Rice Baseball fell behind in the first, but rallied for the midweek win against UT-Rio Grande Valley to improve to 13-9 on the season ahead of conference play.
The metallic ding of the bats had already begun to ring across Reckling Park by the time any late-arriving fans had taken their seats for a scoring-packed midweek tilt between Rice baseball and UT Rio Grande Valley. A beatdown by the Vaqueros had sparked a pivotal postgame reckoning for the Owls a season ago, yet Rice entered the bottom of the first inning already trailing 2-0.
This time, Rice punched back. Rice scored three in the first, two in the third, and two more in the fourth. Staked to a 7-3 lead, Rice would lean on its pitching staff the rest of the way.
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Starter Jeremiah Arnett recovered to hold UTRGV to three runs through three innings, handing the baton to Brayden Sharp and then Ethan Atchley, both of whom posted zeroes in a pair of frames apiece. Carson Kuhn handled the last two innings, also keeping the Vaqueros scoreless to secure the win.
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UTRGV hung 10 runs in their last inning at Reckling Park before putting up two runs in the first inning on Tuesday, putting Rice baseball in an early deficit. A year ago, that was nearly a death sentence. Rice won one game when trailing after the first inning last season. But it’s a new year on South Main.
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In 2026, Rice has already won twice when trailing after the first inning. Proving they can rally after being punched in the mouth. And when they do start hot, they’ve shown they can finish. Rice led UTRGV 3-2 after the first, their sixth win of the season in games they’ve led after the first frame. Rice had six such wins all of last season.