Wednesday, May 21
Clearwater, Florida
12 p.m.
Rice University
17-40
6
vs
8
FAU
37-20
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Rice
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Florida Atlantic
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Photo by: The American Conference
FAU Rally Ends Owls' Season
5/21/2025 6:03:00 PM | Baseball
Rice falls 8-6 in AAC Championship elimination game
Clearwater, FL: Rice struck for four early runs, but FAU's four home runs, including a tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, proved to be the difference as Rice saw its season end with an 8-6 loss on Wednesday.
How it Happened: Rice started fast as Treyton Rank and Blaine Brown opened the game with singles and Michael Zito followed with a walk to load the bases. One out later, Hiram Bocachica Jr. lofted a single to short center to score Rank, but FAU avoided further danger thanks to a double play. Rice starter J.D. McCracken made quick work of FAU in the bottom of the first, retiring the side on just five pitches and his teammates added a run in the second when Colin Robson scored on a wild pitch. McCracken breezed through the second on just six pitches and his offense doubled the lead in the top of the third. Michael Zito led off the inning with his fifth home run of the year and Landon West followed with a double. He moved to third on a flyout and scored on a groundout by Paul Smith. McCracken walked a pair of hitters with two out in the bottom of the third but looked to be out of the inning with no damage, but a misplayed fly ball to center allowed both walks to score and FAU's John Schroeder followed with the first of his two home runs to even the game 4-4. McCracken found his footing over the nex two innings, retiring six straight before Schroeder's second home run put FAU up 5-4 in the sixth. FAU increased the margin to 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, but Rice answered with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to tie the game. West opened with a single, his third hit of the day and Bocachica reached on an error. Both moved up a base after a ground out and Max Johnson brought them both in with a single to center. But FAU matched Rice's scoring in its half of the eighth and closed the game out in the ninth to move on in the tournament, while Rice saw its season end.
Notes
- Rice fell to 17-20-1 all-time against FAU, 3-4 vs. FAU in postseason, and 1-4 all-time at the AAC Championship.
- Blaine Brown was 2x5 in the game and finished with a .293 average to lead the team. He is the first true freshman to lead the Owls in hitting since Anthony Rendon in 2009 and the first true freshman to lead them in RBI (38) since Ford Proctor in 2016.
- Rice's starting pitchers (Davion Hickson and J.D. McCracken posted a combined 3.95 ERA at the championship (13.2, 11, 10, 6, 3, 12).
- Landon West tied his career high with three hits and extended his season-ending hitting streak to seven games (ingle extended his hitting streak to six games (.481, 13x27 with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBI).
- Johnson was 2x3 in the game with two RBI, raising his career totals in four games at the AAC Championship to .500 (6x12) with six RBI.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MJ Bollinger (3-3)
L: Ben-Shoshan, Jack (3-4)
Batting:
2B: West, Landon 1
HR: Zito, Michael 1
RBI: Zito, Michael 1 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; Johnson , Max 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rank, Treyton 1 ; Zito, Michael 1 ; West, Landon 2 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1 ; Robson, Colin 1
HBP: West, Landon 1
Batting:
HR: John Schroeder 2 ; Brando Leroux 1 ; Carter Brady 1
RBI: John Schroeder 3 ; Brando Leroux 2 ; Carter Brady 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marshall Lipsey 1 ; John Martinez 1 ; John Schroeder 2 ; Nick Romano 1 ; Brando Leroux 1 ; Carter Brady 2
CS: Marshall Lipsey 1
HBP: Marshall Lipsey 1 ; Nick Romano 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
ss
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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