Saturday, March 16
Reckling Park
1:00 p.m.
Rice University
7-11
7
vs
3
Houston Christian University
7-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
RICE
0
3
0
1
1
0
0
2
0
7
13
3
HCU
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
3
5
4
Owls Clinch Series with 7-3 Win on Saturday
3/16/2024 5:07:00 PM | Baseball
Finale set for 1 p.m. on Sunday
Reckling Park: Kyte McDonald and Jack Riedel each had three this an J.D. McCracken combined with three relievers to hold HCU to five hits as Rice clinched the season series against the Huskies with a 7-3 win on Saturday. The middle game of the weekend series, which had been scheduled to be played at HCU's Husky Field, was moved to Reckling due to wet grounds and an unfavorable forecast and Rice was designated as the visiting team.
The Details: HCU took advantage of a pair of Rice errors in the bottom of the first to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but that advantage was short-lived as the Owls struck for three runs with two outs in the top of the second. Tobias Motley doubled home Manny Garza, who had opened the inning with a single, and then came home on a single by McDonald. Riedel then followed with an infield single that resulted in a throwing error to allow Ben Royo to score and give the Owls the lead. McCracken held the Huskie in check over the next two innings, retiring them in order and Rice added to its lead in the top of the fourth when McDonald scored on a wild pitch. Royo increased the margin to 5-2 with a ground out in the fifth. HCU cut it to 5-3 with a run in the bottom of the fifth and had the tying runs on in the sixth when Garrett Stratton got a pop-up to second to end that threat. After a scoreless seventh, Treyton Rank gave the Owls some breathing room with a two-run double, scoring McDonald and Riedel, but the Huskies put that margin in peril in the bottom of the eighth when they loaded the bases with no outs. Tyler Hamilton slammed the door on the rally, striking out the first two he faced, followed by a fly out to center. He allowed a pair of runners on with one out in the ninth but worked a game-ending double play to earn his first career save.
Up Next: The series concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Reckling Park. Righthander Tucker Alch will make his Rice debut with a start against HCU.
Notes:
The Details: HCU took advantage of a pair of Rice errors in the bottom of the first to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but that advantage was short-lived as the Owls struck for three runs with two outs in the top of the second. Tobias Motley doubled home Manny Garza, who had opened the inning with a single, and then came home on a single by McDonald. Riedel then followed with an infield single that resulted in a throwing error to allow Ben Royo to score and give the Owls the lead. McCracken held the Huskie in check over the next two innings, retiring them in order and Rice added to its lead in the top of the fourth when McDonald scored on a wild pitch. Royo increased the margin to 5-2 with a ground out in the fifth. HCU cut it to 5-3 with a run in the bottom of the fifth and had the tying runs on in the sixth when Garrett Stratton got a pop-up to second to end that threat. After a scoreless seventh, Treyton Rank gave the Owls some breathing room with a two-run double, scoring McDonald and Riedel, but the Huskies put that margin in peril in the bottom of the eighth when they loaded the bases with no outs. Tyler Hamilton slammed the door on the rally, striking out the first two he faced, followed by a fly out to center. He allowed a pair of runners on with one out in the ninth but worked a game-ending double play to earn his first career save.
Up Next: The series concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Reckling Park. Righthander Tucker Alch will make his Rice debut with a start against HCU.
Notes:
- Rice improved to 7-11, 4-7 at home, 2-3 on Saturday and 2-3 in weekend series.
- Rice is 30-4 all-time vs. the Huskies and has won the last 10 consecutive.
- The Owls tied their season-high with four doubles and have 22 doubles in the last nine games after collecting just seven in the first 10 games.
- Rice's game-ending double play was the Owls' 22nd of the season.
- Riedel extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single and a pair of doubles.
- McDonald matched his career high with three hits, the second time in the last four games he has collected three in a game. He has hit in five straight and is hitting .379 (11x29) and scored six runs over that span.
- Hamilton matched his career high with three strikeouts.
- Motley has hit safely in all three of his starts and has a pair of two-hit games over that span (5x12, .417) with two doubles and two RBI.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCracken, J.D. (2-1)
L: Edwards, Parker (1-3)
S: Hamilton, Tyler (1)
Batting:
2B: Riedel, Jack 2 ; Rank, Treyton 1 ; Motley, Tobias 1
RBI: McDonald, Kyte 1 ; Rank, Treyton 2 ; Motley, Tobias 1 ; Royo, Ben 1
SH: Devenny, Jacob 1 ; Duffield, Trey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McDonald, Kyte 2 ; Riedel, Jack 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Devenny, Jacob 1 ; Motley, Tobias 1 ; Royo, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: LaRue, Tyler 1
RBI: LaRue, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Benjamin, Samuel 1 ; Roper, Trevor 1 ; Jewell, William 1
SB: Bard, Luke 1 ; Hodge, Ty 1
HBP: LaRue, Dylan 1 ; Baker, Trent 1
Game Leaders
AB
6
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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INF
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