Saturday, March 15
Houston, TX
2 PM
Rice University
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HCU
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Photo by: American Athletic Conference/Conor Kvatek
Alch and Duffied Spark Split for Owls on Saturday
3/15/2025 9:30:00 PM | Baseball
Series with Houston Christian wraps up on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Reckling Park: Trey Duffield keyed a 10-hit attack with a single, double, and an early home run to spark a five-run second, while Tucker Alch fought off several late challenges to lead Rice to a 7-4 win and gain a split of a doubleheader with Houston Christian at Husky Field on Saturday.
How it Happened: HCU took the first game of the twin bill 6-2 and was looking to win three straight against the Owls for the first time in the history of the series, but Rice erupted early and led throughout the nightcap. After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Owls exploded for a season-high five runs in the second, scoring five runs on five hits. Tobias Motley, who was 4x7 on the day, led off with a single and came all the way around to score on a double deep into the gap in left-center by Landon West. West came home on an RBI single by Jacob Devenny and then scored when Graiden West beat out a bunt single and moved to third on a throwing error. Duffield followed with an opposite-field homer to right to cap the scoring in the first frame. After Alch tossed another shutout inning, Motley and Landon West combined on the Owls's sixth run to open the Owls' third inning. Motley reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on a single by West. Two outs later, Duffield drilled a double to bring home West and push the lead to 7-0. HCU scratched out four runs in the fourth, only two of which were earned but Alch stranded a runner at third with less than two outs. After the lengthy battle in the fourth, Alch got a much-needed respite in the fifth, needing just 10 pitches to retire. He put a pair on in the sixth to bring the tying run to the plate but needed only three pitches to escape any further damage. HCU again put the tying run at the plate in the seventh with a leadoff single and a one-out walk, but Von Baker put an end to the threat with a ground out and a fly ball to Duffied to register his first career save.
Up Next: The schools will wrap up the 2025 series at Reckling Park on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Notes
How it Happened: HCU took the first game of the twin bill 6-2 and was looking to win three straight against the Owls for the first time in the history of the series, but Rice erupted early and led throughout the nightcap. After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Owls exploded for a season-high five runs in the second, scoring five runs on five hits. Tobias Motley, who was 4x7 on the day, led off with a single and came all the way around to score on a double deep into the gap in left-center by Landon West. West came home on an RBI single by Jacob Devenny and then scored when Graiden West beat out a bunt single and moved to third on a throwing error. Duffield followed with an opposite-field homer to right to cap the scoring in the first frame. After Alch tossed another shutout inning, Motley and Landon West combined on the Owls's sixth run to open the Owls' third inning. Motley reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on a single by West. Two outs later, Duffield drilled a double to bring home West and push the lead to 7-0. HCU scratched out four runs in the fourth, only two of which were earned but Alch stranded a runner at third with less than two outs. After the lengthy battle in the fourth, Alch got a much-needed respite in the fifth, needing just 10 pitches to retire. He put a pair on in the sixth to bring the tying run to the plate but needed only three pitches to escape any further damage. HCU again put the tying run at the plate in the seventh with a leadoff single and a one-out walk, but Von Baker put an end to the threat with a ground out and a fly ball to Duffied to register his first career save.
Up Next: The schools will wrap up the 2025 series at Reckling Park on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Notes
- Rice improved to 32-6 all-time vs. HCU and 4-1 in games played on the Huskies' campus.
- The win was the first for interim head coach Parker Bangs.
- Alch improved to 2-0 this season, 3-4 as an Owl and 28-11 in his collegiate career.
- Motley was 4x7 in the doubleheader and is 5x11 in the three games vs. the Huskies this season.
- Duffield is now 5x15 with two homers and nine RBI in his career vs. HCU.
- Landon West was 3x6 in the two games while his older brother Graiden was 2x6.
- Landon West and Lorenzo Rios have combined to throw out eight of the last nine baserunners attempting to seal.
- J.D. McCracken went the distance in the first game (6,9,6,6,3,4) as the Owls only used three pitchers in the two games and only four on Friday heading into Sunday's finale.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Caravalho, Joshua (5-0)
L: McCracken, J.D. (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Devenny, Jacob 1
RBI: Motley, Tobias 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1
SB: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1
CS: West, Graiden 1
Batting:
2B: Leiterman, Matthew 1 ; Oropeza, Robert 1
HR: Edwards, Parker 1 ; Oropeza, Robert 1
RBI: Dutka, Kenneth 1 ; Edwards, Parker 3 ; Oropeza, Robert 1 ; Roper, Trevor 1
SF: Roper, Trevor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Leiterman, Matthew 1 ; Walker, Jack 1 ; Edwards, Parker 1 ; Oropeza, Robert 2 ; Payne, Tevis 1
CS: Payne, Tevis 1 ; Roper, Trevor 1
HBP: Halligan, Katcher 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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