Rice Baseball took a lead into the ninth inning but couldn’t close things out, dropping a midweek contest to Houston Christian on Tuesday.
It looked as if Rice baseball starter Jeremiah Arnett was going to cruise through the Houston Christian lineup after dispatching the first two batters he faced on four pitches. A double and subsequent two-out single dashed those plans, but things were still looking promising after the end of the inning thanks to an outburst from the Owls’ bats.
Rice struck for four in the bottom of the frame on RBI from Michael Zito, Kutter-Gage Webb and Mason Ashlock (two). Those good vibes lasted a matter of minutes. Houston Christian reclaimed the lead with one big swing, a grand slam, cashing in a misplayed bunt by Arnett to go back in front, 5-4.
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Each pitching staff played with fire in the middle innings, battling through busy base paths to throw up zeroes for the next few innings, daring the other team to break through. Rice finally did, loading the bases on three walks before JC Davis delivered a grand slam of his own, slingshotting the home team back in front.
Houston Christian got a few runs back in the eighth before tying things in the ninth on a wild pitch, made possible by a misplayed foul ball that could have ended the game. The mishap would prove costly as Rice failed to score in the bottom of the inning, eventually losing 11-8 in 11 innings.
What it means | Missed Opportunities
Rice entered Tuesday 0-2 when their opponent scores first and on multiple occasions, looked to be on their way to picking up their first come-from-behind win of the season. Instead, they’re 0-3 in such circumstances and 3-6 overall this season.
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This offseason, head coach David Pierce talked about building a program that didn’t give games away. When you give up a grand slam in the second inning, it’s usually not your night, but this team showed itself to be resilient enough to battle out of that hole. They just weren’t able to finish.
It’s not just the missed foul ball. Between the wild pitches and passed balls, the 11 runs allowed and the runners left on base, there’s going to be a lot of teaching tape from this game. It would have been much more pleasant to review with a win.