordan Street (Denton) has a 4.05 era for the year.

TEXAS A&M: OF Keith Stein (Euless) has a .288 average and 18 rbi while 1B Todd Sebek (Mineral Wells) has a .280 mark for the Aggies. 2B Parker Dalton (Mineral Wells) is hitting .271 with 17 rbi.

TEXAS TECH: OF Chris Williams (Coppell) has been successful on all 17 of his stolen base attempts and is tied for the Big 12 Conference lead in steals.

TEXAS-ARLINGTON: OF Joe Newman (Weatherford) has a .289 average and 15 rbi while C Brett Lewis (Denton) is batting .293 and has driven in 17 runs in his 29 games.

WAKE FOREST: RHP Kyle Young (Euless) tops the Demon Deacons in saves (3) and appearances (18). RHP Charlie Mellies (Euless) has a 4.15 era in his ten starts.

WASHINGTON STATE: The latest addition to the Graham roster is freshman RHP Dustin Willis, who is 1-0 in six appearances for the Cougars.

WICHITA STATE: INF Damon Sublett (Coppell) has a .312 average and 17 rbi in 25 games for the 24-10 Shockers. Sublett is 1-0 and has pitched four scoreless innings in three pitching appearances as well. OF Blake Hurlbutt (McKinney) is batting .306 with 12 rbi. OF Tyler Hill (Coppell) is at .304 with 17 rbi. LHP Rob Musgrave (Euless) received no decision in his second start of the year on April 5 against Oral Roberts, allowing two hits and just one run in 5.1 innings. The freshman is 1-0, 4.40 in 12 overall outings.

WRIGHT STATE: INF Brendan Rubenstein (Weatherford) has a .342 average in 21 games.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE: RHP Luke Engle (Coppell) is 2-0 with a team best 3.52 era in six appearances.