Rice University Athletics
Saturday, May 2
Reckling Park
1 PM
Rice University
27-20, 0
16
vs
9
UAB
28-17, 0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 0 |
| Rice | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | X | 16 | 15 | 0 |
Owls Roll to Sweep on Saturday
5/2/2026 8:53:00 PM | Baseball
Blast seven homers in Game One
Houston- Rice made a strong move towards qualifying for a third consecutive American Conference championship as the Owls exploded for 28 runs while sweeping a doubleheader from conference co-leader UAB on Saturday afternoon. Rice (28-20/10-10) took the opener 16-9 and then the nightcap 12-2 in seven innings.
How it Happened:
Game One: UAB struck for a quick run in the top of the first of the opener with a single run, but the Owls gave an early indication of what was to come by answering with three in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Garett Boehm singled home Colin Robson to tie the game and then came home on Landis Davila's first career homer. Davila's shot over the wall in right was the first for Rice in its last six games, but it would not be the last of the day. UAB tied the game with two in the fourth, but Rice answered with a pair in the bottom of the inning. The Blazers fired back with two in their half of the fifth to tie the game 5-5, but Paul Smith put Rice ahead to stay with his 10th homer in the bottom of the inning. Rice starter Tanner Wiggins broke the scoring streak by holding UAB scoreless in the sixth, and his Owls teammates rewarded him with an eight-run outburst to build a 14-5 cushion. JC Davis opened the scoring with an RBI single, then stole second and moved up to third on a passed ball. Over the next 15 pitches after the passed ball, Rice scored seven runs on a double by Lorenzo Rios, a single by Cole Green, and then three consecutive home runs by Robson (2 runs), Smith (second of the game), and Boehm. After Davila was retired on a fly ball, Kutter-Gage Webb launched the fourth home run of the inning. Webb added his second homer of the game in the eighth as the Owls continued to answer any scoring by the Blazers.
Game Two: UAB once again took the early lead with a single run in the second and while for the first time on the afternoon Rice did not immediately respond, the Owls had an emphatic answer in the third, scoring six times. Robson drilled his second home run on the day with one out to tie the game. One out later, Rice loaded the bases with walks and took the lead when Zachary Daigre drew the fourth consecutive walk of the inning. Davis followed with a two-run single and Aric Anderson completed the scoring with a two-run double. Freshman starter Ethan Sanders shook off the early run and held the Blazers off the board through five innings as Rice built the lead to 7-1. They added three in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to Webb and a two-run single by Daigre, and then closed the game out with two runs in the seventh.
Next Up: Rice looks to sweep the Blazers for the first time at Reckling since 2014 when the teams meet in the series finale at 1:05 on Sunday.
Notes
How it Happened:
Game One: UAB struck for a quick run in the top of the first of the opener with a single run, but the Owls gave an early indication of what was to come by answering with three in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Garett Boehm singled home Colin Robson to tie the game and then came home on Landis Davila's first career homer. Davila's shot over the wall in right was the first for Rice in its last six games, but it would not be the last of the day. UAB tied the game with two in the fourth, but Rice answered with a pair in the bottom of the inning. The Blazers fired back with two in their half of the fifth to tie the game 5-5, but Paul Smith put Rice ahead to stay with his 10th homer in the bottom of the inning. Rice starter Tanner Wiggins broke the scoring streak by holding UAB scoreless in the sixth, and his Owls teammates rewarded him with an eight-run outburst to build a 14-5 cushion. JC Davis opened the scoring with an RBI single, then stole second and moved up to third on a passed ball. Over the next 15 pitches after the passed ball, Rice scored seven runs on a double by Lorenzo Rios, a single by Cole Green, and then three consecutive home runs by Robson (2 runs), Smith (second of the game), and Boehm. After Davila was retired on a fly ball, Kutter-Gage Webb launched the fourth home run of the inning. Webb added his second homer of the game in the eighth as the Owls continued to answer any scoring by the Blazers.
