Wildcats Rally for 11-8 Win
2/26/2025 11:07:00 PM | Baseball
Owls face #16 Mississippi State on Friday
Houston: Tobias Motley led a 14-hit attack with a career-high four hits, and Barrett Eldridge slammed a three-run home run, but Arizona spoiled the Owls' bid for a win with a five-run seventh inning to win 11-8 at Reckling Park on Wednesday night.
How it Happened: The matchup between the two schools, which will both face Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M this weekend at the Astros Foundation College Classic, was a back-and-forth affair for most of the night. Arizona saw an early 4-1 lead erased when Eldridge homered to left with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. It was the first homer as an Owl for Eldridge who slammed 25 last year at Georgia Highlands. One inning later, Rice took its first lead of the night as Motley's third hit of the game drove in Michael Zito. The Wildcats tied it in their half of the sixth, but Treyton Rank gave Rice a 7-5 lead with a two-run single, but the Wildcats took control in the top of the seventh with five runs to improve to 5-3 on the season.
Up Next: Rice opens play at the Astros Foundation Classic on Friday by taking on #16 Mississippi State at 11:05 on Friday, followed by #2 Tennessee at 11:05 on
Saturday and then wrap up the event against #1 Texas A&M at 7:05 on Sunday.
Notes
How it Happened: The matchup between the two schools, which will both face Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M this weekend at the Astros Foundation College Classic, was a back-and-forth affair for most of the night. Arizona saw an early 4-1 lead erased when Eldridge homered to left with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. It was the first homer as an Owl for Eldridge who slammed 25 last year at Georgia Highlands. One inning later, Rice took its first lead of the night as Motley's third hit of the game drove in Michael Zito. The Wildcats tied it in their half of the sixth, but Treyton Rank gave Rice a 7-5 lead with a two-run single, but the Wildcats took control in the top of the seventh with five runs to improve to 5-3 on the season.
Up Next: Rice opens play at the Astros Foundation Classic on Friday by taking on #16 Mississippi State at 11:05 on Friday, followed by #2 Tennessee at 11:05 on
Saturday and then wrap up the event against #1 Texas A&M at 7:05 on Sunday.
Notes
- Arizona is now 7-5 all-time against Rice, including a 5-2 mark at Reckling Park.
- The Owls have homered in four consecutive games, while the pitching staff gave up its first homer in 185 at-bats with Arizona's long ball in the second inning.
- The Owls' 14 hits were their most in a game since they had 15 at Lamar on May 1 of last season and were their most at Reckling since they had 16 vs. UTSA on April 27.
- Motley is 5x6 in his last two games.
- Michael Zito followed his walk-off homer vs. USC on Sunday with a career-best three hits on Wednesday and is 4x8 in his last two games.
- Eldridge's three-run homer was the Owls' first with runners on base this year. They had hit for solo homers over the previous three games.
- Blaine Brown's single in the ninth inning gave him a hit in his first six games as an Owl.
Players Mentioned
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