Rice University Athletics
Rice University
20-14
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
14-17
Owls Blast Islanders to Close Homestand
4/7/2026 11:10:00 PM | Baseball
Offense Erupts for 20 hits and 18 run
Houston- JC Davis collected a career-high five hits to highlight a 20-hit attack for Rice as the Owls rebounded from back-to-back shutouts over the weekend with their highest run total of the season, downing Texas A&M Corpus Christi 18-4 on Tuesday night at Reckling Park.
How it Happened: Rice wasted little time in restarting the offense as Paul Smith drilled a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, scoring Davis who reached on a two-out double. They extended the lead to 4-0 with a pair in the second, but the Islanders closed to 4-3 with two in the third and one in the fourth. Davis capped a three-run response by Rice in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double. Rice added four in the fifth to push the lead to 11-4 and then added one in the sixth, two in the seventh, and four in the eighth. Reliever Ethan Atchley (4-1) was credited with the win after taking over from starter Ty Baker with one out and two on in the top of the fifth and not allowing any runs to score.
Next Up: The Owls travel to Charlotte this weekend for three games against the 49ers, Friday through Sunday before returning to Reckling Park on April 15 to face Sam Houston.
Notes
- The Owls improved to 20-14 on the season, 12-6 at home, 6-3 in midweek games.
- They reached 20 wins in the fewest games since they were 20-11 in 2016.
- The 18 runs and 20 hits were the most in a game for the Owls since they scored 23 runs on 18 hits against Prairie View on May 16, 2023.
- Rice improved to 11-1 when scoring in the first inning. The Owls have outscored the opposition 32-16 in the opening inning for the season and 23-7 at home.
- Every starter for the Owls collected at least one hit and scored a run, and eight of nine also collected at least one RBI.
- Davis is the first Owl with five hits in a game since Bradley Gneiting was 5x6 in a 19-4 win over Charlotte on April 12, 2019.
- It was his team-leading 13th multi-hit game, 10 of them in 18 games at Reckling Park.
- Hiram Bocachica matched his career high with three hits.
- Cole Green drove in three runs for the fourth time this season.
- Logan Voelz made his Rice debut, striking out one in a scoreless eighth inning.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Atchley, Ethan (4-1)
L: Shea, Bryson (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Evans, Matt 1
RBI: Smith, Jackson 1 ; Evans, Matt 1 ; Quero, Pedro 1 ; Sanchez, Cade 1
SF: Sanchez, Cade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith-Johnson, Christian 1 ; Bergstrom, Jack 1 ; Russell, Austin 1 ; Towchik, Max 1
HBP: Afework, Isaiah 1
PO: Smith, Jackson 1
Batting:
2B: Rios, Lorenzo 1 ; Green, Cole 1 ; Davis, JC 2
3B: Duffield, Trey 1 ; West, Landon 1
HR: Smith , Paul 1
RBI: Motley, Tobias 1 ; Duffield, Trey 1 ; West, Landon 3 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 2 ; Robson, Colin 1 ; Smith , Paul 2 ; Green, Cole 3 ; Daigre, Zachary 1 ; Davila , Landis 2 ; Davis, JC 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rios, Lorenzo 3 ; Duffield, Trey 1 ; Bocachica Jr., Hiram 2 ; Robson, Colin 1 ; Smith , Paul 2 ; Devenny, Jacob 1 ; Green, Cole 2 ; Daigre, Zachary 1 ; Davila , Landis 1 ; Davis, JC 3 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 1
HBP: Motley, Tobias 1 ; Duffield, Trey 1 ; West, Landon 1
