Rice baseball won the opening game, but couldn’t score enough the rest of the way, dropping their opening series of conference play to South Florida.
FRIDAY | Rice 5, South Florida 4
Tanner Wiggins delivered another strong showing in his second start as a member of the rotation, delivering six innings of three-run ball, a quality start that left him in line for the win after he departed thanks to support from the Rice bats.
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South Florida took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third, but Rice would equalize in the next half inning with an RBI triple from Paul Smith, who came home on an RBI single from Garet Boehm soon after. A passed ball added to the Owls’ advantage in the fifth before Mason Ashlock added a crucial insurance run on a sixth-inning home run.
South Florida was able to score twice off Ethan Atchley, who finished the final three innings, but the Owls’ reliever was able procure a 1-2-3 ninth for a Friday night win and his second save of the season.
SATURDAY | South Florida 2, Rice 0
A shortened start from Ryland Urbanczyk on Saturday looked like it might leave Rice in a bit of a bind. He was lifted following consecutive leadoff walks in the second and third innings with the Owls turning to Brayden Sharp to escape a jam midway through the third. Not only did Sharp throw up a much-needed zero — Rice was trailing 1-0 at the time — but he pumped out an 11-strikeout performance in just five innings of relief.
Sharp was charged with one run, allowed by his replacement after he was relieved with one out in the eighth. Even that small deficit would prove insurmountable. Rice tallied just four hits and no runs, shutout in the second game of the series.
SUNDAY | South Florida 7, Rice 2
Rice baseball struck first in the series finale. A third-inning triple from Aric Anderson scored one. Then Anderson waltzed in on a sacrifice fly from Landis Davila to increase the Owls’ advantage to 2-0. It would be short-lived as South Florida equalized in the bottom of the frame, getting a pair of runs off Rice starter Ethan Sanders.
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Both sides swapped zeroes in the fourth before a leadoff walk, followed by a triple and a home run, which knocked Sanders from the game in the fifth. Ty Thames didn’t fare well in relief, allowing four hits and two runs in 1.1 innings before he was pulled in favor of Anthony Diaz, who settled things down. By then, it was too late and Rice trailed 7-2 after six. Neither side would add any runs beyond that, allowing South Florida to claim the series, two games to one.
THREE FOR THE ROAD
