Rice Baseball took a tied game into the ninth inning but couldn’t hold on, falling to Houston 4-3 and dropping the Silver Glove Series with one game to play.
Things weren’t looking good for Rice baseball when starting pitcher Ty Baker was removed following a run-scoring error and no outs in the second inning. Rice was trailing rival Houston 2-0 at the time, in danger of seeing the Silver Glove Series be clinched by the team across town if things were to continue on that dangerous path.
Instead, Marco Fuentes entered and, although he walked a batter to load the bases, proceeded to escape the jam without any damage courtesy of a strikeout and then an inning-ending double play. Given new life, the bats responded quickly, tying the game in the bottom of the inning thanks to RBI singles from Kutter-Gage Webb and Landis Davila.
Last Weekend: Rice Baseball Humbled by Memphis in Home Sweep
Houston went ahead on a solo home run in the fifth, but Rice answered two innings later, scoring the tying run on an infield single by Cole Green. That deadlock would endure from then until the ninth inning when the Cougars collected another solo shot, this one with two away in the ninth to take the lead for good.
The Owls threatened in the bottom half of the frame, getting the potential tying run into scoring position before Landon West came up a few feet short of a walk-off home run, instead flying out to left to end the game. Rice dropped the game and the series with one more meeting scheduled at Houston on May 12.
What it means | Resiliency Tested
What a difference a month can make. The last time these two teams met, Houston went ahead 2-0, then began the snowballing process, eventually run-ruling Rice 13-1 to take the first game of the three scheduled midweek contests.
More: With each Victory, Rice Baseball Revives Storied Past
That memory, alongside this past week’s depressing sweep at the hands of Memphis, might have sent a lesser team into a downward spiral. But rather than another run-rule result, Rice battled back and tied the game, twice.
“We fought. We fought to the end. Showed a little emotion,” head coach David Pierce said. This team has to learn to keep fighting til then end and I thought we did a great job of that. We just didn’t come up with the last hit.”
The offense still needs fixing — struggling again with JC Davis sidelined once again — but a resilient pitching staff and just enough juice from the bats was enough to keep this game competitive was a stark difference from the previous meeting between these two teams. Even in this recent skid, this team hasn’t quit.