Rice University
1-2
Louisiana
2-1
Owls Rally to Take Series Finale
2/19/2023 6:16:00 PM | Baseball
Down Louisiana 12-8
The Details: After seeing a late lead slip away on Friday night followed by an 11-2 loss on Saturday, the Owls found themselves down 5-0 early in the second inning in the series finale. They responded to Louisiana's five-run second with three runs in the bottom of the inning and went on to score nine runs over the final five innings to put an end to any thoughts of a sweep by the visitors. Walsh and Gallo, who each reached base four times in five plate appearances, keyed the Owls' three-run answer in the second. Walsh doubled home Paul Smith for the first run of the inning and Gallo followed with a single to score Aaron Smigelski. Jack Riedelplated Walsh with a sac fly to draw within two. Walsh and Gallo opened the fourth with singles and moved up 90 feet thanks to a sac bunt by Riedel. Max Johnson collected the first of three RBI, bringing home Walsh with a groundout and Gallo scored on an infield single by Guy Garibay Jr. Drew Holderbach gave the Owls their first lead at 6-5 in the fifth with his first home run as an Owl and Aaron Smigelski pushed it to 7-5 when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth. Garret Zaskoda and Matthew Linskey combined to hold Louisiana in check after the second-inning outburst while the Owls surged to the lead. Linskey pitched a career-best 3.2 innings while matching his career high with eight strikeouts before tiring in the seventh and allowing two runs to tie the game 7-7. Rice immediately re-took the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Manny Garza was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and put the game away with four in the bottom of the eighth thanks to an RBI single by Riedel, a two-run single by Johnson and a sac fly by Garibay.
Up Next: Rice closes out the four-game homestand to open the season by hosting Sam Houston at 6:30 on Wednesday, then head on the road to face Stanford next weekend.
Notes
- The win gave Rice an 18-17 lead in the all-time series and snapped an 11-game winning streak for Louisiana.
- The 12 runs were the most Rice has scored against Louisiana since the Owls' 17-6 win at Reckling in 2008.
- Walsh and Gallo were 6x8 with five runs out of the eighth and ninth spots in the batting order.
- Max Johnson's three RBI matched his season total in 11 games last year with Indiana.
- Holderbach's home run was his first at Rice after hitting 13 in four seasons at D3 Marietta College.
- Blake Brogdon came on in the ninth after Louisiana scored once, and needed just four pitches in his first appearance in a year to end the game on a double play and a ground out to first. His appearance came one day shy of exactly one year since he left the game at Texas after recording one out and missed the rest of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vincent, Tom (1-0)
L: Ben Tate (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Kyle DeBarge 1 ; Conor Higgs 1
HR: Mason Zambo 1
RBI: Heath Hood 2 ; Carson Roccaforte 1 ; Mason Zambo 1 ; CJ Willis 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Kyle DeBarge 1 ; Caleb Stelly 1 ; Max Marusak 1 ; Mason Zambo 1 ; Peyton LeJeune 1 ; John Taylor 1 ; Will Veillon 1 ; CJ Willis 1
SB: Heath Hood 1
HBP: Carson Roccaforte 1 ; John Taylor 1 ; Conor Higgs 1
Batting:
2B: Walsh, Connor 2
HR: Holderbach, Drew 1
RBI: Riedel, Jack 2 ; Johnson , Max 3 ; Garibay Jr., Guy 2 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Holderbach, Drew 1 ; Smigelski, Aaron 1 ; Walsh, Connor 1 ; Gallo, Pierce 1
SH: Riedel, Jack 1
SF: Riedel, Jack 1 ; Garibay Jr., Guy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Riedel, Jack 2 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; Holderbach, Drew 1 ; Smigelski, Aaron 2 ; Walsh, Connor 3 ; Gallo, Pierce 2
HBP: Johnson , Max 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Smigelski, Aaron 3
