Rice baseball pummeled Prairie View A&M on Wednesday. The Owls improved their record to 3-4 entering the Shriner’s Classic this weekend.
There weren’t any runs scored in the first two innings from either side on Wednesday night. But when Rice baseball struck in the third with its first trickle of offensive success, the dam broke almost immediately. The deluge of runs that followed was swift and decisive.
Rice scored six in the third, headlined by a three-run home run by Bradley Gneiting. Rice added another run in the fifth, another in the sixth and two in the seventh. By the time the Owls and Panthers were on their way to the eighth inning all nine members of the Rice lineup had at least one hit and at least one run. Rice would go on to win by a final score of 10-0.
Things went almost as well for the Owls on the mound as they did in the batter’s box. Mitchell Holcomb rebounded from a pair of middle-of-the-road Friday night outings, posting 3.1 scoreless innings. He did allow four hits, but struck out five. A combination of Brandon Deskins, Alex DeLeon and Dillon Janac kept Prairie View at bay through the remainder of the contest.
What it means
The last time these two teams met, Rice routed Praire View A&M 25-5. The Owls are the more talented team in every respect and should be able to take care of business at home in these matchups. On Wednesday night, that’s exactly what they did. Raising some averages and dropping some ERAs and rebounding from a tough weekend sweep in the process was a bonus.
ON DECK | Shriner’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park
Rice baseball returns to Minute Maid Park this weekend for the Shriner’s College Classic. They’ll play three in-state foes: Sam Houston (Fri), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Sat), Texas State (Sun).
