Saturday, February 15
Ponce, Puerto Rico
12 PM
Rice University
0-2
2
vs
5
Michigan
2-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rice
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
5
0
MICHIGAN
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
X
5
6
2
Michigan Rallies Past Rice
2/15/2025 9:55:00 PM | Baseball
Fernandez tosses six shutout innings for Rice
Ponce, Puerto Rico: Robert Fernandez made a spectacular return to the starting rotation with a career-best effort, but Michigan rallied for five runs in the eighth to hand Rice a 5-2 loss on the second day of the inaugural Puerto Rico Baseball Challenge on Francisco Montaner Stadium on Saturday.
The Details: Fernandez needed only 68 pitches to hold the Wolverines scoreless over a career-best six innings in his first action since he left a relief outing vs. UAB on April 13, 2024, with an injury after a collision at first. He allowed only one runner in scoring position when a leadoff walk in the fourth that eventually advanced to third with two outs. He needed only 17 pitches to return his last nine hitters after the leadoff walk to close out his six innings of work. His teammates staked him to a lead before he took the mound as freshman Blaine Brown collected the first of his two hits with his second RBI in as many games, driving in Gunnett Carlson, who had reached on an error. That run stood as the only counter in the game until the top of the eighth when the Owls loaded the bases with one out, and Hiram Bocachica Jr. was retired on a chopper that allowed Brown, who had walked to open the inning, to score. But the Owls' hopes of cracking the win column for the first time in 2025 were thwarted as Michigan scored five times in the bottom of the eight and then held the Owls scoreless in the ninth to improve to 2-0.
Up Next: Rice will close out its schedule in Puerto Rico at 3 p.m. on Sunday against #2 Virginia, which evened its record at 1-1 with a 3-1 win over Villanova on Saturday night. The Owls return to Houston on Monday night and are scheduled to open their home schedule on Tuesday at 6:30 by hosting Sam Houston.
The Details: Fernandez needed only 68 pitches to hold the Wolverines scoreless over a career-best six innings in his first action since he left a relief outing vs. UAB on April 13, 2024, with an injury after a collision at first. He allowed only one runner in scoring position when a leadoff walk in the fourth that eventually advanced to third with two outs. He needed only 17 pitches to return his last nine hitters after the leadoff walk to close out his six innings of work. His teammates staked him to a lead before he took the mound as freshman Blaine Brown collected the first of his two hits with his second RBI in as many games, driving in Gunnett Carlson, who had reached on an error. That run stood as the only counter in the game until the top of the eighth when the Owls loaded the bases with one out, and Hiram Bocachica Jr. was retired on a chopper that allowed Brown, who had walked to open the inning, to score. But the Owls' hopes of cracking the win column for the first time in 2025 were thwarted as Michigan scored five times in the bottom of the eight and then held the Owls scoreless in the ninth to improve to 2-0.
Up Next: Rice will close out its schedule in Puerto Rico at 3 p.m. on Sunday against #2 Virginia, which evened its record at 1-1 with a 3-1 win over Villanova on Saturday night. The Owls return to Houston on Monday night and are scheduled to open their home schedule on Tuesday at 6:30 by hosting Sam Houston.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Josh Kasner (1-0)
L: Vincent, Tom (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Carlson, Gunnett 1
RBI: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carlson, Gunnett 1 ; Brown , Blaine 1
SB: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1
HBP: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Eldridge, Barrett 1
Batting:
2B: Cole Caruso 1
RBI: Jonathan Kim 1 ; Benjamin Casillas 1 ; Jeter Ybarra 1 ; Mitch Voit 1 ; AJ Rausch 1
SF: Mitch Voit 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jonathan Kim 1 ; Benjamin Casillas 1 ; Brayden Jefferis 1 ; Cole Caruso 1 ; AJ Rausch 1
HBP: Noah Miller 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
dh/p
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballLHP/OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
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