Game Two: UAB once again took the early lead with a single run in the second and while for the first time on the afternoon Rice did not immediately respond, the Owls had an emphatic answer in the third, scoring six times. Robson drilled his second home run on the day with one out to tie the game. One out later, Rice loaded the bases with walks and took the lead when Zachary Daigre drew the fourth consecutive walk of the inning. Davis followed with a two-run single and Aric Anderson completed the scoring with a two-run double. Freshman starter Ethan Sanders shook off the early run and held the Blazers off the board through five innings as Rice built the lead to 7-1. They added three in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to Webb and a two-run single by Daigre, and then closed the game out with two runs in the seventh.
Next Up: Rice looks to sweep the Blazers for the first time at Reckling since 2014 when the teams meet in the series finale at 1:05 on Sunday.
Notes
- The Owls improved to 28-20 on the season, 16-10 at home, and 43-20 against UAB all-time.
- With 28 wins and eight games remaining, the Owls have assured themselves of finishing the regular season at .500 or better for the first time since 2016.
- The 11-game improvement the Owls have posted over their final 2025 record is the largest at Rice since Wayne Graham led them to a 13-win improvement in his first season at Rice in 1992, when he led the Owls to a 29-26 mark after finishing 16-34 in 1991.
- Rice is now 16-2 when scoring in the first inning… The Owls have now scored 44 runs in the opening frame.
- Rice is 7-5 this year in weekend series (4-2 at home, 3-3 on the road) and is 10-10 in series since David Pierce returned to South Main.
- The seven home runs in the first game were the most by the Owls in a game since they hit seven in a 26-17 win at UAB on 5/19/17.
- Rice came into the weekend not homering in the last six games and had hit a total of six in their last 17.
- Smith's 2-homer game was his second this season… He drove in four to increase his season total to 42, the most RBI by an Owl since Connor Walsh had 42 in 2023… The last Owls with more than 42 in a season were Andrew Dunlap (59) and Trei Cruz (44) in 2019.
- Smith has driven in 19 runs in his last 15 games.
- Daigre was 3x7 with four RBI, extending his career-best hitting streak to six games. He is 10x18 in his last six games (.555) after entering last weekend 3x18 this season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wiggins, Tanner (3-2)
L: Chase Ingram (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Kevin Hall Jr. 1 ; Brady Waugh 2 ; Andrew Hunt 1
HR: Alex Dupuy 1 ; Brady Waugh 1 ; Andrew Hunt 1
RBI: Kevin Hall Jr. 1 ; JP Head 1 ; Alex Dupuy 2 ; Brady Waugh 2 ; Andrew Hunt 3
SH: Austin Pierzynski 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kevin Hall Jr. 2 ; Alex Dupuy 2 ; Brady Waugh 3 ; Andrew Hunt 1 ; Wesley Helms 1
Batting:
2B: Davis, JC 2 ; Rios, Lorenzo 1
HR: Robson, Colin 1 ; Smith , Paul 2 ; Boehm, Garet 1 ; Davila , Landis 1 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 2
RBI: Green, Cole 1 ; Robson, Colin 2 ; Smith , Paul 3 ; Boehm, Garet 2 ; Davila , Landis 2 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 2 ; Davis, JC 3 ; Rios, Lorenzo 1
SH: Daigre, Zachary 1
SF: Smith , Paul 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Green, Cole 1 ; Robson, Colin 2 ; Smith , Paul 2 ; Boehm, Garet 2 ; Davila , Landis 2 ; Webb , Kutter-Gage 3 ; Daigre, Zachary 1 ; Davis, JC 2 ; Rios, Lorenzo 1
SB: Davila , Landis 1 ; Daigre, Zachary 1 ; Davis, JC 1
HBP: Robson, Colin 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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OF
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INF
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C
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OF
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RHP
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INF
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RHP
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