Sunday, May 12
Houston, TX
1 pm
Rice University
23-28, 14-13
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Southern Miss
32-17, 19-8
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Southern Miss
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RICE
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Photo by: Maria Lysaker
Rice Tops Southern Miss 7-2 To Take Weekend Series
5/12/2019 6:23:00 PM | Baseball
Owls Hold Fifth Place In C-USA Standings
HOUSTON – Owl seniors Jackson Parthasarathy and Andrew Dunlap, playing in the final home game, were the catalysts in the Rice baseball team's 7-2 Conference USA victory over visiting Southern Miss in Sunday's finale of a three game weekend series at Reckling Park.
Big Series Win: Rice won the weekend series two games to one. After a 6-3 setback in the opening game on Friday, the Owls bounced back to win Saturday's game 4-0 and Sunday's 7-2.
Records: The Owls are now 23-28 on the season and 14-13 in conference action. Southern Miss is now 32-17 overall and tied with FAU for first place in the C-USA standings with 19-8 C-USA records.
Standings Update: With the win the Owls remained tied for fifth place in the C-USA standings with Old Dominion (14-13 C-USA). Rice holds the head-to-head series advantage over ODU after sweeping three straight games from the Monarchs in late March.
On The Mound: Jackson Parthasarathy started on the mound in his final home appearance at Reckling Park and gave his teammates a solid outing. The Austin, Texas, native allowed just one run in 6.1 innings while striking out five to earn his fourth victory of the season. Fire-baller Garrett Gayle tied his career high with five strikeouts in pitching the final 2.2 scoreless frames.
Big Hitters: Senior Andrew Dunlap led all players with three hits. The veteran slugger went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run in his final Reckling Park game. Sophomore Justin Collins had a home run and a double as part of a three RBI day. Junior second baseman Cade Edwards belted his sixth homer of the season as the Owls finished with nine hits overall.
Four-run Firsts: Dunlap's two-run single and Collins' two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning plated four Owl runs to start the game. That tied the team's biggest first inning outburst of the season when the Blue & Gray scored four times in the first inning vs. Prairie View (Feb. 17) and later matched the feat at FAU (March 16).
Home Run Tracker: Rice's two home runs Sunday gave the team a total of 44 homers this year. Rice had already zoomed past its 2018 total of 35 home runs in just two-thirds of the at bats. The squad has been blasting the longball at a rate of one every 40.52 at bats as well as just under one per game (0.863), both percentages are the best the program has done in the last two years. Overall the squad's slugging percentage is higher this season (.419) than a year ago (.386). Rice also already has 16 triples to surpass its full-season total from one year ago.
Hail Seniors: Before the start of their final home game at Reckling Park no less than 13 Owl seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony. The veterans were presented with a framed jersey and met by their respective families. As it was also Mother's Day the Owls' senior moms threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Coach Bragga: "This is a big series win against a team that shares the top spot in the conference," said Rice head coach Matt Bragga. "For us to come out and pitch the way we pitched, defend so well for so much of the series, and for the offense to get on the board and make some punches early – all of those were just really big. They are things we want to see in every game. When we play well in all the different areas of the game we're capable of taking series against very good teams like we did this weekend. Jackson (Parthasarathy) got that early run support, was able to settle in, and pitch a good game. I tip my cap to our pitchers, shutting out an offense like that for nine innings yesterday and the first six more innings today. Garrett came into a tough situation today and he had to battle early, but he really had a good feel for his breaking ball midway through his outing. You can see how good he is when he has that going."
Join Us For The Matt Bragga Show!: Fans are invited to attend the Matt Bragga Show on Monday (May 13) at Christian's Tailgate restaurant located on Kirby. Monday's show is final one of the season.
On Deck: Rice is next in action on Tuesday (May 14) as the Owls wrap up the annual season long three-game series vs. crosstown rival Houston. Start time is set for 7 pm at the neutral site of Constellation Field, the minor league home of the Sugar Land Skeeters.
