Webb's Blast Propels Owls to Fifth Straight Win

Wednesday, April 15

Reckling Park

6:35 pm

Rice University

24-14

Sam Houston

12-23

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Sam Houston	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	2
Rice	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	X	5	7	1

Webb's Blast Propels Owls to Fifth Straight Win

4/15/2026 10:34:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Rice moves 10 games over .500

By: Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)

Houston- Kutter-Gage Webb's three-run homer gave Ethan Atchley a lead he would not relinquish as Rice won its fifth consecutive game, downing Sam Houston 5-3 on Wednesday night at Reckling Park.

How it Happened: Rice opened the scoring with a single run in the first innings as Paul Smith singled home Cole Green, but the Bearkats struck back with three runs in the third off starter Ty Baker to take a brief 3-1 lead. Rice put two aboard in the bottom of the third with two outs, and Webb drove the first offering from starter Zach Alarid over the fence in right field for his first long ball since his second at bat of the season, when he hit a solo homer against Northwestern on Opening Day. Atchley took over for Baker in the fourth and allowed only two Bearkats to reach over the next four innings while striking out a career-high seven. Jackson Blank worked the final two innings, earning his first save of the season by striking out pinch-hitter Dean Easton with runners on the corners.

Next Up: The Owls return to American Conference play on Friday, hosting Memphis for a three-game series that opens at 6:35, followed by a 2:05 game on Saturday and a 1:05 finale on Sunday. Friday night is Wine Night at Reckling Park, with all wines available for $5 throughout the park. Saturday is Beach Day, with the first 75 fans receiving "Rice Guys" beach towels and the first 150 receiving "Rice Guys" beach towels.
Notes

The Owls have won five straight and nine of the last 11.
They improved to 24-14 on the season, 13-6 at home, 7-3 in midweek games.
David Pierce is now 37-37 at Rice since taking over after 21 games in 2025.
The Owls' 24 wins this season are their most in a season since they ended the 2019 season 26-33 and are seven more than their final total from 2025.
Rice improved to 14-1 when scoring in the first inning and 15-2 when homering in a game.
The Owls have outscored the opposition 36-16 in the opening inning for the season and 24-7 at home.
Atchley improved to 5-1 with the win.
Blank became the seventh Owl to record a save this season.
Green reached base for the 13^th consecutive game while Colin Robson reached for the 12^th game in a row.