Friday, April 5
Reckling Park
6:30 p.m.
Rice University
3
vs
4
Memphis
Tigers Outlast Owls
4/5/2024 11:44:00 PM | Baseball
Game two at 2 p.m. on Saturday
Houston: An RBI single in the top of the 15th allowed Memphis to outlast Rice 4-3 in the opener of the three-game series between the teams on Friday night at Reckling Park.
The Details: The teams scored four of the game's eventual seven runs in the first three innings as Rice twice took the lead only to see Memphis answer with a tying run. After Parker Smith posted a scoreless top of the first, Jacob Devenny led off the bottom of the inning with a single and came home to score on Nathan Becker's two-out single. Memphis tied it with a run in the top of the second and the Owls answered in the bottom of the second on an infield single by Treyton Rank that brought home Ben Dukes. But after collecting five hits in the first two innings, they were held to just an infield single by Dukes in the seventh over the next six innings. Rice starter Parker Smith settled in after giving up solo runs in the second and third to hold the Tigers off the scoreboard until the eighth when the Tigers took a 3-2 lead. Rice rallied in the bottom of the ninth off Memphis closer Brayden Sanders, who came into the game after Eric Correa led off with a double looking for his seventh save of the year. Correa moved to third on a wild pitch and then came home to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Tobias Motely. After Tom Vincent got the final out in the eighth in relief of Smith, Davion Hickson took over on the mound and worked a masterful six shutout innings.
Up Next: The teams will meet in the second game of the series on Saturday with the first pitch set for 2 p.m. J.D. McCracken is slated to start for Rice and he will face RHP Seth Garner for the Tigers.
Notes
The Details: The teams scored four of the game's eventual seven runs in the first three innings as Rice twice took the lead only to see Memphis answer with a tying run. After Parker Smith posted a scoreless top of the first, Jacob Devenny led off the bottom of the inning with a single and came home to score on Nathan Becker's two-out single. Memphis tied it with a run in the top of the second and the Owls answered in the bottom of the second on an infield single by Treyton Rank that brought home Ben Dukes. But after collecting five hits in the first two innings, they were held to just an infield single by Dukes in the seventh over the next six innings. Rice starter Parker Smith settled in after giving up solo runs in the second and third to hold the Tigers off the scoreboard until the eighth when the Tigers took a 3-2 lead. Rice rallied in the bottom of the ninth off Memphis closer Brayden Sanders, who came into the game after Eric Correa led off with a double looking for his seventh save of the year. Correa moved to third on a wild pitch and then came home to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Tobias Motely. After Tom Vincent got the final out in the eighth in relief of Smith, Davion Hickson took over on the mound and worked a masterful six shutout innings.
Up Next: The teams will meet in the second game of the series on Saturday with the first pitch set for 2 p.m. J.D. McCracken is slated to start for Rice and he will face RHP Seth Garner for the Tigers.
Notes
- Rice fell to 9-21, 6-11 at home, and 3-5 in series openers.
- The 15-inning game was the longest for the Owls by innings since a 15-inning game at LA Tech in 2016 and the longest at Reckling Park since Rice defeated ODU 3-2 in 17 innings on 3/8/2014.
- The game lasted 4:23, the longest by time for Rice since 3/22/2022 when Rice fell to Texas A&M 15-8 in nine innings that lasted 4:27.
- The extra inning game was the second for the Owls and the second straight at home in a conference series opener.
- Rice turned a pair of double plays in the game, the second erasing the leadoff hitter in the 11th who reached on a single. The Owls came into the game ranked sixth nationally in double plays and are two away from matching their 2023 final season total.
- Smith worked into the eighth inning for the first time this season and finished with 7.2 innings, his longest outing since he went 7.2 at WKU on 5/12/23 and matched his season high with seven strikeouts.
- Hickson's six innings were a career-high.
- Correa matched his career high with two hits… He has reached base in five consecutive games and nine times in his last 16 plate appearances.
- Dukes tied his career high with three hits.
- Devenny reached in three of five plate appearances and has hit in six of his last seven starts.
Players Mentioned
Inf.
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OF
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OF
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RHP
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LHP
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INF
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