Saturday, March 22
Boca Raton, FL
3 PM
Rice University
5-18, 1-1
3
at
1
Florida Atlantic
18-5, 1-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rice
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
3
11
1
Florida Atlantic
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
8
0
Rice Evens Series With 3-1 Win on Saturday
3/22/2025 8:34:00 PM | Baseball
Pierce picks up first win at Rice
Boca Raton, FL: Hiram Bocachica Jr. drove in all three runs, while J.D. McCracken and Garrett Stratton combined to hold Florida Atlantic's high-powered offense to a season-low in runs as Rice presented David Pierce his first win as an Owl, 3-1 on Saturday.
How it Happened: McCracken put a pair of runners on with one out in each of the first three innings, but induced double plays to quell the threats. FAU scored one in the second before a twin killing ended the inning and FAU starter Tyler Murphy traded scoreless frames with McCracken until the fifth. Michael Zito opened the fifth with a single, and Treyton Rank was hit by a pitch. Max Johnson sacrificed them to second and third and after a strikeout, Bocachica slapped a single into centerfield to give Rice a lead it would not relinquish. FAU threatened again in the sixth when a one-out double put runners at second and third to bring John Schroeder, the AAC Player of the Week who was on an eight-game hitting streak, to the plate. McCracken went right at Schroeder, striking him out on four pitches, then retired catcher Dylan LaPointe on the next pitch to end the threat. Bocachica's infield single in the top of the seventh brought in the game's final run and Stratton took over for McCracken after a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh. He needed only 10 pitches to close the inning with a pair of strikeouts and a liner to Johnson. He gave up back-to-back singles in the bottom of the eighth, but after a meeting on the mound between Pierce and the team, Stratton needed just seven pitches to slam the door. He worked around a one-out single in the ninth to wrap up the game and record his first save of the season and third of his career.
Up Next: The schools will meet in the rubber game of the series on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Notes
How it Happened: McCracken put a pair of runners on with one out in each of the first three innings, but induced double plays to quell the threats. FAU scored one in the second before a twin killing ended the inning and FAU starter Tyler Murphy traded scoreless frames with McCracken until the fifth. Michael Zito opened the fifth with a single, and Treyton Rank was hit by a pitch. Max Johnson sacrificed them to second and third and after a strikeout, Bocachica slapped a single into centerfield to give Rice a lead it would not relinquish. FAU threatened again in the sixth when a one-out double put runners at second and third to bring John Schroeder, the AAC Player of the Week who was on an eight-game hitting streak, to the plate. McCracken went right at Schroeder, striking him out on four pitches, then retired catcher Dylan LaPointe on the next pitch to end the threat. Bocachica's infield single in the top of the seventh brought in the game's final run and Stratton took over for McCracken after a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh. He needed only 10 pitches to close the inning with a pair of strikeouts and a liner to Johnson. He gave up back-to-back singles in the bottom of the eighth, but after a meeting on the mound between Pierce and the team, Stratton needed just seven pitches to slam the door. He worked around a one-out single in the ninth to wrap up the game and record his first save of the season and third of his career.
Up Next: The schools will meet in the rubber game of the series on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Notes
- Rice improved to 17-18-1 vs. Florida Atlantic, 6-8 at FAU Baseball Stadium and 2-4 on Saturdays.
- Rice held the FAU offense, which came into the game averaging just under nine runs per game, to its lowest run total of the season (1).
- FAU came into the weekend hitting .322 as a team (second in the AAC), but has hit .273 in the first two games.
- Rice is hitting .300 in the series (21x77) and finished with 11 hits. It has reached double figures in hits in four of the last five games (vs. three times in the first 18 games) and has raised its season average from .237 to .252 over that stretch.
- Rice's three double plays were a season-high. After leading the AAC with 61 double plays (the most since 2013), Rice had turned just seven in the first 22 games this year.
- Stratton and allowed two runs in his last 11 innings (1.64 ERA) over three appearances (two relief, one start) and has struck out 11.
- Bocachica's three RBI were a career high.. He is hitting .500 in the series (5x10).
- Graiden West extended his hitting streak to five games and is hitting .462 (6x13).
- Rice's four freshmen who have had a start in the series are a combined 11x30 (.367): Bocachica 5x10 (.500), Blaine Brown 4x9 (.444), Michael Zito 2x8 (.250), Collin Robson 0x3.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCracken, J.D. (1-1)
L: Tyler Murphy (2-1)
S: Stratton, Garrett (1)
Batting:
RBI: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 3
SH: Johnson , Max 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zito, Michael 1 ; Rank, Treyton 2
SB: Rank, Treyton 1
HBP: Rank, Treyton 1
PO: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1
Batting:
2B: Patrick Ward 1
RBI: Nick Romano 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ayden Garcia 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
1b/lf
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
ph/1b
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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LHP/OF
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