Big Series Win: Rice won the weekend series two games to one. After a 6-3 setback in the opening game on Friday, the Owls bounced back to win Saturday's game 4-0 and Sunday's 7-2.
Records: The Owls are now 23-28 on the season and 14-13 in conference action. Southern Miss is now 32-17 overall and tied with FAU for first place in the C-USA standings with 19-8 C-USA records.
Standings Update: With the win the Owls remained tied for fifth place in the C-USA standings with Old Dominion (14-13 C-USA). Rice holds the head-to-head series advantage over ODU after sweeping three straight games from the Monarchs in late March.
On The Mound: Jackson Parthasarathy started on the mound in his final home appearance at Reckling Park and gave his teammates a solid outing. The Austin, Texas, native allowed just one run in 6.1 innings while striking out five to earn his fourth victory of the season. Fire-baller Garrett Gayle tied his career high with five strikeouts in pitching the final 2.2 scoreless frames.
Big Hitters: Senior Andrew Dunlap led all players with three hits. The veteran slugger went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run in his final Reckling Park game. Sophomore Justin Collins had a home run and a double as part of a three RBI day. Junior second baseman Cade Edwards belted his sixth homer of the season as the Owls finished with nine hits overall.
Four-run Firsts: Dunlap's two-run single and Collins' two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning plated four Owl runs to start the game. That tied the team's biggest first inning outburst of the season when the Blue & Gray scored four times in the first inning vs. Prairie View (Feb. 17) and later matched the feat at FAU (March 16).
Home Run Tracker: Rice's two home runs Sunday gave the team a total of 44 homers this year. Rice had already zoomed past its 2018 total of 35 home runs in just two-thirds of the at bats. The squad has been blasting the longball at a rate of one every 40.52 at bats as well as just under one per game (0.863), both percentages are the best the program has done in the last two years. Overall the squad's slugging percentage is higher this season (.419) than a year ago (.386). Rice also already has 16 triples to surpass its full-season total from one year ago.
Hail Seniors: Before the start of their final home game at Reckling Park no less than 13 Owl seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony. The veterans were presented with a framed jersey and met by their respective families. As it was also Mother's Day the Owls' senior moms threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Coach Bragga: "This is a big series win against a team that shares the top spot in the conference," said Rice head coach Matt Bragga. "For us to come out and pitch the way we pitched, defend so well for so much of the series, and for the offense to get on the board and make some punches early – all of those were just really big. They are things we want to see in every game. When we play well in all the different areas of the game we're capable of taking series against very good teams like we did this weekend. Jackson (Parthasarathy) got that early run support, was able to settle in, and pitch a good game. I tip my cap to our pitchers, shutting out an offense like that for nine innings yesterday and the first six more innings today. Garrett came into a tough situation today and he had to battle early, but he really had a good feel for his breaking ball midway through his outing. You can see how good he is when he has that going."
Join Us For The Matt Bragga Show!: Fans are invited to attend the Matt Bragga Show on Monday (May 13) at Christian's Tailgate restaurant located on Kirby. Monday's show is final one of the season.
On Deck: Rice is next in action on Tuesday (May 14) as the Owls wrap up the annual season long three-game series vs. crosstown rival Houston. Start time is set for 7 pm at the neutral site of Constellation Field, the minor league home of the Sugar Land Skeeters.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Parthasarathy, Jackson (4-7)
L: Wright, Jarod (0-3)
Batting:
RBI: Slater, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; McGillis, Will 1
PO: Montenegro, Gabe 1
Batting:
2B: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Cruz, Trei 1 ; Collins, Justin 1
HR: Edwards, Cade 1 ; Collins, Justin 1
RBI: Dunlap, Andrew 2 ; Edwards, Cade 2 ; Collins, Justin 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Cruz, Trei 2 ; Dunlap, Andrew 1 ; Edwards, Cade 2 ; Collins, Justin 1
SB: Dunlap, Andrew 1
CS: Cox, Dominic 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
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