Rice University Athletics
Saturday, March 14
Phoenix, AZ
8 PM
Rice University
12-8
13
at
2
Grand Canyon
7-13
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Rice
0
0
0
3
0
8
2
13
12
0
Grand Canyon
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
4
2
Owls Stay Hot in Phoenix
3/15/2026 12:44:00 AM | Baseball
Offense produces 13 runs to support Urbanczyk's first win
Phoenix- Ryland Urbanczyk waited five starts for the Rice offense to provide him with tangible run support and he made the most of it on Saturday night, holding Grand Canyon to two runs and four hits while his teammates scored at will in a 13-2 win that was shortened to seven innings.
How it Happened: In his return to the mound for the first time since 2024, Urbanczyk had allowed just four combined runs in his first four starts, but he was 0-1 as the offense had scored just twice in his first 13.2 innings. That streak extended to 16.2 innings as Grand Canyon took the early lead with single runs in the first and third innings, while Rice was shutout on one hit. But in the fourth, the Owls regained their offensive surge that had seen them score 22 runs on 25 hits in the final 14 innings of their doubleheader sweep on Saturday. With two out in the fourth, Garet Boehm singled, Kutter-Gage Webb was hit by a pitch for the sixth time this season and Mason Ashlock walked. Lorenzo Rios scalded the first pitch he saw off the wall in right to bring home two and Cole Green sent Ashlock to the plate with a double off the wall in left center to put Rice ahead to stay and more than double Urbanczyk's prior run support. They put the game out of reach with an eight-run explosion in the sixth as the Owls sent 14 men to the plate, including one (Ashlock) who drove in run two trips to the plate in the inning. He started the run parade with a two-run single and later drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the seventh run. Urbanczyk wrapped up his night with a career-high sixth strikeout, matching his career-best six innings and after Rice pushed the lead to 11 with two in the top of the seventh, Carson Kuhn, who came to Rice from Scottsdale and was pitching in front of friends and family, close it out with a scoreless seventh.
Next Up: Rice will wrap up its weekend stay in Phoenix with a rematch with Saint Mary's on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Notes
How it Happened: In his return to the mound for the first time since 2024, Urbanczyk had allowed just four combined runs in his first four starts, but he was 0-1 as the offense had scored just twice in his first 13.2 innings. That streak extended to 16.2 innings as Grand Canyon took the early lead with single runs in the first and third innings, while Rice was shutout on one hit. But in the fourth, the Owls regained their offensive surge that had seen them score 22 runs on 25 hits in the final 14 innings of their doubleheader sweep on Saturday. With two out in the fourth, Garet Boehm singled, Kutter-Gage Webb was hit by a pitch for the sixth time this season and Mason Ashlock walked. Lorenzo Rios scalded the first pitch he saw off the wall in right to bring home two and Cole Green sent Ashlock to the plate with a double off the wall in left center to put Rice ahead to stay and more than double Urbanczyk's prior run support. They put the game out of reach with an eight-run explosion in the sixth as the Owls sent 14 men to the plate, including one (Ashlock) who drove in run two trips to the plate in the inning. He started the run parade with a two-run single and later drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the seventh run. Urbanczyk wrapped up his night with a career-high sixth strikeout, matching his career-best six innings and after Rice pushed the lead to 11 with two in the top of the seventh, Carson Kuhn, who came to Rice from Scottsdale and was pitching in front of friends and family, close it out with a scoreless seventh.
Next Up: Rice will wrap up its weekend stay in Phoenix with a rematch with Saint Mary's on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Notes
- Rice has won three straight and nine of the last 11.
- The Owls improved to 12-8 on the season, 6-5 on the road, 4-1 in series, 5-1 at Brazell Field, and 4-1 vs. Grand Canyon.
- The Owls reached their 12th win in their 20th game, the fewest games since 2015 when they reached 12 wins in their 18th game.
- The Owls did not win their 12th game last season until game #42.
- Rice scored at least three runs in six of 16 innings against Grand Canyon and has scored in double digits in each of the five games played between the schools (three in 1997, two this year), winning four of five.
- The 16 runs were the most by the Owls since they scored 16 vs. Texas Southern in 2024.
- Rice has scored in double digits in each of the four games in the series history with Grand Canyon.
- The 29 runs in the last two games are the most by the Owls since they scored 37 in back-to-back wins over SFA (19-3) and Sam Houston (13-5) in 2022 and the most in consecutive road games since 2017 when Rice beat UAB 12-4 and 26-17 at the end of the 2017 regular season.
- Urbanczyk won for the first time since 3/24/24 vs. Tulane.
- The bottom three in the Owls line up (Ashlock, Rios and Cole Green) were a combined 5x10 and drove in nine of the 13 runs.
- Webb is hitting .800 in the series (8x10), leading a Rice offense that has hit .346 this weekend.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Urbanczyk, Ryland (1-1)
L: Frey, Chase (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; Green, Cole 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 1
3B: Green, Cole 1
RBI: Rios, Lorenzo 3 ; Smith , Paul 1 ; Green, Cole 3 ; Ashlock, Mason 3 ; Boehm, Garet 1 ; Davis, JC 1
SF: Davis, JC 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rios, Lorenzo 1 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 1 ; Robson, Colin 1 ; Smith , Paul 2 ; Green, Cole 1 ; Ashlock, Mason 2 ; Boehm, Garet 2 ; Davis, JC 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 2
SB: Robson, Colin 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 1
HBP: Robson, Colin 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 1
Batting:
2B: Peery, Cannon 1
HR: Johns, Tanner 1
RBI: Peery, Cannon 1 ; Johns, Tanner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sanko, Jake 1 ; Johns, Tanner 1
SB: Sanko, Jake 1 ; Owens, Austin 1
HBP: Owens, Austin 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
dh
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
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LHP
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RHP
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INF
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