Rice University
0-3
Texas
3-0
Rice Rally Falls Just Short Sunday
2/16/2020 5:44:00 PM | Baseball
Owls Begin Five-Game Road Swing On Tuesday
Bottom of the Ninth: Rice trailed 5-2 to start the bottom of the ninth, but continued to fight. Junior catcher Justin Collins punched his second hit of the day through the left side and Braden Comeaux followed with a two-run homer to left to pull the Owls within one. Texas made a move to the bullpen but the Longhorns were careful pitching to Rice shortstop Trei Cruz, who drew a free pass after working the count full. The Blue & Gray then brought the potential winning run up to bat two more times in the frame, but the Horns avoided further trouble for a 5-4 final.
For The Record: The Owls dropped to 0-3 as Texas completed the season-opening series sweep. Rice had a similar 0-3 start to the season in 2010. That year the Blue & Gray went on to post 41 wins on the way to the Conference USA regular season championship with an at large bid to a NCAA Regional.
Big Crowds At Reckling Park: Sunday's attendance at Reckling Park was 3,485. For the three-game weekend series the combined attendance was 10,530. There were more than 4,000 fans in attendance at the game on Saturday.
Braden's Big Day: Not only did Braden Comeaux have the ninth inning homer to pull the Owls within one run, he also tied his collegiate career high of four base hits in the game set two years ago against Gonzaga. Comeaux's offense is only part of the story. In the top of the third he also made a sensational catch on a tricky foul pop up near the netting just past the visiting dugout.
More Round-Trippers: Comeaux's homer was Rice's second of the day. The first homerun of the 2020 season was by junior Austin Bulman in the bottom of the sixth. Bulman, a native of Shepherdstown, W.Va., played last season at Wake Tech. He started at second base Sunday in place of Cade Edwards, who was moved to the starting spot in centerfield.
Mound Men: Four Owl pitchers saw action Sunday, including two who made their Rice debut. Junior Kel Bordwine started and worked 4.2 innings. Junior transfer Ryan Rickett followed and worked 1.1 innings. Andrew Kane, a grad transfer from Mercer, struck out a batter in a scoreless frame. Sophomore Brandon Deskins was the lone left-hander to see action in the game. Deskins fired 2.0 scoreless innings of one-hit relief in his first outing of the season. The four Rice pitchers allowed just two walks in the game.
On Deck: Rice is on the road for each of its next five games. The Owls play longtime foe Sam Houston State on Tuesday (Feb. 18) at 6:30 pm in Huntsville. Rice then has a three-game series at west coast power UC Irvine over the weekend (Feb. 21-23). The Owls close out the road swing on Feb. 26 at Texas State.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stevens, Tristan (1-0)
L: Bordwine, Kel (0-1)
S: Diaz, Donny (2)
Batting:
2B: Todd, Austin 1 ; Zubia, Zach 2 ; Petrinsky, DJ 2 ; Faltine, Trey 1
RBI: Zubia, Zach 2 ; Petrinsky, DJ 1 ; Faltine, Trey 1 ; Dixon, Brenden 1
SH: Ellis, Duke 1
SF: Zubia, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Todd, Austin 1 ; Ellis, Duke 1 ; Zubia, Zach 1 ; Petrinsky, DJ 1 ; Kennedy, Eric 1
SB: Todd, Austin 1 ; Kennedy, Eric 1
CS: Dixon, Brenden 1
Batting:
HR: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Bulman, Austin 1
RBI: Comeaux, Braden 2 ; Bulman, Austin 1 ; Edwards, Cade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Cruz, Trei 1 ; Bulman, Austin 1 ; Collins, Justin 1
HBP: Collins, Justin 1
