Zito Walks Off USC
2/23/2025 5:43:00 PM | Baseball
Owls split series with Trojans
Houston: Michael Zito could not have picked a better time for his first walk-off home run at any level of baseball as the freshman shortstop drilled a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall at Reckling Park to lead off the bottom of the ninth and give Rice a 4-3 win over USC on Sunday and give the Owls a split of the rain-shortened series.
How it Happened: Zito's homer, his first career hit in his first career start after three appearances as a defensive replacement, capped a wild afternoon that also saw pitcher Garrett Stratton asked to hit in the bottom of the eighth (his first since his junior year of high school) and draw a walk to load the bases. Stratton, who had come on in the top of the eighth after the Trojans had loaded the bases with two outs and the Owls leading 3-2 got a strikeout to end the threat. USC tied it with an unearned run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly, but the potential go-ahead run was cut down trying to advance to second on a throw by Colin Robson and Stratton closed the inning with a ground out to set up Zito's memorable moment. Rice staked starter Robert Fernandez to a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Gunnett Carlson, who later came home on a throwing error. Fernandez allowed his first run of the year in the third and turned the game over to J.D. McCracken, who gave up one run over three innings but stood to be the winner after Tobias Motley's pinch-hit homer to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
Up Next: Rice will host Arizona, which defeated USC last May in the final Pac-12 Baseball championship game, on Wednesday at 6:30 before shifting base to Daikin Park next weekend for the Astros Foundation College Classic.
Notes
How it Happened: Zito's homer, his first career hit in his first career start after three appearances as a defensive replacement, capped a wild afternoon that also saw pitcher Garrett Stratton asked to hit in the bottom of the eighth (his first since his junior year of high school) and draw a walk to load the bases. Stratton, who had come on in the top of the eighth after the Trojans had loaded the bases with two outs and the Owls leading 3-2 got a strikeout to end the threat. USC tied it with an unearned run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly, but the potential go-ahead run was cut down trying to advance to second on a throw by Colin Robson and Stratton closed the inning with a ground out to set up Zito's memorable moment. Rice staked starter Robert Fernandez to a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Gunnett Carlson, who later came home on a throwing error. Fernandez allowed his first run of the year in the third and turned the game over to J.D. McCracken, who gave up one run over three innings but stood to be the winner after Tobias Motley's pinch-hit homer to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
Up Next: Rice will host Arizona, which defeated USC last May in the final Pac-12 Baseball championship game, on Wednesday at 6:30 before shifting base to Daikin Park next weekend for the Astros Foundation College Classic.
Notes
- Rice is now 5-1 all-time against USC, including a 4-1 mark at Reckling Park.
- The Owls have homered in three consecutive games and have scored first in three straight (four of the last five).
- Rice scored twice in the first inning on Sunday and has outscored opponents 6-0 in the opening inning this year.
- Zito's walk-off homer was the first for Rice since Braden Comeaux hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to defeat Incarnate Word on 4/13/21.
- Motley's pinch-hit homer was the first for the Owls since Jack Riedel hit one vs. Middle Tennessee on 5/14/22
- Fernandez allowed one run in four innings and Rice starters have posted a combined 1.71 ERA over the first six games and have struck out 30 in 21 innings.
- Blaine Brown's double in the first inning gave him a hit in each of his first five games as an Owl.
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