Rice University
12-11, 0
UTSA
19-5, 0
Three Homers Boost Rice Past UTSA
3/25/2023 6:29:00 PM | Baseball
Series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday
The Details: Playing in front of the members of the 2003 College World Series champions who were honored pregame as part of their 20-year reunion, the Owls spotted the Roadrunners a two-run lead in the top of the second. That lead was short-lived as Rice responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Guy Garibay launched his third home run in as many games to cut the margin to 2-1 and Manny Garza followed two batters later with a game-tying double. The Owls loaded the bases and then took the lead on a balk that scored Garza. Benjamin Rosengard completed the scoring with a sac fly. UTSA jumped in front 5-4 in the fourth, but Rice responded with five in the fifth. Garza gave the Owls the lead with a bases-loaded single and Smith followed with his first career homer to expand the lead to 9-5. UTSA closed the gap to 9-7 in the sixth, only to see the Owls answer with two in the bottom of the seventh, on a Drew Holderbach single. Ben Royo closed out the Owls' scoring with a long homer to left in the eighth, his third long ball in the last five games. J.D. McCracken started and worked the first five to earn his first collegiate victory. Krishna Raj came on with two outs in the eighth to quell a Roadrunner threat and then closed it out with three quick outs in the ninth to earn his career-best fourth save.
Notes
- Rice is now 3-4 on Saturdays, 3-2 in the middle games of a series, and 9-6 in March.
- The Owls have won seven of their last eight conference games going back to the final series of 2022.
- The win allowed Rice to move back into a tie for first in Conference USA.
- The three home runs on Saturday give the Owls 10 in their last six games after hitting nine in the first 17 games of the year.
- Over the last six games, the Owls bullpen is 3-2 with three saves and a combined 1.78 ERA (45.1, 28, 11, 9, 18, 46).
- Garza was 3x4 and tied his career-high with three RBI while also throwing out his ninth base runner.
- Royo tied his career high with three hits.
- Smith's three RBI and three runs scores were career highs.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCracken, J.D. (1-1)
L: GARZA, Daniel (3-1)
S: Raj, Krishna (4)
Batting:
2B: BARRY, Leyton 1 ; KILLEEN, Josh 1 ; ODOM, Tye 1
HR: SMITH, Taylor 1
RBI: SIRDASHNEY, Shane 2 ; BARRY, Leyton 1 ; ODOM, Tye 2 ; SMITH, Taylor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: DIAZ, Sammy 1 ; KILLEEN, Josh 2 ; KING, Matt 1 ; ODOM, Tye 2 ; SMITH, Taylor 2
CS: VALDEZ, Antonio 1
HBP: VALDEZ, Antonio 1 ; DIAZ, Sammy 1
Batting:
2B: Garza, Manny 1
HR: Garibay Jr., Guy 1 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; Royo, Ben 1
RBI: Rosengard, Benjamin 1 ; Holderbach, Drew 1 ; Garibay Jr., Guy 1 ; Garza, Manny 3 ; Smith , Paul 3 ; Royo, Ben 2
SF: Rosengard, Benjamin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gallo, Pierce 1 ; Holderbach, Drew 1 ; Garibay Jr., Guy 1 ; Walsh, Connor 2 ; Garza, Manny 3 ; Smith , Paul 3 ; Royo, Ben 1 ; Johnson , Max 1
HBP: Garza, Manny 1
