Rice University
2-1
Rhode Island
1-2
Cruz Control
2/17/2019 5:01:00 PM | Baseball
Owls Explode For 15-3 Win Sunday Over Rhode Island
Cruz officially went 4-for-6 with four runs scored and an eye-opening nine RBI on the strength of two homers and two triples. The nine RBI is the second-highest single game total in school history and one away from the 10 his father, Rice All-America and former MLB player Jose Cruz Jr., recorded in a game in 1995. Trei's 14 total bases Sunday is tied for the fifth-most in a single Rice game, and the most by an Owl since All-American Bubba Crosby had 18 at New Mexico in 1998. No less than six different Owls had two or more hits for a final team total of 19, the most in a game since the series finale vs. Old Dominion last season.
While the hitters were lighting up the scoreboard, senior pitcher Jackson Parthasarathy was in control on the mound. The right-hander from Austin fired a career long 6.0 scoreless frames allowing just one hit without any walks while posting a new career best with eight strikeouts. The combined outings Rice's three starting pitchers on the opening weekend, Parthasarathy, Matt Canterino and Evan Kravetz is worth a closer look. The trio did not allow any runs in a combined 17.1 innings of work, and gave up just seven hits and two walks while striking out a total of 27 batters.
Head Coach Matt Bragga said – "Offensively it was just a fun day. Our guys fought and battled really well. Obviously the day Trei had with two home runs and two triples is a catalyst kind of day. I was also impressed with Cade Edwards, who had three hits and played well in the field despite having a really sick stomach. His teammates saw how tough he was and what was able to do in those circumstances. Cade's mindset to play, and to play so well, was really inspiring for the team. When your offense is putting up some runs on the board that makes it easier on pitchers, no question about that. Jackson went out there did quite honestly what we expected him to do because we've seen him pitch like that all fall. That's what he did in the preseason and I can see him pitching well the rest of this year. He's really good. I'm excited for him, he's a great young man. I put this down as a team win and we had a great lesson today - that if we execute pitches, minimize mistakes, and have quality at bats we have a really good chance to win any game we play."
The weekend series vs. Rhode Island has concluded but the Owls' season-opening homestand is in full swing. Rice next hosts longtime baseball powers Texas (Feb. 19), Arizona (Feb. 20) and UC-Irvine (Feb. 22-24). First pitch Tuesday night against the nationally ranked Longhorns is scheduled for 7 pm at Reckling Park.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Parthasarathy, Jackson (1-0)
L: ROBINSON, Nick (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: BUTLER, Billy 1 ; ILARIO, Sam 1 ; CHERRY, Justin 1
SF: BUTLER, Billy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: LASKE, Jordan 1 ; COLEY, Mark 1 ; ILARIO, Sam 1
HBP: ILARIO, Sam 1
Batting:
2B: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; DiCaprio, Dominic 1 ; Edwards, Cade 1
3B: Cruz, Trei 2
HR: Cruz, Trei 2 ; Collins, Justin 1
RBI: Gneiting, Bradley 1 ; Cruz, Trei 9 ; Russell, Daniel 1 ; DiCaprio, Dominic 1 ; Collins, Justin 2 ; Cox, Dominic 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Comeaux, Braden 3 ; Gneiting, Bradley 3 ; Cruz, Trei 4 ; DiCaprio, Dominic 1 ; Collins, Justin 2 ; Edwards, Cade 1 ; Cox, Dominic 1
SB: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Cox, Dominic 1
