Friday, April 8
Ruston, LA
6:00 PM
Rice University
9-22, 3-7
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Louisiana Tech
21-10, 7-3
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Louisiana Tech
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Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Bulldogs Edge Owls
4/8/2022 10:59:00 PM | Baseball
Riedel's homer sparks rally
Ruston: Jack Riedel sparked a three-run rally in the seventh inning with a two-run homer, but Louisiana Tech answered with a two-run homer of its own in the bottom of the eighth to take the opener of the three-game series, 5-3 on Friday night.
The Details: While Tech starter Cade Gibson held the Owls to a pair of singles and worked around four walks and a pair of hit batters through six shutout innings, Rice wasted little time in jumping on the Bulldog bullpen in the seventh. Cullen Hannigan coaxed a five-pitch walk out of reliever Greg Martinez and Riedel followed with a blast over the wall in right center on Martinez' next offering. Guy Garibay Jr. followed with a single to chase Martinez. Reliever Kyle Crigger came on to record two outs before Pierce Gallo reached on an error to put runners on the corners for Aaron Smigelski. Crigger quickly put Smigelski into an 0-2 hole, but after fouling off one pitch, he drove a ball over right fielder Steele Netterville's head to score Garibay and tie the game, but the trailing runner (Gallo) was unable to return to third after the throw home was cut off to end the inning. Rice starter Cooper Chandler surrendered a three-run homer to Cole McConnell in the first but held the Bulldog's potent offense in check despite allowing at least one baserunner in five of his six innings. He stranded five over five scoreless frames and tied his season high with seven strikeouts. After LA Tech retook the lead with a two-out homer in the bottom of the eight, the Owls mounted a two-out charge of their own as Austin Bulman and Nathan Becker each singled before Gallo lined out to short to end the game.
Notable:
The Details: While Tech starter Cade Gibson held the Owls to a pair of singles and worked around four walks and a pair of hit batters through six shutout innings, Rice wasted little time in jumping on the Bulldog bullpen in the seventh. Cullen Hannigan coaxed a five-pitch walk out of reliever Greg Martinez and Riedel followed with a blast over the wall in right center on Martinez' next offering. Guy Garibay Jr. followed with a single to chase Martinez. Reliever Kyle Crigger came on to record two outs before Pierce Gallo reached on an error to put runners on the corners for Aaron Smigelski. Crigger quickly put Smigelski into an 0-2 hole, but after fouling off one pitch, he drove a ball over right fielder Steele Netterville's head to score Garibay and tie the game, but the trailing runner (Gallo) was unable to return to third after the throw home was cut off to end the inning. Rice starter Cooper Chandler surrendered a three-run homer to Cole McConnell in the first but held the Bulldog's potent offense in check despite allowing at least one baserunner in five of his six innings. He stranded five over five scoreless frames and tied his season high with seven strikeouts. After LA Tech retook the lead with a two-out homer in the bottom of the eight, the Owls mounted a two-out charge of their own as Austin Bulman and Nathan Becker each singled before Gallo lined out to short to end the game.
Notable:
- The win allowed LA Tech to tie the C-USA series between the schools (13-13) and was the Bulldogs' seventh straight over Rice in Ruston.
- Rice fell to 2-6 in series openers this season (2-2 in conference play).
- Chandler worked six innings for the fourth consecutive start and struck out seven for the third time this season.
- Riedel finished the night 2x4 in his sixth start this year at third. He is hitting .500 (10x20) in his starts at third and has hit in six straight overall (10x20), but the current hitting streak includes two starts at first and one pinch-hitting appearance.
- Bulman's single in the ninth extended his hitting streak to a career-high and team-best 10 games.
- Becker's single in the ninth extended his on-base streak to 25 games, the longest by an Owl since 2017.
- Pierce Gallo was 2x5 to extend his on-base streak to 16 games
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Crigger, Kyle (3-1)
L: Deskins, Brandon (1-5)
Batting:
2B: Smigelski, Aaron 1
HR: Riedel, Jack 1
RBI: Riedel, Jack 2 ; Smigelski, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Riedel, Jack 1 ; Garibay Jr., Guy 1 ; Hannigan, Cullen 1
CS: Hughes, Hal 1
HBP: Smigelski, Aaron 1 ; Hannigan, Cullen 1
Batting:
2B: Young, Taylor 1
HR: Burchfield, Walker 1 ; Corona, Jorge 1
RBI: Burchfield, Walker 3 ; Corona, Jorge 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Young, Taylor 1 ; Netterville, Steele 1 ; Burchfield, Walker 2 ; Corona, Jorge 1
SB: Corona, Jorge 1
CS: McConnell, Cole 1
HBP: Young, Taylor 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
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1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
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AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
Inf.
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