Rice University
1-7
Missouri State
4-5
Rice Tops Missouri State Friday, 12-4
2/28/2020 11:43:00 PM | Baseball
Owls Get Offensive With 16-Hit Attack
Owls Get Offense: Rice posted a season-high 16 hits in eight offensive innings. Three Owls, Austin Bulman, Brayden Combs and Bradley Gneiting, paced the attack with three hits each. As a team the Blue & Gray was 11-for-25 (.440) with runners on base, 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position (.429), and also an identical 6-for14 when batting with two outs in the inning.
Good Night For Gneiting: Gneiting had a double and a triple among his three hits to approach a possible cycle. He finished the night with three RBI and two runs scored.
Cruz Goes Deep: Junior Trei Cruz blasted his first home run of the season as part of a seven-run first inning. He drove in three runs, scored twice and drew a pair of walks.
The Rice Fight: Missouri State jumped on the scoreboard for four runs on just two hits in the top of the first inning. Down but with still a lot of baseball to play, the Owls answered right away with seven runs on eight hits in the bottom of the frame. The Blue & Gray stretched the margin to 11-4 after three innings before a final score in the eighth for a 12-4 final.
On The Bump: Junior right-hander Alex DeLeon made his second start of the season on the mound for Rice. Where the first inning did not go his way (MSU plated four runs before an out was recorded), DeLeon came up with gritty game. He did not allow the Bears any more runs nor walks while getting the next 21 outs, and no MSU hitter advanced past second base after the first inning. DeLeon finished with a season-long 7.0 innings of work and three strikeouts for his first Division I win. True freshman Garrett Zaskoda fired the final two scoreless frames in relief with two strikeouts.
Records/Series: Rice improved to 1-7 on the season. Missouri State is now 4-5 overall. The teams were meeting for the sixth time in the series since 1997.
Game 2 At 2 PM: The second game of this weekend series is set for 2 pm. In fact, every Rice Saturday home game from this point in the season is scheduled for a 2 pm first pitch. At game two of the MSU series fans will have an opportunity to take a selfie photo with the Owls' 2003 National Championship Trophy.
Next Week: After hosting Missouri State the Owls welcome longtime foes Louisiana-Lafayette (March 3) and Houston (March 4) to Reckling Park to close out the current homestand.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: DeLeon, Alex (1-2)
L: Wiley,Logan (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Wood,Grant 1
3B: Kotowski,Dakota 1
RBI: Kotowski,Dakota 3 ; Baldwin,Drake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duffy,Jack 1 ; Wood,Grant 1 ; Whetstone,Ben 1 ; Kotowski,Dakota 1
Batting:
2B: Edwards, Cade 1 ; Bulman, Austin 1 ; Gneiting, Bradley 1 ; Combs, Brayden 1
3B: Gneiting, Bradley 1 ; Duluc, Rodrigo 1
HR: Cruz, Trei 1
RBI: Edwards, Cade 1 ; Cruz, Trei 3 ; Gneiting, Bradley 3 ; Combs, Brayden 2 ; Duluc, Rodrigo 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Edwards, Cade 1 ; Cruz, Trei 2 ; Bulman, Austin 1 ; Collins, Justin 3 ; Gneiting, Bradley 2 ; Combs, Brayden 2 ; Duluc, Rodrigo 1
HBP: Collins, Justin 1 ; Duluc, Rodrigo 1
