Friday, March 12
Houston
5 pm
Rice University
6-6
6
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3
Northern Illinois
1-8
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9
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H
E
Northern Illinois
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6
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Rice
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X
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2
Photo by: Maria Lysaker
Owls Defeat NIU Friday, 6-3
3/12/2021 9:46:00 PM | Baseball
Note Schedule Changes For Saturday's Action
HOUSTON — The Rice baseball team surged in front with a four-run fifth inning before fighting off a Northern Illinois rally in a 6-3 victory over the Huskies Friday evening at the Owls' Reckling Park.
The Story
Already with a game under their belt vs. Kansas State earlier in the afternoon, Northern Illinois was quick to jump on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the third inning. Rice answered with a run in the bottom of the frame on Guy Garibay's two-out, solo home run that caromed off the foul pole in right field. The freshman's team-leading third round-tripper made it 1-1 after three.
The Owls were soon back on the offensive. Rice send nine batters to the plate in a four-run fifth. The balanced attack featured four different players contributing a RBI for a 5-1 advantage. Rice starting pitcher Blake Brogdon was sound and solid working into the seventh inning for his longest outing of the young season. The Huskies plated two runs before the Owls were able to work out of the threat. Reed Gallant pitched the final 2.2 innings and the Blue & Gray added an insurance run in the seventh in a 6-3 final.
Schedule Update
With the anticipation of rain in the Houston area on Sunday (March 14) the schedule for Saturday (March 13) was change prior to Friday's games. Please make note of revised weekend slate:
Northern Illinois vs Kansas St – 10 am
Rice vs Kansas State – 2 pm
Rice vs Northern Illinois – 6 pm
Sunday's Rice-Kansas State finale is for now a 2 pm start. Any updates to that game will be posted on social media and the Owls 2021 Online Schedule.
For The Record
Rice improved to 6-6 overall. Northern Illinois is now 1-8 on the season.
Head Coach Matt Bragga Said
"It was a nice win tonight," coach Bragga said. "Blake went out and did a really good job on the mound, and that gave us a chance. Reed settled in and finished strong for us. We needed that tonight and we'll need more of that looking ahead. We were able to separate on the scoreboard a little in the fifth, with everyone seeming to do their part to keep it going.
"It is a lot of fun to see Guy get another home run tonight," Bragga said. "I like it, and his teammates like it. They are confident every time he comes up to bat that he is going to do something big – and the coaches are too."
"We now have two games tomorrow, so that's new, but (playing twice in a day) is obviously something that will be very important once conference games start," Coach Bragga added.
Notes & Stats
• Braden Comeaux paced the Owls by going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Comeaux leads the team lead with five multi-hit games.
• Cade Edwards drew a walk in the fourth to extend his streak of reaching base to ten-straight games.
• Freshman Connor Walsh returned to action for the first time since being sidelined at Louisiana (Feb. 27).
• Rice tied its season-high of drawing eight walks (also had eight vs. Texas A&M-Corpus-Christi).
• Owl pitchers posted a second straight game with double digit strikeouts.
• The Blue & Gray went 4-for-10 when batting with a runner in scoring position.
The Story
Already with a game under their belt vs. Kansas State earlier in the afternoon, Northern Illinois was quick to jump on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the third inning. Rice answered with a run in the bottom of the frame on Guy Garibay's two-out, solo home run that caromed off the foul pole in right field. The freshman's team-leading third round-tripper made it 1-1 after three.
The Owls were soon back on the offensive. Rice send nine batters to the plate in a four-run fifth. The balanced attack featured four different players contributing a RBI for a 5-1 advantage. Rice starting pitcher Blake Brogdon was sound and solid working into the seventh inning for his longest outing of the young season. The Huskies plated two runs before the Owls were able to work out of the threat. Reed Gallant pitched the final 2.2 innings and the Blue & Gray added an insurance run in the seventh in a 6-3 final.
Schedule Update
With the anticipation of rain in the Houston area on Sunday (March 14) the schedule for Saturday (March 13) was change prior to Friday's games. Please make note of revised weekend slate:
Northern Illinois vs Kansas St – 10 am
Rice vs Kansas State – 2 pm
Rice vs Northern Illinois – 6 pm
Sunday's Rice-Kansas State finale is for now a 2 pm start. Any updates to that game will be posted on social media and the Owls 2021 Online Schedule.
For The Record
Rice improved to 6-6 overall. Northern Illinois is now 1-8 on the season.
Head Coach Matt Bragga Said
"It was a nice win tonight," coach Bragga said. "Blake went out and did a really good job on the mound, and that gave us a chance. Reed settled in and finished strong for us. We needed that tonight and we'll need more of that looking ahead. We were able to separate on the scoreboard a little in the fifth, with everyone seeming to do their part to keep it going.
"It is a lot of fun to see Guy get another home run tonight," Bragga said. "I like it, and his teammates like it. They are confident every time he comes up to bat that he is going to do something big – and the coaches are too."
"We now have two games tomorrow, so that's new, but (playing twice in a day) is obviously something that will be very important once conference games start," Coach Bragga added.
Notes & Stats
• Braden Comeaux paced the Owls by going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Comeaux leads the team lead with five multi-hit games.
• Cade Edwards drew a walk in the fourth to extend his streak of reaching base to ten-straight games.
• Freshman Connor Walsh returned to action for the first time since being sidelined at Louisiana (Feb. 27).
• Rice tied its season-high of drawing eight walks (also had eight vs. Texas A&M-Corpus-Christi).
• Owl pitchers posted a second straight game with double digit strikeouts.
• The Blue & Gray went 4-for-10 when batting with a runner in scoring position.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brogdon, Blake (1-2)
L: THOMAS, Nate (1-2)
S: Gallant, Reed (1)
Batting:
2B: SCHROEDER, Jacob 1
RBI: BLAZEVICH, Jack 1
SF: BLAZEVICH, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DUNHAM, Jake 1 ; LARSON, Jordan 1 ; BLAZEVICH, Jack 1
SB: BARNES, Matt 1 ; MCKERMITT, Paddy 1 ; BLAZEVICH, Jack 1
CS: SMITH, Kam 1 ; BLAZEVICH, Jack 1
HBP: SCHROEDER, Jacob 1
PO: DUNHAM, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Dunlap, Justin 1
HR: Garibay Jr., Guy 1
RBI: Dunlap, Justin 1 ; Garibay Jr., Guy 2 ; Comeaux, Braden 2 ; Gneiting, Bradley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dunlap, Justin 2 ; Garibay Jr., Guy 1 ; Comeaux, Braden 1 ; Long, Justin 1 ; Hughes, Hal 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
P
/ BaseballInf.
/ Baseball
Inf.
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
Inf./OF
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