Saturday, March 29
4 PM
Rice University
6-22, 0
3
vs
5
East Carolina
17-10, 0
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11
R
H
E
ECU
0
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0
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5
10
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RICE
2
0
0
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Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Late Rally Clinches Series for Pirates
3/29/2025 9:35:00 PM | Baseball
Final game set for 1:05 first pitch on Sunday
Reckling Park: J.D. McCracken held East Carolina at bay for seven innings, but the Pirates rallied for three runs in the final two innings to tie the game and then won it 5-3 in 11 innings on Saturday.
How it Happened: McCracken had blanked ECU over six innings in his final start of 2024 in the opening game of the American Athletic Conference Championship and he held them scoreless through seven innings on Saturday before they scored a pair with two outs in the eighth. After allowing a pair of one-out singles in the first, he worked out of that jam with a double play and would not allow another baserunner until the sixth. Rice gave McCracken a lead to work with in the bottom of the first, scratching out a pair of runs after two were out. Landon West drew a walk and Jacob Devenny was hit by a pitch. Michael Zito loaded the bases with another walk and West scored the first run when a balk was called on ECU starter Lance Williams. Aric Anderson brought home Devenny on an infield single to close out the scoring. The game remained 2-0 until the seventh, when Colin Robson led off with a walk and stole second base. He moved up to third when Hiram Bocachica Jr. reached on an error and then scored on a sacrifice fly in foul territory by Blaine Brown. ECU cut the lead to 3-2 in the eighth and then tied it in the ninth. The Owls threatened in the bottom of the ninth, putting two runners on when Robson reached on an error and stole his second base of the game and Bocachica reached on a walk, but a ground out and strikeout ended the threat.
Up Next: The Owls and Pirates wrap up their regular season series on Sunday, with the first pitch set for 1 p.m. They will play at Sam Houston on Tuesday and then host UTRGV on Wednesday before heading to New Orleans next weekend for a series with Tulane.
Notes
How it Happened: McCracken had blanked ECU over six innings in his final start of 2024 in the opening game of the American Athletic Conference Championship and he held them scoreless through seven innings on Saturday before they scored a pair with two outs in the eighth. After allowing a pair of one-out singles in the first, he worked out of that jam with a double play and would not allow another baserunner until the sixth. Rice gave McCracken a lead to work with in the bottom of the first, scratching out a pair of runs after two were out. Landon West drew a walk and Jacob Devenny was hit by a pitch. Michael Zito loaded the bases with another walk and West scored the first run when a balk was called on ECU starter Lance Williams. Aric Anderson brought home Devenny on an infield single to close out the scoring. The game remained 2-0 until the seventh, when Colin Robson led off with a walk and stole second base. He moved up to third when Hiram Bocachica Jr. reached on an error and then scored on a sacrifice fly in foul territory by Blaine Brown. ECU cut the lead to 3-2 in the eighth and then tied it in the ninth. The Owls threatened in the bottom of the ninth, putting two runners on when Robson reached on an error and stole his second base of the game and Bocachica reached on a walk, but a ground out and strikeout ended the threat.
Up Next: The Owls and Pirates wrap up their regular season series on Sunday, with the first pitch set for 1 p.m. They will play at Sam Houston on Tuesday and then host UTRGV on Wednesday before heading to New Orleans next weekend for a series with Tulane.
Notes
- Rice fell to 24-16 all-time vs. ECU, 13-6 vs. the Pirates at Reckling Park, 0-3 in extra innings, and 0-2 in the AAC series this year.
- ECU has won the last seven in the series.
- McCracken's 7.2 innings and eight strikeouts were season highs while his 123 pitches were a career best.
- In his last two starts against ECU, McCracken has posted a 1.32 ERA (13.2 IP, 2 ER)
- In two AAC starts this season, McCracken is 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA (13.2 IP, 3 ER).
- McCracken, Davion Hickson and Tucker Alch have posted a combined 2.82 ERA in their five combined starts in conference games (10 ER in 32 innings).
- West and Bocachica each extended their team-best on-base streaks to 12 games with their walks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HUNTER, Jake (2-2)
L: Blank, Jackson (0-4)
Batting:
2B: WALLACE, Colby 1
RBI: BURRESS, Braden 1 ; WALLACE, Colby 1 ; HERRING, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BURRESS, Braden 1 ; BOWMAN, Kenan 1 ; BARRON, Walker 1 ; HUNTER, Jake 1 ; BOUCHE, Alex 1
SB: BURRESS, Braden 1
HBP: IRBY, Austin 1
Batting:
2B: Zito, Michael 1
RBI: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Anderson, Aric 1
SF: Brown , Blaine 1
Base Running:
RUNS: West, Landon 1 ; Devenny, Jacob 1 ; Robson, Colin 1
SB: Robson, Colin 2
HBP: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1 ; Devenny, Jacob 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP/OF
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OF
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RHP
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LHP
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/ BaseballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
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