Rice Baseball trailed Wichita State by one in the ninth inning of their American Conference Tournament matchup, rallying to win in walk-off fashion.
Tanner Wiggins powered through a quick one-two-three first inning as 3-Seed Rice Baseball began it’s first game in the American Conference Tournament against 7-Seed Wichita State. That would be the Owls’ last clean inning for a while as trouble started to mount soon afterward.
Wichita State opened the scoring with a run in the second inning, making use of a leadoff double. Rice had a quick retort ready, leveling the game with a single to left from Kutter Gage-Webb before taking the lead on a single up the middle from Lorenzo Rios.
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The Shockers wouldn’t trail for long. They evened things with a solo home run in the third before taking a lead and extending it when another leadoff double came around to score in the fourth. A throwing error gave them a 4-2 edge in the fifth.
Wiggins got the hook in the sixth, but rather than turning to its most established bullpen arms, head coach David Pierce asked the unlikely tandem of Carson Kuhn and Zach Fetchel to keep the Shockers at bay as the Owls’ offense sputtered to life.
That duo had combined to throw 18 total innings this season, but Pierce was encouraged by their recent outings and gave them a chance in a big moment.
“At this time of the year, you have some unsung heroes if you’re winning,” Pierce quipped.
Kuhn put up two zeroes with Rice getting a run on a two-out single from Webb in between his half innings. Fetchel matched Kuhn, recording six outs of his own with no further damage.
“It’s all hands on deck. That’s why they came to Florida with us,” Webb said, praising the crucial relief pitching. “They have a role and they played that to the best of their abilities today.”
Then, trailing by one in the bottom of the ninth, the Rice offense found its legs.
Webb quickly eased the tension with a solo shot from the leadoff spot, tying the game at 4-4. Consecutive singles put the potential winning run in scoring position. Then, on a bunt from Lorenzo Rios, Jacob Devenny came sprinting all the way home from second, aided by a throwing error from Wichita State that left his slide into the plate uncontested.
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The late rally represented the fourth time this season that Rice had trailed after eight innings but came back to win. Before their first such comeback on March 7 at Abilene Christian, the Owls had lost 89 consecutive games when trailing after eight. Facing a trip to the loser’s bracket, the Owls dug deep once again to earn their 12th one-run win of the season.
Pierce said Ethan Sanders will get the nod tomorrow against East Carolina, a challenging reward earned by Thursday’s thrilling win. Still, it’s a winner’s bracket game, which is significant in itself.
“I think it’s one of the most important things. It’s not the only way you can win, but if you can start out on the right foot,” Pierce said. I just think there’s a different vibe with the clubhouse and a different vibe with how you approach game two.