Rice University
19-30
Lamar
37-10
Owls Fall to Lamar on Commencement Night
5/8/2024 10:15:00 PM | Baseball
Host Florida Atlantic in a key series this weekend
The Details: Before the game five current members of the team (Nathan Becker, Brendand Cumming, Ben Dukes, Jack Riedel, and Mauricio Rodriguez) along with injured senior Guy Garibay Jr. and Analytics Coordinator Brian Butler received their diplomas from Rice President Reginald DesRoches after missing last week's Commencement while they were on the road with the team in Charlotte. After Lamar scratched out an early 2-0 lead with single runs in the first two innings, Riedel led off the bottom of the second with his 14th homer of the year. But the Owls were held in check over the next four innings while the Cardinals built a 7-1 lead. Jacob Devenny launched his first career home run to right in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 7-2 and they added a third run in the bottom of the eighth when Riedel scored on an infield single by Pierce Gallo. The Cardinals got one run back in the top of the ninth before Treyton Rank's bloop double brought home Eric Correa in the bottom of the ninth for the final run of the evening.
Up Next: Rice will host Florida Atlantic this weekend in a crucial AAC series with the opener set for 6:30 on Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. game on Saturday and a 1 p.m. finale on Sunday. FAU is one of three teams tied for fourth in the conference at 10-11 while Rice is tied with two others for seventh at 9-12 with two weeks remaining. The top eight teams will advance to the AAC Championship, which begins on May 24 in Clearwater, Florida.
Notes:
- The Owls fell 19-30 overall, 11-17 at Reckling, and 17-8 vs. Lamar at their home park.
- The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Rice against the Cardinals.
- Riedel's 14 home runs are the most by an Owl since 2010 when Anthony Rendon slugged 26 and Rick Hague 17. He needs four home runs to tie for 10th on the Owls' single-season list with Mark Quinn who hit 18 in 1995 as a teammate of head coach Jose Cruz jr.
- The Owls have hit 14 of their 38 homers this season in the last nine games.
- Kyte McDonald returned to the leadoff spot in the order for the first time since the final game of the Wichita State series and was 1x3. Devenny had been in the leadoff spot for the last 20 games.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Havard, Peyton (2-2)
L: Alch, Tucker (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Evans, Brayden 1 ; Skinner, Zak 2 ; Peninger, Weston 1
HR: Evans, Brayden 1
RBI: Evans, Brayden 2 ; Orsak, River 1 ; Skinner, Zak 2 ; Roccaforte, Austin 1 ; Ruiz, Ethan 1 ; Peninger, Weston 1
SH: Wilson, Tanner 1
SF: Roccaforte, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Evans, Brayden 2 ; Wilson, Tanner 1 ; Orsak, River 2 ; Skinner, Zak 1 ; Roccaforte, Austin 1 ; Peninger, Weston 1
SB: Roccaforte, Austin 1
HBP: Dodge, Kanin 1
PO: Skinner, Zak 1
Batting:
2B: McDonald, Kyte 1 ; Correa, Eric 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1
HR: Riedel, Jack 1 ; Devenny, Jacob 1
RBI: Rank, Treyton 1 ; Riedel, Jack 1 ; Gallo, Pierce 1 ; Devenny, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Correa, Eric 1 ; Riedel, Jack 2 ; Devenny, Jacob 1
CS: Johnson , Max 1
HBP: Correa, Eric 1
