Sunday, March 1
Houston, TX
1 pm
Rice University
2-8
5
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Missouri State
5-6
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9
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Missouri State
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Rice
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Photo by: Maria Lysaker
Owls Take Series With 5-1 Win Sunday
3/1/2020 5:33:00 PM | Baseball
Homestand Continues Tuesday vs. Ragin' Cajuns
HOUSTON – The Rice baseball team overcame an early deficit with five unanswered runs for a 5-1 victory over visiting Missouri State in Sunday afternoon at Reckling Park.
Records/Series: With a 12-4 win over the Bears on Friday the Owls claimed the weekend series two games to one. Rice is now 2-8 on the season. Missouri State dropped to 5-6 overall. The teams were meeting for the eighth time in the series since 1997.
State Strikes First: For the third time in the series Missouri State was the first team to get on the scoreboard. The Bears quickly tallied a run in the top of the first inning after a leadoff double and one-out single.
The Rice Fight: Rice was down 1-0, but there was still a lot of baseball left to play even under a constant threat of showers. The rain may have been held in check, but the Rice offense soon came alive. The Owls tied the score in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Justin Collins to drive home Cade Edwards. The Owls took the lead, 2-1, in next inning on a RBI single by Aaron Beaulaurier to score Rodrigo Duluc. Trei Cruz led off the fifth with a walk and Austin Bulman followed with home run to left. The round-tripper was Bulman's team-leading second of the season, but the Blue & Gray wasn't quite finished in the run column. Collins started the seventh with single and his aggressive base-running helped stretch the lead to 5-1.
Balanced Attack: Seven different Owls contributed to a nine-hit attack. Cade Edwards and Rodrigo Duluc both had two hits. Bulman and Beaulaurier both extended their respective hitting steaks to a season-best four games.
"100 Fires!": True freshman pitcher Cristian Cienfuegos earned his first career victory with a career-long 4.1 innings out of the bullpen. The right-hander from Baytown, Texas, allowed just one hit and a pair of walks while posting a career-best three strikeouts against Missouri State. So far this season Cienfuegos has allowed just one run while striking out six in 9.1 innings over three appearances. He has held opposing hitters to a composite .129 batting average in his first season of Division I baseball.
Career Highs For Greenwood: Junior right-hander Drake Greenwood started on the mound for Rice for the second time this season. Greenwood was just one out shy of being the pitcher of record, but his 4.2 innings was the longest of his collegiate career. The Houston native posted a career-high six strikeouts in a no decision.
Coach Bragga Said: "It is good to get our first series-win of the season of the season, especially against a good Missouri State program," said Rice head coach Matt Bragga. "We are continuing to work to get better, and a series win this weekend is something we can build on. The games that are coming up this week will be a big challenge, and it will be critical for us to play our very best baseball."
On Deck: Rice next hosts longtime foe Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday (March 3). First pitch against the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 6:30 pm at Reckling Park.
Silver Glove Starts Wednesday: After hosting Louisiana-Lafayette the Owls welcome crosstown rival Houston to Reckling Park on Wednesday (March 4) to close out the current homestand. Note the 7 pm start time for the opening game of the season-long series for the Silver Glove Trophy.
Records/Series: With a 12-4 win over the Bears on Friday the Owls claimed the weekend series two games to one. Rice is now 2-8 on the season. Missouri State dropped to 5-6 overall. The teams were meeting for the eighth time in the series since 1997.
State Strikes First: For the third time in the series Missouri State was the first team to get on the scoreboard. The Bears quickly tallied a run in the top of the first inning after a leadoff double and one-out single.
The Rice Fight: Rice was down 1-0, but there was still a lot of baseball left to play even under a constant threat of showers. The rain may have been held in check, but the Rice offense soon came alive. The Owls tied the score in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Justin Collins to drive home Cade Edwards. The Owls took the lead, 2-1, in next inning on a RBI single by Aaron Beaulaurier to score Rodrigo Duluc. Trei Cruz led off the fifth with a walk and Austin Bulman followed with home run to left. The round-tripper was Bulman's team-leading second of the season, but the Blue & Gray wasn't quite finished in the run column. Collins started the seventh with single and his aggressive base-running helped stretch the lead to 5-1.
Balanced Attack: Seven different Owls contributed to a nine-hit attack. Cade Edwards and Rodrigo Duluc both had two hits. Bulman and Beaulaurier both extended their respective hitting steaks to a season-best four games.
"100 Fires!": True freshman pitcher Cristian Cienfuegos earned his first career victory with a career-long 4.1 innings out of the bullpen. The right-hander from Baytown, Texas, allowed just one hit and a pair of walks while posting a career-best three strikeouts against Missouri State. So far this season Cienfuegos has allowed just one run while striking out six in 9.1 innings over three appearances. He has held opposing hitters to a composite .129 batting average in his first season of Division I baseball.
Career Highs For Greenwood: Junior right-hander Drake Greenwood started on the mound for Rice for the second time this season. Greenwood was just one out shy of being the pitcher of record, but his 4.2 innings was the longest of his collegiate career. The Houston native posted a career-high six strikeouts in a no decision.
Coach Bragga Said: "It is good to get our first series-win of the season of the season, especially against a good Missouri State program," said Rice head coach Matt Bragga. "We are continuing to work to get better, and a series win this weekend is something we can build on. The games that are coming up this week will be a big challenge, and it will be critical for us to play our very best baseball."
On Deck: Rice next hosts longtime foe Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday (March 3). First pitch against the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 6:30 pm at Reckling Park.
Silver Glove Starts Wednesday: After hosting Louisiana-Lafayette the Owls welcome crosstown rival Houston to Reckling Park on Wednesday (March 4) to close out the current homestand. Note the 7 pm start time for the opening game of the season-long series for the Silver Glove Trophy.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cienfuegos, Cristian (1-0)
L: Carson,Peyton (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Duffy,Jack 1 ; Baldwin,Drake 1 ; Kotowski,Dakota 1
RBI: Baldwin,Drake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duffy,Jack 1
CS: Herron,Anthony 1
Batting:
2B: Duluc, Rodrigo 1
HR: Bulman, Austin 1
RBI: Bulman, Austin 2 ; Collins, Justin 1 ; Beaulaurier, Aaron 1
SH: Gneiting, Bradley 1
SF: Collins, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Edwards, Cade 1 ; Cruz, Trei 1 ; Bulman, Austin 1 ; Collins, Justin 1 ; Duluc, Rodrigo 1
CS: Cruz, Trei 1
HBP: Collins, Justin 1 ; Beaulaurier, Aaron 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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