Sunday, March 19
Birmingham, AL
12 PM
Rice University
11-9, 0
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UAB
5-14, 0
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RICE
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UAB
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Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Garza's Single Keys Sweep of UAB
3/19/2023 5:33:00 PM | Baseball
First sweep of a conerence opening series since 2015
Birmingham, AL: Manny Garza's RBI single broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the 10th, sparking Rice to a 3-1 win over UAB and giving the Owls a sweep of the C-USA opening series for each team. The sweep of a conference opening series was the first for the Owls since they took all three at Charlotte to open the 2015 conference season.
The Details: The Blazers plated their only run in the second--taking their first and only lead of the series—off Rice starter Blake Brogdon, but relievers Tom Vincent, Tyler Hamilton, Jack Ben-Shoshan, and Krishna Raj held them off the scoreboard the rest of the day, combining for 8.1 innings of shutout relief. Rice tied it in the seventh on a Pierce Gallo sacrifice fly and then pushed across two runs in the 10th. Garza's single gave the Owls the lead and then Ben Royo's fielder's choice with the bases loaded added an insurance run. Max Johnson opened the seventh for the Owls with a walk and moved to second on wild pitch. He advanced to third on a single to left by Royo and then scored on Gallo's fly ball to right. After leaving the bases loaded in the ninth, the Owls took advantage of a similar situation in the 10th. Connor Walsh opened the 10th with a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt by Paul Smith. Garza drove him home with a single back through the middle, then advanced to second on Benjamin Rosengard's third hit of the afternoon. Johnson walked to reload the bases to set the table for Royo.
Notes
The Details: The Blazers plated their only run in the second--taking their first and only lead of the series—off Rice starter Blake Brogdon, but relievers Tom Vincent, Tyler Hamilton, Jack Ben-Shoshan, and Krishna Raj held them off the scoreboard the rest of the day, combining for 8.1 innings of shutout relief. Rice tied it in the seventh on a Pierce Gallo sacrifice fly and then pushed across two runs in the 10th. Garza's single gave the Owls the lead and then Ben Royo's fielder's choice with the bases loaded added an insurance run. Max Johnson opened the seventh for the Owls with a walk and moved to second on wild pitch. He advanced to third on a single to left by Royo and then scored on Gallo's fly ball to right. After leaving the bases loaded in the ninth, the Owls took advantage of a similar situation in the 10th. Connor Walsh opened the 10th with a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt by Paul Smith. Garza drove him home with a single back through the middle, then advanced to second on Benjamin Rosengard's third hit of the afternoon. Johnson walked to reload the bases to set the table for Royo.
Notes
- Rice improved to 11-9 on the season and is two games above .500 for the first time since winning the first game of a doubleheader with UTSA on 3/27/21.
- Rice is now 3-1 on Sundays and 3-1 in the final games of a series.
- Rice swept the opening series of a conference season for the first time since taking all three at Charlotte in 2015.
- The Owls have won their last two C-USA series and have won six straight conference games (a sweep at FIU to end the 2022 season and the three vs. UAB this season).
- Rice improved to 37-17 all-time vs. UAB (16-9 in Birmingham) and has won the last five between the two played at Young Memorial Field.
- The Owls have won seven of their last nine.
- The three runs allowed by the Owls were their fewest in a series this year and the fewest since they allowed three at FIU in the final series of last season.
- The Owls struck out at least 10 in each game, the first time they have done that in a conference series since the series at Marshall last season and the 31 total were the most in series this year. They had 30 in three games vs. HCU (9,9,12).
- Hamilton worked a career-best 3.0 shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out a pair.
- Rice relievers worked 18.0 scoreless innings in the series (18, 7, 0,0,6,20) while picking up three wins and two saves.
- Rice held UAB to three runs in three games despite allowing at least one baserunner in 22 of 27 innings over the weekend.
- Over the last four games, the Owls bullpen is 3-0 with two saves and a combined 0.58 ERA (31, 13, 3, 2, 11, 36).
- Benjamin Rosengard had his first three-hit game as an Owl and finished the weekend 6x14 after coming into the weekend 6x53 in his career.
- Ben-Shoshan earned the win for the second consecutive Sunday to close out a series sweep.
- Raj earned his third save of the year and second of the weekend… His three saves matches his career-high set last year at Charleston Southern.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ben-Shoshan, Jack (2-0)
L: Ben Abernathy (0-2)
S: Raj, Krishna (3)
Batting:
RBI: Gallo, Pierce 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Royo, Ben 1
SH: Smith , Paul 1 ; Johnson , Max 1
SF: Gallo, Pierce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walsh, Connor 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Johnson , Max 1
SB: Royo, Ben 1
HBP: Gallo, Pierce 1
Batting:
RBI: Tyler Waugh 1
SH: Darryl Buggs 1 ; Gavin Lewis Jr. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Henry Hunter 1
HBP: Henry Hunter 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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P
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INF
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/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
/ Baseball
RHP
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/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
Inf./OF
/ BaseballDAVID PIERCE INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE
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