College stars shine

Lance Miles is a part of something big at Kansas State University.

The graduate of The Woodlands High School singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning last Friday against Oklahoma to secure for the Wildcats the Big 12 regular season championship, the schools first since 1933.

In addition to the baseball title, this season Kansas State also won Big 12 championships in football and men’s basketball. The Wildcats became only the fourth school in the BCS era to win those three titles in the same season.

"Playing Big 12 baseball has been a dream of mine since I could walk,” Miles posted on his Facebook page. “They said I wasn't good enough...and that I definitely wasn't good enough to play for my dream school (Texas)...but I can now call myself a Big 12 champion. Something they can't do..."

Miles and Kansas State will be the top seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship for the first time in school history. The tournament is delayed by a day following a devastating tornado that struck approximately five miles from Oklahoma City, the site of the Big 12 tournament.

Miles tweeted Wednesday afternoon that the team is headed to Moore, Okla., "to do what we can to help those affected by the disasters."

Here is the statement from the Big 12 concerning the tournament…

• Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Format Changed
The championship, originally set to begin on Wednesday, May 22, at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in a double-elimination tournament format will now begin on Thursday, May 23, and will utilize a pool play format.
The pool play format, which has previously been used by the Big 12, will feature two pools. K-State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor will play in one pool with Oklahoma State, West Virginia, TCU and Kansas in the second pool. Each team will be guaranteed three games and the team with the best record in each pool will advance to the championship game on Sunday.
The format will feature games at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m., CT on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The championship game will be at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, May 26.
Thursday through Saturday contests will be telecast on Fox College Sports while Sunday’s championship game will be on FSN.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby released this statement, “We debated canceling the tournament in deference to the devastating tragedy in Moore but were encouraged by Oklahoma City leaders and the Oklahoma City All-Sports Association to go forward. "We believe the tournament can serve as a testament to the strong Oklahoma spirit and to the resiliency of the Oklahoma people."

Kansas State takes on Texas Tech (Thursday), Baylor (Friday) and Oklahoma (Saturday). All games begin at 12:30 p.m.

Closer to home, at Reckling Park, the Rice Owls host the Conference-USA Baseball Tournament. Three College Park High School graduates helped Rice capture its 18th consecutive conference title and lead the Owls into Wednesday’s 7 p.m. C-USA Tournament opener with UAB.

Michael Aquino is the second-leading hitter on the Rice roster. The former Cavaliers standout hit .332 for the 2013 regular season. He tied for most hits (68) and doubles (12) and is second on the team in homers (7) and RBI (38). Aquino leads the Owls in slugging percentage (.522) and total bases (107).

College Park grad Keenan Cook is third on the team in hitting (.304), hits (59) and RBI (27).

Aquino and Cook were recently named to the C-USA second team.

Former Cavs pitching ace John Simms is second on the Owls team in wins (7), appearances (20), innings pitched (90 2/3) and strikeouts (81). Simms has compiled an ERA of 2.48 with a 7-3 record. His two complete-game efforts is tops on the Owls pitching staff.

Rice continues conference tournament play with UCF at 7 p.m. Thursday and meets Memphis at 11 a.m. Saturday. The championship game is set for 1 p.m. Sunday and will be televised by CBS Sports Network.