Rice University
2-4
UC Irvine
3-2
No. 25 UCI Pulls Away In Ninth
2/22/2019 11:39:00 PM | Baseball
Owls Drop Third-Straight Game To Top 25 Opponent
The Anteaters held a narrow 6-5 lead to start the top of the ninth, but scored five runs on four hits, a walk, a hit batsman and a Rice fielding error to stretch the margin to 11-5. Earlier in the contest the Owls took a 3-2 lead when true freshman Antonio Cruz blasted his first career home run in the bottom of the second. Trailing 6-3 in the fifth, the Blue & Gray rallied for two runs that made it a 6-5 game until the ninth.
Rice's first two hitters in the lineup, Braden Comeaux and Bradley Gneiting, shared the team lead with two hits and both scored runs. Junior starter Matt Canterino struck out six in 4.2 innings of work. Senior reliever Jackson Tyner posted his best collegiate outing with five strikeouts in 2.1 hitless innings. Six Rice pitchers saw action on the night as the Owls dropped to 2-4 on the season. UCI improved to 3-2.
Matt Bragga said – "UCI is very good and it was a good game through 8.0, but that is not enough for us right now. We'll get better. We have to keep working and keep grinding until we do. I saw some positives and things we can build on. Bradley had a nice game tonight. He plays the game the right way. Jackson came in and did a phenomenal job. That's some things going forward and nice to see."
The three-game series continues thru Sunday at Reckling Park. Saturday's contest is set for 2 pm. First pitch Sunday vs. the Anteaters is slated for 1 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bocko, Jordan (2-0)
L: Canterino, Matt (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Lewis, Brandon 1
HR: Lewis, Brandon 1 ; Brooks, Brendan 2
RBI: Lewis, Brandon 2 ; Brooks, Brendan 4 ; Damla, Adrian 1 ; Peabody, Mike 2 ; Filia, Mikey 1
SH: Peabody, Mike 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Koss, Christian 1 ; Lewis, Brandon 2 ; Jensen, John 2 ; Ireland, Sam 1 ; Brooks, Brendan 2 ; Damla, Adrian 1 ; Reitano, Matt 1 ; Peabody, Mike 1
SB: Koss, Christian 1 ; Reitano, Matt 1 ; Peabody, Mike 1
HBP: Koss, Christian 1 ; Brooks, Brendan 1 ; Reitano, Matt 1 ; Peabody, Mike 1
Batting:
HR: Cruz, Antonio 1
RBI: Edwards, Cade 1 ; Cruz, Antonio 2
SF: Edwards, Cade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Gneiting, Bradley 1 ; Cruz, Trei 1 ; Frazier, Brandt 1 ; Cruz, Antonio 1
