Friday, March 8
Manoa, HI
10:35 p.m.
Rice University
5-8
5
at
2
Hawaii
7-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rice
0
2
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
5
12
2
Hawaii
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
5
0
Owls Grab Series Opener in a Thriller
3/9/2024 4:47:00 AM | Baseball
Stratton slams door on Hawai'i rally in ninth
Honolulu, O'ahu: Garrett Stratton calmed one final furious rally by Hawaii by inducing a game-ending double play by the Rainbow Warriors cleanup hitter with the bases loaded to give Rice a 5-2 in the opening game of a four-game series on Friday night.
The Details: Stratton came on to relieve Davion Hickson, who walked a pair around fly out in the bottom of the ninth. Stratton walked Matthew Mura on five pitches to bring cleanup hitter Ben Zeigler-Namoa to the plate as the potential game-winning run. After getting a head with a strike, Stratton induced Zeigler-Namoa to hit a ground back to second baseman Pierce Gallo who relayed to shortstop Jack Riedel for the first out and then Riedel fired the ball to Treyton Rank at first base to give the Owls a thrilling opener to their weekend series in the 50th State. Rice, but starter Parker Smith relied on his defense to help him through five innings of work. He found himself with runners at second and third with only one out in the top of the first, but centerfielder Kyte McDonald ended the threat when he caught a fly ball by Ziegler-Namoa and then gunned down Austin Machado at the plate for the first of four double plays in the game by the Owls. Two innings later, another fly ball by Ziegler-Naoma again resulted in a double play, as he lined to right as baserunner Matthew Miura had broken with the pitch and was unable to beat the throw from Trey Duffield to Rank at first for another double play. Smith stranded runners at third in the second and fourth innings with strikeouts to end those innings. Back-to-back doubles by Gallo and Rank in the second gave Rice a lead it would never relinquish and Brendan Cumming followed with a single to score Rank. Hawaii answered with a run in the bottom of the second before Smith ended that threat with a strikeout. Rice extended its lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings and Hawaii cut that margin to 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the eighth. McDonald answered for Rice with a leadoff triple to open the ninth and came home to score on Riedel's second double of the game on the next pitch to give the Owls their final margin of victory.
Up Next: Game Two of the series between the Owls and Rainbow Warriors is set for 10:35 on Saturday night.
Notes:
The Details: Stratton came on to relieve Davion Hickson, who walked a pair around fly out in the bottom of the ninth. Stratton walked Matthew Mura on five pitches to bring cleanup hitter Ben Zeigler-Namoa to the plate as the potential game-winning run. After getting a head with a strike, Stratton induced Zeigler-Namoa to hit a ground back to second baseman Pierce Gallo who relayed to shortstop Jack Riedel for the first out and then Riedel fired the ball to Treyton Rank at first base to give the Owls a thrilling opener to their weekend series in the 50th State. Rice, but starter Parker Smith relied on his defense to help him through five innings of work. He found himself with runners at second and third with only one out in the top of the first, but centerfielder Kyte McDonald ended the threat when he caught a fly ball by Ziegler-Namoa and then gunned down Austin Machado at the plate for the first of four double plays in the game by the Owls. Two innings later, another fly ball by Ziegler-Naoma again resulted in a double play, as he lined to right as baserunner Matthew Miura had broken with the pitch and was unable to beat the throw from Trey Duffield to Rank at first for another double play. Smith stranded runners at third in the second and fourth innings with strikeouts to end those innings. Back-to-back doubles by Gallo and Rank in the second gave Rice a lead it would never relinquish and Brendan Cumming followed with a single to score Rank. Hawaii answered with a run in the bottom of the second before Smith ended that threat with a strikeout. Rice extended its lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings and Hawaii cut that margin to 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the eighth. McDonald answered for Rice with a leadoff triple to open the ninth and came home to score on Riedel's second double of the game on the next pitch to give the Owls their final margin of victory.
Up Next: Game Two of the series between the Owls and Rainbow Warriors is set for 10:35 on Saturday night.
Notes:
- Rice improved to 5-8 on the season, 3-1 on the road and 2-2 in series openers this season.
- The win was the Owls' seventh straight in both the overall series with Hawai'i in addition to the series at UH's Les Murakami Stadium. Rice is 37-10 all-time against Hawai'I overall and 20-6 in games played in Honolulu.
- The Owls' turned four double plays, their most in a game since they turned four vs. Texas on 4/9/19.
- They have turned 19 this year, one behind NCAA leader Coastal Carolina. They have turned at least one twin killing in 11 consecutive games and for the 12th time in 13 games this year.
- Rice's four doubles were a season-high, while the Owls' 12 hits matched their season-best.
- Stratton's save was the first of his career.
- Smith improved to 5-1 with a 2.07 ERA in 16 games (14 starts) on the road in his career (78 IP, 68 H, 28 R, 18 ER, 16 BB, 54 SO).
- Riedel's two doubles extended his hitting streak to six games while his RBI was his team-leading 12th of the season. He has three doubles in his last three games.
- Rank's first-inning double extended his hitting streak to four games (.429, 6x14) and gave him a double in three straight games.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Parker (2-2)
L: Harrison Bodendorf (0-2)
S: Stratton, Garrett (1)
Batting:
2B: Riedel, Jack 2 ; Gallo, Pierce 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1
3B: McDonald, Kyte 1
RBI: Riedel, Jack 1 ; Becker, Nathan 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1 ; Royo, Ben 1 ; Cumming, Brendan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McDonald, Kyte 2 ; Gallo, Pierce 2 ; Rank, Treyton 1
CS: Cumming, Brendan 1
PO: Cumming, Brendan 1
Batting:
2B: Austin Machado 1 ; Kyson Donahue 1
RBI: Stone Miyao 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Austin Machado 1 ; Dallas Duarte 1
SB: Dallas Duarte 1 ; Jordan Donahue 1
HBP: Dallas Duarte 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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