Friday, April 18
Memphis, TN
6 PM
Rice University
11-30, 5-9
9
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5
Memphis
15-23, 3-11
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8
9
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Rice
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Memphis
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10
5
Bocachica Leads Owls To Series-Clincher Over Memphis
4/18/2025 11:42:00 PM | Baseball
Series concludes at noon on a Saturday
Memphis: Hiram Bocachica Jr. matched his career high with three hits and three runs and Jack Ben-Shoshan quieted Memphis' bats over the final three innings to lead Rice to a 9-5 win over the Tigers on Friday night and clinch the second straight conference series for the Owls.
How it Happened: After a quiet first inning, Rice was retired again in the second before Memphis opened the scoring with two in its half of the second, and the teams traded runs over their next five combined at-bats. Rice matched the Tigers' two-run second with two in the third as Bocachica and Michael Zito scored when Landon West hit a hard grounder to third that was misplayed into a two-base error. Memphis immediately re-took the lead with a solo run in the bottom of the third, but Rice matched that with a run in the top of the fourth when Bocachica's single through the hole on a hit and run loaded the bases for Blaine Brown, who brought in Graiden West with a sacrifice fly. The Tigers went back in front with a run in the fourth inning, but Rice took the lead for good in the top of the fifth, bringing home a pair of runs on balls that did not leave the infield. Treyton Rank walked with one out and Trey Duffield followed with a double to put runners at second and third. Graiden West hit a chopper to the Tigers pitcher, who did not field the ball cleanly, allowing Rank to score and Duffield to reach third. Pinch hitter Jacob Devenny then hit a ground ball to first to bring in Duffield and give Rice a 5-4 lead. Rice starter J.D. McCracken put an end to the scoring streak with a shutdown inning in the bottom of the fifth, and the Owls extended the lead to 6-4 in the sixth. Bocachica opened the inning with his second hit of the day and moved to second on a wild pitch. Brown moved him to third with a single and Zito drove him in with a single up the middle. The Tigers got one run back off McCracken in the sixth and Ben-Shoshan was summoned from the bullpen with two outs and two on, putting an end to the threat with a strikeout. He retired the Tigers in order in the seventh and his Owls' teammates provided breathing room with three runs in the top of the eighth. Max Johnson led off the inning with his second hit of the night and Bocachica followed with his third single. Zito was intentionally walked to bring up Landon West, who foiled the strategy by singling to right to score Johnson. Bocachica followed him home on a throwing error with the second run on the play. Rank closed the scoring, driving a ball deep to left center for the Owls' second sac fly of the night, scoring Zito. Ben-Shoshan returned for the ninth and worked around a pair of singles to close the night and earn his second save of the season.
Up Next: The Owls and Tigers wrap up their series with a game at noon on Saturday.
Notes
How it Happened: After a quiet first inning, Rice was retired again in the second before Memphis opened the scoring with two in its half of the second, and the teams traded runs over their next five combined at-bats. Rice matched the Tigers' two-run second with two in the third as Bocachica and Michael Zito scored when Landon West hit a hard grounder to third that was misplayed into a two-base error. Memphis immediately re-took the lead with a solo run in the bottom of the third, but Rice matched that with a run in the top of the fourth when Bocachica's single through the hole on a hit and run loaded the bases for Blaine Brown, who brought in Graiden West with a sacrifice fly. The Tigers went back in front with a run in the fourth inning, but Rice took the lead for good in the top of the fifth, bringing home a pair of runs on balls that did not leave the infield. Treyton Rank walked with one out and Trey Duffield followed with a double to put runners at second and third. Graiden West hit a chopper to the Tigers pitcher, who did not field the ball cleanly, allowing Rank to score and Duffield to reach third. Pinch hitter Jacob Devenny then hit a ground ball to first to bring in Duffield and give Rice a 5-4 lead. Rice starter J.D. McCracken put an end to the scoring streak with a shutdown inning in the bottom of the fifth, and the Owls extended the lead to 6-4 in the sixth. Bocachica opened the inning with his second hit of the day and moved to second on a wild pitch. Brown moved him to third with a single and Zito drove him in with a single up the middle. The Tigers got one run back off McCracken in the sixth and Ben-Shoshan was summoned from the bullpen with two outs and two on, putting an end to the threat with a strikeout. He retired the Tigers in order in the seventh and his Owls' teammates provided breathing room with three runs in the top of the eighth. Max Johnson led off the inning with his second hit of the night and Bocachica followed with his third single. Zito was intentionally walked to bring up Landon West, who foiled the strategy by singling to right to score Johnson. Bocachica followed him home on a throwing error with the second run on the play. Rank closed the scoring, driving a ball deep to left center for the Owls' second sac fly of the night, scoring Zito. Ben-Shoshan returned for the ninth and worked around a pair of singles to close the night and earn his second save of the season.
Up Next: The Owls and Tigers wrap up their series with a game at noon on Saturday.
Notes
- Rice improved to 24-12 all-time vs. Memphis, including an 11-3 lead in games in Memphis, and won for the first time on Friday in 2025.
- The Owls have won successive series for the first time this year and the first time since they swept USF in Tampa and then took the first to from UTSA last season.
- They have won four consecutive games, their best streak since their five consecutive wins vs. USF and UTSA last season.
- Rice's leadoff hitters have reached in nine of 18 opportunities in the first two games of the series, with six of nine scoring.
- The Owls topped double figures in hits for the seventh time in their last nine AAC games.
- Ben-Shoshan pitched in consecutive games for the first time this season… in four appearances since being charged with the loss at Tulane, he is 1-0 with a save and has not allowed an earned run in 10.1 innings, while allowing just four hits, walking one and striking out 10.
- His 3.1 innings of work allowed him to set a career-high for innings pitched with 28.1 in 16 games, surpassing his total of 25.1 in 21 games in 2023.
- Bocachica's three runs moved him into the team lead with 27… he has scored 16 times in his last 12 games, scoring a run in 10 of 12.
- Brown's single in the sixth extended his career-best hitting streak to nine games.
- Rank extended his hitting streak to seven games.
- Max Johnson tied his career high with two hits.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCracken, J.D. (2-3)
L: CASE, DAVID (1-5)
S: Ben-Shoshan, Jack (2)
Batting:
2B: Zito, Michael 1 ; Duffield, Trey 1
RBI: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Zito, Michael 1 ; West, Landon 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1 ; Devenny, Jacob 1
SH: Duffield, Trey 1
SF: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 3 ; Zito, Michael 2 ; Rank, Treyton 1 ; Duffield, Trey 1 ; West, Graiden 1 ; Johnson , Max 1
Batting:
2B: COX, SETH 1
HR: COX, SHANE 1
RBI: FOGEL, JUSTIN 1 ; COX, SHANE 2 ; POLITTE, MICHAEL 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GREER, CADE 1 ; COX, SETH 1 ; COX, SHANE 2 ; POLITTE, MICHAEL 1
SB: POLITTE, MICHAEL 1 ; PEREZ, DANIEL 1
HBP: GREER, CADE 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
3b
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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