Rice Baseball took both halves of an Opening Day double header, securing a series win against Northwestern despite a bumpy finish on Sunday.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON | Rice 7, Northwestern 6
The first full Rice baseball season under head coach David Pierce got started with a bang. First, starter Brayden Sharp struck out three in his Rice debut. Then he watched as his teammate Colin Robson capped off a 13-pitch at-bat with a home run and fellow Owl JC Davis provided an encore blast.
More: 2026 Rice Baseball Season Preview
After falling behind 3-2, Rice would slug two more home runs — one apiece from Paul Smith and Kutter-Gage Webb — with an RBI single to pull ahead 7-3. Then it was time to hold on. Freshman Ethan Sanders came on in relief, who completed the final 3.2 innings, including an efficient 1-2-3 ninth inning to slam the door and procure the Owls’ first win in a season opener since 2018.
FRIDAY EVENING | Rice 3, Northwestern 2
The nightcap was much lower scoring than the game before it. Both sides were held scoreless through the first five innings with Ryland Urbanczyk handing off to Ty Thames, who fell victim to a hooking drive down the right field line that snuck over the fence to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead in the sixth.
After knocking the Northwestern starter out of the game, Rice seized its opportunity in the eighth. Colin Robson cashed in a leadoff walk when he came around to score on a screeching line drive off the glove of the second baseman. Then Webb added some insurance with a single to right field to score two. Northwestern got one back in the ninth on a balk, but couldn’t equalize.
SUNDAY | Northwestern 17, Rice 6
It was a rocky debut from Rice starter Anthony Diaz in the series finale. Diaz procured four outs, allowing six runs before the Owls turned to the bullpen, which did not fair much better. Every reliever that followed allowed at least one run with all three who worked at least one inning surrendering three or more, ceding 17 runs to the visitors.
A blowout was far from guaranteed, though. Even though Rice trailed by seven after the top of the second, the Owls rallied for five runs in the bottom of the frame, capped off by a two-run shot from JC Davis. It wouldn’t be nearly enough though as the offense managed just one run after that, leading to the run-rule result
THREE FOR THE ROAD
