Rice University Athletics
Rice University
3-6
HCU
4-5
Owls Fall in Extra Innings
2/24/2026 11:34:00 PM | Baseball
Harvard series opens on Friday
How it Happened: After HCU opened the scoring with a single run in the top of the first, Rice responded with four in the bottom of the inning. Hiram Bocachica Jr. opened the frame with a single to center and JC Davis beat out a bunt single. One out later, Michael Zito and Kutter-Gage Webb drove in a run with singles, and both came home on a two-run single by Mason Ashlock. That lead was short-lived as the Huskies took the lead back, thanks to a grand slam in the top of the second. After a torrid early scoring pace, the teams traded scoreless innings from the third through the fifth, but Rice rode the productive bat of Davis, who slammed a two-out grand slam to put Rice ahead 8-5. HCU chipped away at the lead with two runs in the eighth and then tied it on a wild pitch in the ninth, then survived a one-out, bases-loaded opportunity for Rice in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. After a scoreless 10th, the Huskies used a wild pitch and a pair of RBI singles to build their final margin of victory.
Next Up: The Owls' homestand continues this weekend when they welcome Harvard to campus. The series opens at 6:35 on Friday, followed by a 4:05 start on Saturday and a 12:05 finale in Sunday.
Notes
- Rice fell to 33-7 all-time vs. HCU and 1-2 in midweek games this year.
- The four runs in the first for the Owls were their most this season in the opening inning.
- Davis was 3x4 with a single, double and a homer for his sixth multi-hit effort in the first nine games.
- Davis, who reached base five times in six plate appearances, has reached base in all nine games this season and has hit five straight and eight of nine.
- Zito is 3x7 in his first two starts of the year.
- Tanner Wiggins worked a career-best 3.2 innings in relief and struck out a career-high three.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Norton, Ben (1-0)
L: Thames, Ty (0-1)
S: Feltman, Jett (1)
Batting:
2B: Halligan, Katcher 2 ; Walker, Jack 1 ; Castilleja, Levi 1
HR: Jackson, Tyree 1
RBI: Halligan, Katcher 2 ; Jackson, Tyree 4 ; Hendricks, Rhett 2 ; Rader, Jeremy 1
SH: Defazio, Nico 1 ; Munton, Zach 1 ; Rader, Jeremy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Defazio, Nico 1 ; Laxton, Graham 1 ; Halligan, Katcher 1 ; Jackson, Tyree 2 ; Avalos, Anthony 1 ; Castilleja, Levi 1 ; Munton, Zach 1 ; Rader, Jeremy 1 ; Bazile, Walker 1 ; Curtis, Preston 1
SB: Avalos, Anthony 1
HBP: Defazio, Nico 1 ; Castilleja, Levi 1 ; Curtis, Preston 1
Batting:
2B: Davis, JC 1
HR: Davis, JC 1
RBI: Ashlock, Mason 2 ; Davis, JC 4 ; Zito, Michael 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 1
SH: Green, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robson, Colin 1 ; Davis, JC 2 ; Daigre, Zachary 1 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 2 ; Zito, Michael 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 1
SB: Daigre, Zachary 1 ; Zito, Michael 1
HBP: Zito, Michael 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 2
