Tuesday, February 20
Reckling Park
6:30 p.m.
Rice University
1-3
7
vs
3
Sam Houston
2-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Sam Houston
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
3
11
2
RICE
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
5
X
7
6
3
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Riedel Blasts Owls Past Bearkats
2/20/2024 10:19:00 PM | Baseball
Three-run homer sparks five-run eighth
Reckling Park: Jack Riedel's third home run in as many games sparked a five-run eighth inning to lead Rice to a come-from-behind, 7-3 over Sam Houston at Reckling Park on Tuesday night.
The Details: After three scoreless frames, the Bearkats opened the scoring in the top of the fourth with an unearned run. Rice responded with a pair in the bottom of the inning on catcher Manny Garza's two-run homer, but Sam Houston tied the game with a run in the fifth and then took the lead with one in the eighth. Rice was outscored 11-4 over the final two innings while being swept last weekend vs. Notre Dame, but Riedel's homer and a pair of two-out runs later in the inning built a cushion to give the Owls their first win of the season and fifth straight over Sam Houston. Five Rice pitchers (Ryland Urbanczyk, Robert Fernandez, Jack Ben-Shoshan, Tyler Hamilton and Davion Hickson) worked around 11 hits, fanning 14 and allowing just one earned run. Sam Houston was 8x16 with the bases empty, but Rice held the Bearkats to a .143 average with runners in scoring position (2x14) while the Bearkats had runners in scoring position in six of nine innings. Hickson worked the final two innings to pick up his first collegiate victory (2,3,1,1,0,5), striking out the side in the ninth.
Up Next: Rice hits the road for the first time in 2024 this weekend when they take on Louisiana in a three-game series, which opens at 6 p.m. on Friday night.
Notes:
The Details: After three scoreless frames, the Bearkats opened the scoring in the top of the fourth with an unearned run. Rice responded with a pair in the bottom of the inning on catcher Manny Garza's two-run homer, but Sam Houston tied the game with a run in the fifth and then took the lead with one in the eighth. Rice was outscored 11-4 over the final two innings while being swept last weekend vs. Notre Dame, but Riedel's homer and a pair of two-out runs later in the inning built a cushion to give the Owls their first win of the season and fifth straight over Sam Houston. Five Rice pitchers (Ryland Urbanczyk, Robert Fernandez, Jack Ben-Shoshan, Tyler Hamilton and Davion Hickson) worked around 11 hits, fanning 14 and allowing just one earned run. Sam Houston was 8x16 with the bases empty, but Rice held the Bearkats to a .143 average with runners in scoring position (2x14) while the Bearkats had runners in scoring position in six of nine innings. Hickson worked the final two innings to pick up his first collegiate victory (2,3,1,1,0,5), striking out the side in the ninth.
Up Next: Rice hits the road for the first time in 2024 this weekend when they take on Louisiana in a three-game series, which opens at 6 p.m. on Friday night.
Notes:
- Rice won its fifth consecutive game over Sam Houston, the Owls' longest streak against the Bearkats since they took 12 straight between 1995 and 1999.
- Jose Cruz Jr. is 5-0 in his career over Sam Houston and he was a member of the Owls in 1995 when the 12-game streak began.
- Owls' pitchers have struck out 42 in the first 36 innings of the season, including 12 and 14 in the last two games.
- Rice has hit five homers in the last two games.
- Riedel has homered in three consecutive games for the first time in his career and has driven in eight runs in the first four games.
- Ben Dukes joined Riedel in extending season-opening hitting streaks to four games while Nathan Becker and Garza have each reached base in each of the first four.
- Sophomore Ryland Urbanczyk made his third career start and struck out a career-high five in three scoreless innings.
- Robert Fernandez worked two innings in his Rice debut, He gave up a single and an error to the first two batters he faced, but after a ground out scored one, he retired the next two with a strikeout and a ground out to hold the damage to one run. In the fifth, he allowed a second unearned run and had a runner at third with one out, but stranded him to keep the game tied 2-2.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hickson, Davion (1-0)
L: Chandler David (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Easton Loyd 1 ; Jeffrey David 1
RBI: Jeffrey David 1 ; Lane Brewster 1
SH: Caleb Cotton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Easton Loyd 1 ; Jake Tatom 1 ; Jeffrey David 1
SB: Walker Janek 1
CS: Jake Tatom 1 ; Lane Brewster 1
Batting:
2B: Becker, Nathan 1
HR: Riedel, Jack 1 ; Garza, Manny 1
RBI: Riedel, Jack 3 ; Garza, Manny 2 ; Dukes, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rank, Treyton 1 ; Riedel, Jack 2 ; Gallo, Pierce 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Cumming, Brendan 1 ; Royo, Ben 1
SB: Gallo, Pierce 1
CS: McDonald, Kyte 1
HBP: Riedel, Jack 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Cumming, Brendan 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
Inf.
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RHP
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RHP
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