Wednesday, May 7
6:30 PM
Rice University
15-34
12
vs
1
Prairie View A&M
14-33
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Prairie View
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
3
3
Rice
7
4
1
0
0
0
X
12
9
1
Seven-Run First Powers Owls Past Panthers
5/7/2025 9:41:00 PM | Baseball
Host Wichita State this weekend to close out 2025 home schedule
Reckling Park: A seven-run first set the stage for Rice to close out its 2025 non-conference schedule on Wednesday with a 12-1 win over Prairie View A&M.
How it Happened: After J.D. McCracken needed just six pitches to set the Panthers down in the first, Rice sent 10 men to the plate in its opening inning and scored seven times on four hits, five of them coming with two outs. Blaine Brown and Michael Zito walked with one out and both scored on a double by Paul Smith in the right field corner. One out later, Treyton Rank blasted the first pitch he saw over the fence in dead center to up the lead to 4-0. Hiram Bocachica Jr. reached on an infield single and moved to second on an error and Aric Anderson was hit by a pitch. Cole Green completed the opening-inning trip through the lineup by doubling to left center to score Bocachica and Anderson, and then followed them home on an error by the catcher on the throw to the plate. Rice built its lead to 11 with four in the second, with all four coming with two outs. Zito walked with one out and avoided being doubled up on a line out by Smith. Landon West reached on a single off the pitcher's leg and Zito moved to third. He scored on a single by Rank and then Bocachica cleared the bases with his fourth home run of the year. Zito drove in the final run of the night by drawing a bases loaded walk in the third and six Rice pitchers divided up the work load over seven innings to close out the win.
Next: Rice and Wichita State, two of the four teams battling for the final two spots in the 2025 AAC Championship, meet this weekend in the Owls' home season finale. The series opens at 6:30 on Friday, followed by a 2:00 p.m. start on Saturday and then a 1:00 start on Sunday after the Owls celebrate their senior class in pregame ceremonies.
Notes
How it Happened: After J.D. McCracken needed just six pitches to set the Panthers down in the first, Rice sent 10 men to the plate in its opening inning and scored seven times on four hits, five of them coming with two outs. Blaine Brown and Michael Zito walked with one out and both scored on a double by Paul Smith in the right field corner. One out later, Treyton Rank blasted the first pitch he saw over the fence in dead center to up the lead to 4-0. Hiram Bocachica Jr. reached on an infield single and moved to second on an error and Aric Anderson was hit by a pitch. Cole Green completed the opening-inning trip through the lineup by doubling to left center to score Bocachica and Anderson, and then followed them home on an error by the catcher on the throw to the plate. Rice built its lead to 11 with four in the second, with all four coming with two outs. Zito walked with one out and avoided being doubled up on a line out by Smith. Landon West reached on a single off the pitcher's leg and Zito moved to third. He scored on a single by Rank and then Bocachica cleared the bases with his fourth home run of the year. Zito drove in the final run of the night by drawing a bases loaded walk in the third and six Rice pitchers divided up the work load over seven innings to close out the win.
Next: Rice and Wichita State, two of the four teams battling for the final two spots in the 2025 AAC Championship, meet this weekend in the Owls' home season finale. The series opens at 6:30 on Friday, followed by a 2:00 p.m. start on Saturday and then a 1:00 start on Sunday after the Owls celebrate their senior class in pregame ceremonies.
Notes
- Rice improved to 8-5 in its last 13 games and 16-0 all-time vs. Prairie View A&M
- The Owls have homered in four straight games (8 total).
- Rank's homer was his third this year, setting a career high.
- He was 2x4 to raise his average to .404 over his last 14 games (19x47).
- Bocachica drove in three runs for a team-leading fourth time, and he moved into second on the team with his fourth home run of the year.
- Smith has hit in seven of eight games this season (.478, 11x23) and is slugging .783 (four doubles, one home run).
- Green drove in a pair and has six RBI in his last three games.
- Zito reached base three times (two walks and a hit by pitch) scored twice and drove in a run, but saw his career-best nine-game hitting streak come to an end.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCracken, J.D. (3-4)
L: M. Maxie (0-1)
Base Running:
RUNS: M. Jonas 1
HBP: M. Burroughs 1
Batting:
2B: Smith , Paul 1 ; Green, Cole 1
HR: Rank, Treyton 1 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1
RBI: Zito, Michael 1 ; Smith , Paul 2 ; Rank, Treyton 3 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 3 ; Green, Cole 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown , Blaine 1 ; Zito, Michael 2 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; West, Landon 1 ; Rank, Treyton 2 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 2 ; Anderson, Aric 1 ; Green, Cole 2
SB: Zito, Michael 1
HBP: Zito, Michael 2 ; West, Landon 1 ; Anderson, Aric 1
Game Leaders
lf/1b
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C
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LHP/OF
/ BaseballINF
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LHP
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/ BaseballC
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INF
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