Rice baseball overcame an early deficit but couldn’t keep up with the Lamar bats, falling to the Cardinals on Tuesday night at Reckling Park.
The situation looked dire on Tuesday night when Rice baseball found itself in a 4-0 hole against the visiting Lamar Cardinals as starter Tucker Alch labored through the early innings. The bats would come to his rescue, getting all four runs back in the bottom of the second and putting Rice in front with a two-spot in the fourth.
By the time Alch left the contest, he was in line for the win. Expectations had to be measured, though, as Alch handed the ball off to Garrett Stratton in the top of the fifth with two on and none out, clinging to a one-run advantage.
Last Time Out: Rice Baseball winless at Astros College Classic
Not only did that advantage go up in smoke, but the Owls’ lead would never materialize again. After jumping in front by two, Lamar would score the last seven runs of the game, battering a beleaguered Rice bullpen and sending the Owls to a fifth consecutive loss
What it means | Youth Movement
The lineup has continued to skew younger and younger as the Owls’ season has progressed and that youth movement doesn’t seem to be going away. In just his second game in the leadoff spot, Hiram Bocachica went 3-for-6 with 2 RBI. Fellow freshman Michael Zito and Cole Green each scored two runs with Zito adding a three-hit game, too.
Although he’s not a freshman, Tobias Motley became the only Rice player this season to leave the yard multiple times, getting the Owls on the board with a solo shot in the second inning. Fellow sophomore Landon West walked twice. Blaine Brown got into the action later on, picking up a pair of hits, one of them a double.
More: 2025 Rice Baseball Season Preview
In a season full of more bad news than Rice baseball fans would have hoped, the younger players have been the bright spot. Watching them develop and progress has the potential to be one of the defining throughlines of the season.
ON DECK | vs Houston (Wed), vs Yale (Fri-Sun)
