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Rice University Athletics
Friday, October 9
College Station, TX
Rice University
at
Texas A&M
Photo by: American Athletic Conference/Ben Soloman
Owls Sweep A&M in Exhibition Opener
10/10/2026 5:56:00 AM | Baseball
College Station: Rice opened its fall exhibition season by winning both halves of a 14-inning matchup with Texas A&M at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park on Friday night, winning 3-2 and 6-3.
The Owls never trailed over the two games, taking the lead in the first inning. Zachary Daigre had a hand in all three runs in the opener, scoring twice and driving in the third. He opened the night with a leadoff single and stole second before Paul Smith broke the ice by bringing him home on a double. He walked to lead off the third and came home on a sac fly by Garett Boehm, then followed Zachary Gingrich's leadoff double in the fourth with one of his own to drive in the final run.
The Aggies broke through with a pair of run-scoring doubles in the fifth to draw within one run, but Anthony Diaz and Ty Thames combined to retire the final six Aggies in order to close out the win.
Ethan Sanders worked the first two innings of the night, holding the Aggies hitless and working around a walk and a hit batter. Tanner Wiggins followed by scattering a pair of hits and striking out two in two innings. Anthony Diaz gave up A&M's two runs in the fifth before rebounding to retire the Aggies in order in the sixth, and Ty Thames breezed through the seventh, striking out two of his three hitters.
Ryland Urbanczyk took over on the mound as the game moved into its second half, and the Owls once again took the lead at the start and never looked back.
Colin Robson led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Masa Chilcutt. One out later, Brandon Creek reached on an error, and Michael Zito drove in both with a double to left center.
Urbanczyk stranded a pair of Aggies in the bottom of the first with a strikeout, and his teammates doubled their advantage with two runs in the second.
Judson Dowell led off with a single and moved to second on a stolen base. Three consecutive walks with two outs produced the one run as Dowell scored from third on a wild pitch and Creek drove in the fourth run of the night when he was hit by a pitch.
Chilcutt scored on a wild pitch to put the Owls up 5-0 in the fourth, but A&M struck back with two in the bottom half of the inning.
Robson's RBI single in the fifth scored Kahaku Harrison to score the Owls' final run and the Aggies mounted one final challenge in the second, scoring once before Rivers Kurland ended the game with a double play.
Urbanczyk struck out three in two innings to lead the Owls on Friday.
Rice will close out its fall exhibition schedule with a pair of games at Reckling Park. The Owls will host San Jacinto next Friday for a 14-inning scrimmage beginning at 3 p.m. before wrapping up with a 14-inning game with McLennan CC on Saturday, October 24 at 1 p.m. Admission is free to both exhibition games.
The Owls never trailed over the two games, taking the lead in the first inning. Zachary Daigre had a hand in all three runs in the opener, scoring twice and driving in the third. He opened the night with a leadoff single and stole second before Paul Smith broke the ice by bringing him home on a double. He walked to lead off the third and came home on a sac fly by Garett Boehm, then followed Zachary Gingrich's leadoff double in the fourth with one of his own to drive in the final run.
The Aggies broke through with a pair of run-scoring doubles in the fifth to draw within one run, but Anthony Diaz and Ty Thames combined to retire the final six Aggies in order to close out the win.
Ethan Sanders worked the first two innings of the night, holding the Aggies hitless and working around a walk and a hit batter. Tanner Wiggins followed by scattering a pair of hits and striking out two in two innings. Anthony Diaz gave up A&M's two runs in the fifth before rebounding to retire the Aggies in order in the sixth, and Ty Thames breezed through the seventh, striking out two of his three hitters.
Ryland Urbanczyk took over on the mound as the game moved into its second half, and the Owls once again took the lead at the start and never looked back.
Colin Robson led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Masa Chilcutt. One out later, Brandon Creek reached on an error, and Michael Zito drove in both with a double to left center.
Urbanczyk stranded a pair of Aggies in the bottom of the first with a strikeout, and his teammates doubled their advantage with two runs in the second.
Judson Dowell led off with a single and moved to second on a stolen base. Three consecutive walks with two outs produced the one run as Dowell scored from third on a wild pitch and Creek drove in the fourth run of the night when he was hit by a pitch.
Chilcutt scored on a wild pitch to put the Owls up 5-0 in the fourth, but A&M struck back with two in the bottom half of the inning.
Robson's RBI single in the fifth scored Kahaku Harrison to score the Owls' final run and the Aggies mounted one final challenge in the second, scoring once before Rivers Kurland ended the game with a double play.
Urbanczyk struck out three in two innings to lead the Owls on Friday.
Rice will close out its fall exhibition schedule with a pair of games at Reckling Park. The Owls will host San Jacinto next Friday for a 14-inning scrimmage beginning at 3 p.m. before wrapping up with a 14-inning game with McLennan CC on Saturday, October 24 at 1 p.m. Admission is free to both exhibition games.
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