Rice baseball road a pair of young arms and an explosive seventh inning rally from the bats to a midweek win against Lamar on Tuesday.
Making his first career start, Garrett Stratton tossed a scoreless first inning before falling behind in the second on a sacrifice fly. The deficit wouldn’t last for long, though, with Paul Smith tying the game in the bottom half of the inning and Connor Walsh putting Rice in front in the third.
Leading 2-1, head coach Jose Cruz Jr. turned to Ryland Urbanczyk who delivered a masterful four-inning, two-hit performance to keep Lamar off the scoreboard. His replacement, Cristian Cienfuegos, was not as fortunate, allowing the visitors to tie the game in the top of the event before Krishna Raj came in to stem the bleeding.
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Locked at three runs apiece, Rice loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning. Guy Garibay walked to put Rice in front. Two batters later, Walsh singled in two more. It was Jack Riedel who delivered the extra cherry on top, taking home on a double steal to put Rice in front 7-3, the game’s final score.
What it means | The future on the mound?
Garrett Stratton and Ryalnd Urbanczyk were two of the most heralded freshman additions to the pitching staff this offseason. Injuries cost Stratton time early in the season and Urbanczyk was limited to just five appearances coming into Tuesday night. That tandem produced one of the better piggyback midweek performances the Owls have had in a game this season.
The pitching staff has been an adventure at times behind Parker Smith. Stratton and Urbanczyk might not be able to become firemen out of the pen quite yet this season, but the future is bright. Tuesday was just a glimpse.
ON DECK | vs LA Tech (Thr-Sat)
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