Sunday, May 4
Noon
Rice University
14-34, 0
2
vs
12
Charlotte
27-20, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Charlotte
0
0
0
5
2
0
1
4
12
14
0
Rice
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
5
0
Charlotte Avoids Sunday Sweep
5/4/2025 4:29:00 PM | Baseball
Owls host Prairie View on Wednesday
Reckling Park: Charlotte exploded for five runs in the fourth inning and never looked back, taking the series finale against Rice 12-2 on Sunday afternoon.
How it Happened: Michael Zito staked starter Jackson Blank to an early 1-0 lead, but the Owls could only turn their four hits in the first into one run. Blank held Charlotte scoreless through 3.2 innings before the 49ers pieced together four straight singles to set up a three-run homer to score five runs with two outs. Charlotte reliever Chase Carlson held the Owls hitless through the sixth as the lead grew to 7-1 on his way to picking up the win. Charlotte added one in the seventh and four in the eighth, before the Owls added one in the bottom of the eighth. Graiden West led off with a pinch-hit double and moved up to third on a ground out by Blaine Brown. Zito then brought him home with a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring.
Up Next: Rice will host Prairie View A&M on Wednesday at 6:30 in the season's final non-conference game before hosting Wichita State next weekend to wrap up the 2025 home schedule.
Notes
How it Happened: Michael Zito staked starter Jackson Blank to an early 1-0 lead, but the Owls could only turn their four hits in the first into one run. Blank held Charlotte scoreless through 3.2 innings before the 49ers pieced together four straight singles to set up a three-run homer to score five runs with two outs. Charlotte reliever Chase Carlson held the Owls hitless through the sixth as the lead grew to 7-1 on his way to picking up the win. Charlotte added one in the seventh and four in the eighth, before the Owls added one in the bottom of the eighth. Graiden West led off with a pinch-hit double and moved up to third on a ground out by Blaine Brown. Zito then brought him home with a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring.
Up Next: Rice will host Prairie View A&M on Wednesday at 6:30 in the season's final non-conference game before hosting Wichita State next weekend to wrap up the 2025 home schedule.
Notes
- Rice fell to 8-13 in the AAC, 15-16 all-time vs. Charlotte, and 8-9 vs. the 49ers at Reckling Park.
- The Owls fell short of sweeping their first series of the season.
- Rice is 7-5 in its last 12 games and is 7-4 in its last 11 AAC games while winning three of its last four series.
- Rice has homered in the last four conference games and has hit at least one in seven of nine home AAC games.
- Zito's solo homer extended his hitting streak to a career-best nine games, which matches the best by an Owl this year and his hitting streak in conference games to 18.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Carson (2-0)
L: Blank, Jackson (0-7)
Batting:
2B: Riley 1 ; Bryce 1
HR: Poteet 1
RBI: Bryce 1 ; Nolan 1 ; Rivera 4 ; Martin 2 ; Poteet 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Riley 1 ; Maryniak 1 ; Bryce 2 ; Nolan 2 ; Furcht 3 ; Rivera 1 ; Martin 1 ; Poteet 1
HBP: Nolan 1
Batting:
2B: West, Graiden 1 ; Rank, Treyton 1
HR: Zito, Michael 1
RBI: Zito, Michael 2
SF: Zito, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: West, Graiden 1 ; Zito, Michael 1
CS: Brown , Blaine 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
dh/p
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
1b
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballLHP/OF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
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