Saturday, April 20
Houston, TX
Noon
Rice University
18-23, 9-9
7
vs
5
Middle Tennessee
15-25, 9-9
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7
8
9
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H
E
Middle Tennessee
0
2
2
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1
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5
12
2
RICE
0
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1
1
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X
7
13
3
Baseball Rallies To Complete Series Sweep
4/20/2019 5:27:00 PM | Baseball
Homestand Continues Next Friday vs. LA Tech
HOUSTON – Sophomore Justin Collins' two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning helped Rice rally for a 7-5 Conference USA victory over Middle Tennessee Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park. The Owls trailed by as many as four runs early in the contest but rallied for the lead late and held on for the win to complete the weekend series sweep of the visiting Blue Raiders.
Home Run Tracker: Rice added another home run Saturday to give the team a total of 37 this year, surpassing 35 round-trippers the squad had all last season. The Blue & Gray zoomed past its 2018 home run total in just 72.8-percent of the at-bats. The squad's slugging percentage is also higher this season (.424) than a year ago (.386).
Top Third: Rice's first three batters in the lineup, Braden Comeaux, Bradley Gneiting and Trei Cruz, were and offensive force Saturday and all weekend long. The three Owls went a combined 8-for-15 (.533) Saturday with six runs scored and three RBI. The trio was 18-for-41 (.467) with 12 runs scored and nine RBI in the weekend sweep.
Streaks: Cade Edwards went 1-for-3 with a double to extend his hitting streak to seven games (currently the longest active mark on the team). His red-hot weekend consisted of going 6-for-10 at the plate with a home run and two doubles for a 1.110 slugging percentage. Braden Comeaux knocked a home run and a double Saturday. He has reached base in each of the last 17 games, the longest streak by any Owl this season.
Plus Side On Runs: Rice has out-scored its opponents 266-256 for the full season and 119-108 in C-USA games. Eight of the team's losses this season have been by a narrow margin of two runs or less.
Records: Rice improved to 18-23 overall and 9-9 in C-USA. Middle Tennessee is now 15-25 and 9-9 against the league. With a host of league games still to be completed this weekend, the Owls have climbed into a tie for fifth place in the C-USA standings
Coach Bragga: "The way the guys competed all weekend were just spectacular," said Rice head coach Matt Bragga. "We played extremely well both Thursday and Friday, then less so today but the great thing about today was they just continued to compete when faced with some adversity. We got behind 4-0 early but I give our guys a lot of credit. They kept battling and won an important conference game."
Join Us For The Matt Bragga Show!: Fans are invited to attend the Matt Bragga Show on Monday (April 22) at Christian's Tailgate restaurant located on Kirby. Owls Head Coach Matt Bragga and show co-host J.P. Heath will welcome current players and special alumni and/or baseball staff as guests for the hour-long show Mondays during the college baseball season.
On Deck: The current homestand continues thru May 1, but for the second time in as many weeks the Owls do not have a midweek game leading up to a C-USA weekend series. Rice is next in action on April 26 with the first of three league games against nationally ranked Louisiana Tech. First pitch Friday vs. the Bulldogs is scheduled for 6:30 pm at Reckling Park. Not only is Friday's game Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night, the contest is Margaritaville Night – complete with a T-shirt giveaway and margarita samples on hill behind left field.
Home Run Tracker: Rice added another home run Saturday to give the team a total of 37 this year, surpassing 35 round-trippers the squad had all last season. The Blue & Gray zoomed past its 2018 home run total in just 72.8-percent of the at-bats. The squad's slugging percentage is also higher this season (.424) than a year ago (.386).
Top Third: Rice's first three batters in the lineup, Braden Comeaux, Bradley Gneiting and Trei Cruz, were and offensive force Saturday and all weekend long. The three Owls went a combined 8-for-15 (.533) Saturday with six runs scored and three RBI. The trio was 18-for-41 (.467) with 12 runs scored and nine RBI in the weekend sweep.
Streaks: Cade Edwards went 1-for-3 with a double to extend his hitting streak to seven games (currently the longest active mark on the team). His red-hot weekend consisted of going 6-for-10 at the plate with a home run and two doubles for a 1.110 slugging percentage. Braden Comeaux knocked a home run and a double Saturday. He has reached base in each of the last 17 games, the longest streak by any Owl this season.
Plus Side On Runs: Rice has out-scored its opponents 266-256 for the full season and 119-108 in C-USA games. Eight of the team's losses this season have been by a narrow margin of two runs or less.
Records: Rice improved to 18-23 overall and 9-9 in C-USA. Middle Tennessee is now 15-25 and 9-9 against the league. With a host of league games still to be completed this weekend, the Owls have climbed into a tie for fifth place in the C-USA standings
Coach Bragga: "The way the guys competed all weekend were just spectacular," said Rice head coach Matt Bragga. "We played extremely well both Thursday and Friday, then less so today but the great thing about today was they just continued to compete when faced with some adversity. We got behind 4-0 early but I give our guys a lot of credit. They kept battling and won an important conference game."
Join Us For The Matt Bragga Show!: Fans are invited to attend the Matt Bragga Show on Monday (April 22) at Christian's Tailgate restaurant located on Kirby. Owls Head Coach Matt Bragga and show co-host J.P. Heath will welcome current players and special alumni and/or baseball staff as guests for the hour-long show Mondays during the college baseball season.
On Deck: The current homestand continues thru May 1, but for the second time in as many weeks the Owls do not have a midweek game leading up to a C-USA weekend series. Rice is next in action on April 26 with the first of three league games against nationally ranked Louisiana Tech. First pitch Friday vs. the Bulldogs is scheduled for 6:30 pm at Reckling Park. Not only is Friday's game Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night, the contest is Margaritaville Night – complete with a T-shirt giveaway and margarita samples on hill behind left field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jefferies, Kendal (2-2)
L: ZOZ,David (2-3)
Batting:
2B: ANTONINI,Aaron 1
RBI: PREWETT,Darien 1 ; CHRISTIAN,Myles 1 ; PARKER,Tanner 1
SH: SPENCER,AJ 1
SF: CHRISTIAN,Myles 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BENEFIELD,Blake 1 ; CHRISTIAN,Myles 1 ; THOMAS,Brycen 1 ; PARKER,Tanner 2
SB: CHRISTIAN,Myles 1
HBP: PREWETT,Darien 1 ; THOMAS,Brycen 1
Batting:
2B: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Cruz, Trei 1 ; Edwards, Cade 1
HR: Comeaux, Braden 1
RBI: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Gneiting, Bradley 1 ; Cruz, Trei 1 ; Edwards, Cade 1 ; Collins, Justin 1 ; Frazier, Brandt 1
SH: Frazier, Brandt 1
SF: Edwards, Cade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Comeaux, Braden 2 ; Gneiting, Bradley 2 ; Cruz, Trei 2 ; Edwards, Cade 1
SB: Edwards, Cade 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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