Rice Baseball took two out of three from league-leading UTSA, securing their third straight conference win to get back in the mix in the AAC.
FRIDAY | Rice 9 – UTSA 8 (10 innings)
Things were looking up when Tobias Motley and Ben Dukes each delivered two-run home runs in the second inning on Friday night, putting the Owls up 4-1 with Parker Smith on the mound. Smith would run into some trouble in the fourth, but leave the game in the sixth inning having staked Rice to a 7-3 advantage.
Last Time Out: Rice Baseball sweeps USF
Tom Vincent and Davion Hickson got Rice to the ninth inning with a three-run lead, but Hickson suffered a rare blown save, allowing UTSA to tie the game in the top of the ninth. Garrett Stratton would come to the rescue, getting out of the ninth without allowing the Owls to fall behind and setting up a walk-off win. Motley led off the inning with a triple and scored on a squeeze bunt by Jacob Devenny.
SQUEEZE!!! WALK IT OFF!!!#GoOwls👐 pic.twitter.com/rC3fr7irr9
— Rice Baseball (@RiceBaseball) April 27, 2024
SATURDAY | Rice 9 – UTSA 3
It was all Owls from the jump on Saturday. Rice loaded the bases with two outs in the first then picked up a pair of clutch hits: a bases-clearing RBI single from Nathan Becker to go up 3-0 and then a two-run home run from Trey Duffield.
First-inning fireworks courtesy of Trey Duffield 🎆 pic.twitter.com/rdp9Tulg7I
— Rice Baseball (@RiceBaseball) April 27, 2024
As if that wasn’t enough, Rice followed that up with three runs in the second, taking advantage of errant UTSA pitching and an RBI single from Pierce Gallo to go up 8-0 midway through the second.
Handed a commanding lead, JD McCracken bore down and tossed another gem. He made it all the way to the ninth inning before being lifted for Jackson Blank, who picked up the final two outs.
SUNDAY | UTSA 4 – Rice 2
Seemingly out of nowhere, a pitcher’s duel broke out in the series finale. Rice’s Tucker Alch squared off with UTSA’s Ulises Quiroga for the better part of six innings with neither man ceding much to his opposition. Ben Dukes was able to sneak a two-run home run just inside the right-field foul pole in the third, but that was the only score either starter yielded on the day.
More: Jose Cruz Jr. and the trajectory of Rice Baseball
Rice maintained a slim 2-0 lead from that point onward, keeping the game in check until UTSA broke through with a four-run rally in the top of the eighth. The Roadrunners struck six hits in the frame, including a go-ahead two-run home run off Garrett Stratton. That would prove to be the deciding swing.
THREE FOR THE ROAD
Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
1. Loud and clear
ON DECK | at Lamar (Tues), at Charlotte (Fri-Sun)
