By BRIAN McTAGGART
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Monday's chilly temperatures left little indication spring is just around the corner, but that didn't stop the Rice baseball team from gathering for its first practice of the season at Reckling Park.

"All winter you're waiting to get back playing, and finally it's here," junior pitcher David Aardsma said.

Not surprisingly, expectations are extremely high for the Owls, who are coming off their third trip to the College World Series in six years and ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America. Rice returns 15 lettermen, including seven pitchers from a staff that led the nation with a 2.79 ERA last year.

The Owls are loaded offensively, too, with the return of sophomore first baseman Vincent Sinisi (.428, 11 homers, 80 RBIs) and junior outfielders Austin Davis (.355) and Chris Kolkhorst (.345).

"We have so much experience, and everyone's so confident that to not get back to Omaha and do well -- and hopefully win the thing -- would be a disappointment," Sinisi said.

The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, which was released Monday, had the Owls at No. 2 behind defending champion Texas. Rice opens Feb. 11 at home against Texas-San Antonio.

"The rankings don't matter," Sinisi said. "We proved that last year. We came into Omaha No. 1 and got beat out. The only thing that matters at the end of the year is who's No. 1."

The Owls went two-and-out at the College World Series in June, losing a 2-1 heartbreaker to Texas before getting eliminated by Notre Dame 5-3 on a walk-off homer in the ninth.

"Anything less than winning it all is going to be a big disappointment," Aardsma said. "We got there last year with a good team, and we came very close to winning it. So without winning it, we're not going to be happy."

Rice coach Wayne Graham said conditioning will be a key concern in the coming days, though the team will play its first inter-squad game Monday.

"You try to get them in condition and get your pitchers, if possible, as many as four outings in inter-squad games and keep the practices as realistic as possible while you're getting them in shape," Graham said.

Although it was only the first practice of the year, freshman infielder Matt Moake of Episcopal opened some eyes with a spectacular diving catch in foul territory during a pop-up drill.

But not all the news was good. Graham said senior pitcher Steven Herce, a first-team All-America pick by Collegiate Baseball, was having shoulder difficulties from throwing on his own over the winter break.

"We hope it's just temporary," Graham said.

Single-game tickets for all Rice 2003 baseball games at Reckling Park -- including games against Texas, Houston, Nebraska and Texas A&M -- go on sale next Monday. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at any Ticketmaster location, on the Internet at www.RiceOwls.com, or by calling the Rice ticket office at 713-522-OWLS.