AUSTIN, Texas — Before emerging from the home dugout at Disch-Falk Field to meet with the media, Texas coach David Pierce gathered his team and spun a yarn he hoped would hit home ahead of Friday’s NCAA tournament opener against SWAC tournament champion Texas Southern (27-26).
Fourteen years ago, defending national champion Rice entered the NCAA tournament as the sixth overall seed. Pierce was in his second season as an assistant on Wayne Graham’s staff, and the Owls were a viable threat to repeat.
Future third-overall MLB draft pick Philip Humber was on the mound for Rice’s regional opener against Texas Southern, a team that at one point that season had lost 17 of 18 games. Not even the most degenerate gambler would have wagered anything substantial on the underdog.
“We played Texas Southern and got beat 4-3,” Pierce recalled, “and we were devastated. We had to go through the losers’ bracket and we started a first-rounder that day, so it’s just an interesting game. Anything can happen.”
That loss sent Rice into a tailspin, and its season ended early with a loss to Texas A&M in the Houston Regional.\
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