Holderbach Leads Owls over Huskies

Friday, March 10

Houston, Texas

6:30 PM

Rice University

6-8

HCU

1-12

HCU

RICE

Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics

3/10/2023 10:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Rice 5, Houston Christian 1

By: by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)

Reckling Park: Drew Holderbach was 3x3 with a double and a triple to lead Rice to a 5-1 win over Houston Christian in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.

The Details: After retiring the Huskies on four pitches in the first, Rice starter Parker Smith needed 35 to work out of a two-out jam in the second to keep the game scoreless. He retired the first two in the inning, then loaded the bases on a single and two walks to face Huskies shortstop Austin Roccaforte. Smith jumped ahead 0-2, but Roccaforte foiled a pair of pitches and took another for a ball before Smith caught him looking to end the threat. Rice rewarded him with a run in the bottom of the second on a sac fly by Paul Smith and added two in the third when Holderbach tripled home Guy Garibay Jr. then stole home as part of a double steal with Connor Walsh. HCU touched Smith for a run in the fourth, but the Owls answered with two in the fifth to increase the lead. Pierce Gallo led off the frame with a double down the left-field line. Holderbach brought him home with a single and came in to score courtesy of a single from Walsh. Smith worked the first five to even his record at 1-1 while Matthew Linskey covered the last four innings to set a career high and earn a save.

Notes

Rice evened its record on Friday to 2-2
The Owls have won the last six vs. HCU.
Jose Cruz Jr. improved to 3-0 vs. HCU and former teammate Lance Berkman.
Connor Walsh collected a pair of hits (2x3) for the third straight game and he stole a career-high three bases, the first Owl to steal three bases in a game since Keenan Cook did it vs. Texas State on 3/18/14.
Walsh leads the team with five multi-hit games.
Guy Garibay Jr. returned to action for the first time since leaving the second game vs. Stanford with an injury after colliding with the outfield wall making a catch. He was 2x4 and scored a run.
Pierce Gallo extended his season-opening on-base streak to 13 games with his leadoff double in the fifth inning.
Matthew Linskey worked a career-high four innings to earn his sixth career save.

Up Next: Rice hosts Houston Christian in the middle game of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. and wraps up the series and the homestand on Sunday at 1 p.m.