SOFTBALL'S RICE READY FOR UAA ACTION IN FLORIDA...
CLEVELAND, OH (March 11, 2008) - After practicing indoors while snow blanketed Northeast Ohio and needing a change in scenery, junior shortstop Angel Rice (Brunswick, OH) and the Case Western Reserve University softball team are ready for Florida and the 2008 University Athletic Association Championships Mar. 11-15.
Rice and the Spartans are currently 6-2, having played games in Kentucky and Florida leading up to UAA competition which begins tomorrow against Brandeis University at 10:00 a.m. in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
“Kentucky was good for us to break the ice from being inside for a month,” Rice said. “A lot of the UAA teams get to play outside before they go to Florida, so it was good to play outside for a change.”
Last season was Rice's first as a Spartan, and she immediately made an impact up the middle, as her 88-assists and .912 fielding percentage led the Spartans to a 19-17 finish , including a 12-4 record at home.
Rice originally came to the University to suit up for the women's basketball team, but after last basketball season was complete, she made the decision to take the diamond once again.
However, her first softball campaign was pushed back after a sledding accident during Christmas break kept her sidelined for awhile. Rice only played in 32 of 47 games her rookie season.
“I shattered my collar bone and had a plate put in,” Rice said. “I still traveled with the team and kept the scorebook until I was able to play again.”
An accounting major, Rice currently works for the Clinical Research Center at University Hospitals after interning with them last summer, where she accounts for research checks that come into the hospital for various studies. This summer, she will do an internship with the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Cleveland.
“I'll be in their credit risk management group, running credit reports on banks and basically see if their credit is good enough for a loan from the Federal Reserve,” Rice said. “It's something that interests me and I took it when the opportunity presented itself.”
One thing Rice is banking on this season is the seven freshmen on this year's squad stepping up and playing an important role after last year's 19-win season.
“I think there's a lot of promise with this team,” Rice said. “We definitely have a lot more talent than we've had in previous years. The freshmen are ready to step up and play the roles that we need.”
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