Rice Drops Series Opener
3/21/2025 10:39:00 PM | Baseball
Game two at 3 p.m. on Saturday
Boca Raton, FL: Blaine Brown was 3x5 with a homer and scored a pair of runs, but Florida Atlantic scored six times over the final four innings to break open a tight contest and win 9-3 on Friday night.
How it Happened: Brown opened the night's scoring by lacing a 2-0 offering from FAU's Trey Beard over the wall in right field for his second homer of the season. The homer was only the third Beard has allowed this year, and the first to a lefthanded batter. FAU tied the game in the second off Rice starter Davion Hickson with a run in the second and then took the lead for good with two runs in the fourth. Rice crept back to within a run in the top of the sixth. Brown scored on a double play to cut the margin to one, but FAU responded with a pair in the bottom of the sixth. Rice scored its final run in the top of the seventh as Treyton Rank led off with a double and came home on an RBI single by Graiden West. FAU then put the game on ice with a run in the seventh and three in the eighth.
Up Next: The schools will meet in the middle game of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. (central).
Notes
How it Happened: Brown opened the night's scoring by lacing a 2-0 offering from FAU's Trey Beard over the wall in right field for his second homer of the season. The homer was only the third Beard has allowed this year, and the first to a lefthanded batter. FAU tied the game in the second off Rice starter Davion Hickson with a run in the second and then took the lead for good with two runs in the fourth. Rice crept back to within a run in the top of the sixth. Brown scored on a double play to cut the margin to one, but FAU responded with a pair in the bottom of the sixth. Rice scored its final run in the top of the seventh as Treyton Rank led off with a double and came home on an RBI single by Graiden West. FAU then put the game on ice with a run in the seventh and three in the eighth.
Up Next: The schools will meet in the middle game of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. (central).
Notes
- Rice fell to 16-18-1 all-time vs. Florida Atlantic and 5-8 at FAU Baseball Stadium.
- Rice reached double figures in hits for the third time in the last four games and is hitting .295 (38x129) over that stretch.
- Hickson struck out eight in 5.1 innings to match his career-best as a starter and also the Owls' single-game high this year. He struck out eight vs. Villanova in the season-opener and Marco Fuentes matched that total in five innings of relief work vs. Houston Christian.
- FAU's Beard had not allowed more than three hits in any start this year, but Brown matched that himself while Rice collected six hits and added three walks.
- Brown came into the game with one career hit in 13 at-bats against left-handed pitching (.077) but collected three in as many at-bats and is now hitting .250 (4x16).
- Brown's homer was the first off Beard this year by a left-handed hitter.
- Graiden West extended his hitting streak to four games and is hitting .455 during his streak (5x11).
Players Mentioned
LHP/OF
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RHP
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RHP
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INF/OF
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