Baseball: Simms to start region opener for Rice

HOUSTON, Texas – Former standouts at The Woodlands High School and College Park High School baseball teams will get together this weekend for their respective college teams at the regional tournament, hosted by Rice University.

The No. 7 ranked Rice baseball team, 40-17 overall and the Conference USA regular season champion, is back in the NCAA Tournament this week as regional play begins at 16 sites across the country in a double-elimination format. The Owls are hosting the opening round of Regionals at home at Reckling Park.

Rice is scheduled to meet the Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Prairie View A&M Panthers (28-23) at 6 p.m. in first round action on Friday, June 1. The Regional's No. 2 seed, Arkansas (39-19) and No. 3 seed, Sam Houston State (38-20) complete the four-team field. The Razorbacks and Bearkats are scheduled to open the Regional at 1 p.m. that same day.

The game times for Saturday and Sunday (June 2-3) are also 1 and 6 p.m., with the early game serving as an elimination game. If the Regional champion has not been determined after Sunday night's game, there will be one extra game played on Monday (June 4) at 6 p.m. if necessary.

Rice head coach Wayne Graham announced the Owls' probable starting pitcher for the opening game of the NCAA Tournament as undefeated sophomore right-hander John Simms (5-0, 2.72), from College Park High School.

A start for John Simms would be his fourth of the season and also his fourth in the last five weekends. Simms was inserted into a starting role on May 6 against Houston after a series of quality relief outings. He worked 5.2 frames in that first start against UH, scattering three hits and three walks while striking out four.

Overall Simms has held all opposing hitters to a composite .223 batting average. The Woodlands native owns 52 strikeouts in 56.1 innings. Simms has been steady in his C-USA outings and he was sensational with season-long 6.0 innings of three-hit relief on the road against No. 2 ranked Texas A&M (Apr. 17).

The right-hander is not new to the starter's role. A year ago he was in fact the first Owl freshman to start on the mound on Opening Day since eventual first round major league draft pick Joe Savery earned the honor in 2005. Among a host of steady freshman starts was his 7.0 innings against Houston on May 8 where he allowed four hits and a walk while striking out four on the way to his third win of the season.

Simms earned high school All-America honors at College Park and he was selected in the 2010 Major League draft by the Washington Nationals. He declined the pro offer and went on to pitch for the United States 18 & Under National Team over the summer of 2010. He enrolled at Rice in August and proved to be one of the top pitchers during the fall practices.

Keep an eye on sophomore DH/OF Keenan Cook, a teammate of Simms’ at College Park. Cook has come off the bench 11 times in the team's last 16 games where he has gone 7-for-15 (.467) with two doubles for a .600 slugging percentage. He also has scored six runs, stole two bases and maintained a .529 on-base average in his last 11 games.

Sophomore Michael Aquino is also a former College Park High School standout now playing for Rice. Aquino is hitting .294 in 22 games this season.

The Woodlands High School standout Tyler Spurlin, a junior, is also on the Rice roster but has not played this season.

In addition, Sam Houston State has two players from The Woodlands High School and another from College Park.

Sophomore Anthony Azar and freshman Andrew Godail are both from The Woodlands High School. Azar leads the Bearkats with a .382 batting average. He has three homers and 45 RBI this season. Godail is 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA in 15 appearances.

Freshman Corey Toups, a College Park High School graduate, is hitting .266 with 23 RBI and 35 runs scored as a starter this season for Sam Houston.