Saturday, April 26
Birmingham, AL
2 PM
Rice University
11-33, 0
6
at
8
UAB
22-21, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rice
0
0
0
0
0
6
0
0
0
6
9
1
UAB
3
2
1
2
0
0
0
0
X
8
10
0
Rally Falls Short as UAB Clinches Series
4/26/2025 7:56:00 PM | Baseball
Owls look to take finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday
Birmingham: UAB raced to an early 8-0 lead and then survived a Rice comeback to clinch the series between the schools with an 8-6 win on Saturday at Young Memorial Field.
How it Happened: The Blazers scored three in the first and scored in each of the next three innings to move out to an 8-0 while the Owls' offense was held in check over the first five innings. In the sixth, pinch hitter Trey Duffield led off with a single, and one-out walks to Michael Zito and Landon West loaded the bases for the Owls for the first time in the series. Treyton Rank greeted UAB reliever Thomas Ballard with a double into the corner in left to score Duffield and Zito, breaking a scoreless inning streak of 18.1 innings. Paul Smith bounced a single between third and short to bring home Landon West, and West's brother Graiden bounced an infield single to reload the bases. Cole Green followed with a single to lefty to score Rank and bring the tying run to the plate. Hiram Bocachica sliced a single to right field to bring in Smith and Graiden West, but the inning ended abruptly when Duffield fouled out and Green was thrown out trying to score after tagging up. Garrett Stratton held the hosts scoreless the rest of the way, retiring the first eight in a row and then surviving a two-out jam with a strikeout with two Blazers on base.
Up Next: Rice will look to salvage the final game of the series while UAB will be looking to sweep a series against the Owls for the first time when the schools meet on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Notes
How it Happened: The Blazers scored three in the first and scored in each of the next three innings to move out to an 8-0 while the Owls' offense was held in check over the first five innings. In the sixth, pinch hitter Trey Duffield led off with a single, and one-out walks to Michael Zito and Landon West loaded the bases for the Owls for the first time in the series. Treyton Rank greeted UAB reliever Thomas Ballard with a double into the corner in left to score Duffield and Zito, breaking a scoreless inning streak of 18.1 innings. Paul Smith bounced a single between third and short to bring home Landon West, and West's brother Graiden bounced an infield single to reload the bases. Cole Green followed with a single to lefty to score Rank and bring the tying run to the plate. Hiram Bocachica sliced a single to right field to bring in Smith and Graiden West, but the inning ended abruptly when Duffield fouled out and Green was thrown out trying to score after tagging up. Garrett Stratton held the hosts scoreless the rest of the way, retiring the first eight in a row and then surviving a two-out jam with a strikeout with two Blazers on base.
Up Next: Rice will look to salvage the final game of the series while UAB will be looking to sweep a series against the Owls for the first time when the schools meet on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Notes
- Rice fell to 16-11 all-time in Birmingham and 2-6 in AAC series this year.
- Rice relievers (Von Baker, Mark Perkins, and Garrett Stratton) allowed two runs over 5.2 innings.
- Perkins did not allow a run in a season-high two innings.
- Michael Zito's single in the seventh inning extended his hitting streak in conference games to 14 games.
- Rank was 2x3 to raise his average in AAC games to .352 (19x52) this season and .326 (53x163) in his career.
- Paul Smith made his first career appearance at first base. He singled and walked in three plate appearances after coming into the game when Landon West moved from first to catcher in the bottom of the third.
- Smith is 3x4 with a walk in five plate appearances this year, collecting a pair of hits as a pinch hitter.
- Bocachica's two RBI gave him 12 in 17 AAC games.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Braxton Shelton (3-4)
L: McCracken, J.D. (2-4)
S: Brendan Conner (6)
Batting:
2B: Rank, Treyton 1
RBI: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 2 ; Rank, Treyton 2 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; Green, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duffield, Trey 1 ; Zito, Michael 1 ; West, Landon 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; West, Graiden 1
Batting:
2B: Todd Clay 2
RBI: Wesley Helms 1 ; Todd Clay 2 ; JP Head 3 ; Alex Cheeseman 1
SH: Gavin Lewis Jr 1
SF: JP Head 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Logan Braunschweig 1 ; Wesley Helms 1 ; Todd Clay 2 ; Nick Hollifield 1 ; JP Head 1 ; Alex Cheeseman 1 ; Gavin Lewis Jr 1
SB: Todd Clay 1 ; JP Head 1
HBP: Tyler Waugh 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
ph/cf
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
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INF
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RHP
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