Friday, May 20
Miami, FL
6:15 PM
Rice University
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FIU
16-33, 0
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Owls Blank Panthers to Clinch Series
5/20/2022 11:28:00 PM | Baseball
Smigelski slams a pair of homers for the third time this year
Miami: Cooper Chandler combined with two relievers on a four-hit shutout and Aaron Smigelski keyed a 15-hit attack by slamming a pair of homers for the third time this year as Rice blanked FIU 10-0 on Friday, clinching the final series of the season.
The Details: Chandler worked out of a first-inning jam and then held the Panthers in check, limiting them to three hits while striking out a season-high eight. After FIU put two of the first three hitters on base in the first, Chandler picked up his first strikeout, and then say catcher Manny Garza throw out the first of two baserunners to end the threat. FIU's Carlos Lequerica matched Chandler through the first four innings, holding the Owls off the board, but Smigelski broke the ice with a homer to right, his first since he hit four vs. UAB in the Owls opening C-USA series. The Owls broke the game open with five runs in the sixth, the first two on wild pitches by FIU reliever Owen Puk, the third on an RBI single by Garza and the final two on an opposite-field shot by Smigelski. They added two more in the eighth on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Antonio Cruz. Justin Long's RBI single in the 9th closed out the scoring for the Owls.
Notable
The Details: Chandler worked out of a first-inning jam and then held the Panthers in check, limiting them to three hits while striking out a season-high eight. After FIU put two of the first three hitters on base in the first, Chandler picked up his first strikeout, and then say catcher Manny Garza throw out the first of two baserunners to end the threat. FIU's Carlos Lequerica matched Chandler through the first four innings, holding the Owls off the board, but Smigelski broke the ice with a homer to right, his first since he hit four vs. UAB in the Owls opening C-USA series. The Owls broke the game open with five runs in the sixth, the first two on wild pitches by FIU reliever Owen Puk, the third on an RBI single by Garza and the final two on an opposite-field shot by Smigelski. They added two more in the eighth on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Antonio Cruz. Justin Long's RBI single in the 9th closed out the scoring for the Owls.
Notable
- The win was the Owls' third in a row, matching their longest streak of the season.
- Rice captured its third C-USA series of the year, two of them on the road. The Owls took two of three at Marshall in their first road series and also took two of three hosting WKU at Reckling Park.
- The 10-0 win was the largest shutout victory by the Owls since they blanked Prairie View 10-0 last season and was their largest shutout win in Conference USA games since they blanked Marshall 13-0 in 2013.
- Rice has won 12 of 14 games with FIU in Miami.
- Rice collected three doubles on the night, to push their total over 100 for the year (102) while Bulman's triple was the team's 10th of the season.
- The Owls homered in their fifth consecutive game. They homered in the last six games of the 2021 season.
- Chandler's eight strikeouts gave him a career-high 71 for the year (in 63.2 innings). He struck out 98 in 147 innings in his career at Pepperdine.
- Smigelski finished with a career-high four hits, adding a double and single to his two home runs.
- He is the first Owl since Anthony Rendon (2010) to have three, two-homer games. Rendon added a three-homer game vs. Rider in the Austin Regional that season.
- Smigelski's homers were his first on the road.
- His four RBI increased his season total to 36, one behind Bulman for the team lead. He's bidding to become the first freshman to lead the Owls in RBI since Trei Cruz in 2018.
- Garza collected three hits, moving him into a tie for third on the team with seven multi-hit games in conference games. He also threw out two of three base runners to raise his season total to 16 (13 in C-USA games).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chandler, Cooper (2-7)
L: Carlos Lequerica (2-5)
Batting:
2B: Riedel, Jack 1 ; Gallo, Pierce 1 ; Smigelski, Aaron 1
3B: Bulman, Austin 1
HR: Smigelski, Aaron 2
RBI: Walsh, Connor 1 ; Cruz, Antonio 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Long, Justin 1 ; Smigelski, Aaron 4
SF: Cruz, Antonio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bulman, Austin 1 ; Riedel, Jack 1 ; Gallo, Pierce 2 ; Garza, Manny 3 ; Smigelski, Aaron 3
HBP: Hoyle, Johnny 1
Batting:
2B: Dante Girardi 1
Base Running:
SB: Dante Girardi 1
CS: Steven Ondina 1 ; Jorge Ramirez 1
HBP: Dalton Hurst 1 ; Dante Girardi 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
4
RBI
4
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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