Rice Baseball won its 32nd, 33rd and 34th game this weekend, sweeping Tulane in three straight to double the Owls’ win total from a season ago.
THURSDAY | Rice 12, Tulane 0
It didn’t take big swings, just deliberate ones, for Rice baseball to open up an early lead in the series opener against Tulane on Thursday night. The first run scored following a throwing error forced by a well-placed bunt single from three-hole hitter JC Davis. The Owls would add two more in the inning, handing starter Tanner Wiggins a 3-0 lead, which would stretch quickly.
Last Time Out: Rice Baseball Takes First Series at ECU since 2013
Rice got one in the third, breaking things open with four runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth, capped off by a two-run blast over the left field wall from Paul Smith, his fourth hit and fourth RBI of the night. In front 12-0, all Wiggins had to do was record six more outs, which he did without further incident, earning the Owls’ first complete game of the season with a seven-inning, run-rule result.
FRIDAY | Rice 10, Tulane 6
Tulane got on the board first on Saturday, but Rice wouldn’t trail for long, knocking Tulane’s starter out of the game in the second inning. The Owls scored four times, leaving the bases loaded. After a scoreless third for the Green Wave, both sides picked up the pace, scoring at least one run in the six subsequent half-innings.
Ty Thames took over from Ethan Sanders after the fourth, with both men tossing four innings of three-run ball, only half of which were earned runs. Thames shepherded an 8-5 lead into the eighth, where Tulane managed to score once and get the tying run to the plate before Thames collected a final, crucial strikeout. Two insurance runs later, Brayden Sharp tossed a one-two-three ninth to secure the series win.
SATURDAY | Rice 6, Tulane 5 (11 inn.)
After plenty of offense in the first two games of the weekend, runs were at a premium in the final game of the regular season. Tulane’s Jason Wachs took Ryland Urbanczyk deep in the third inning, giving the Green Wave a 2-0 lead which would persist until Rice got on the board off a misplayed ball in the outfield, narrowing the margin to 2-1 heading to the eighth.
The tandem of Urbanczyk and Anthony Diaz held Tulane to five hits before free passes got the Owls into trouble in the ninth. Diaz hit two batters, giving way to Sharp, who walked two, giving the Green Wave an insurance run. Ethan Atchley was summoned next, and he procured the final out on two pitches.
More: With Each Victory, Rice Baseball Revives Storied Past
Down to their final out, Hiram Bocachica came through with a clutch two-out RBI single to level the score and force extra innings. The teams swapped two-run frames in the 10th before Rice loaded the bases in the 11th, winning on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Aric Anderson.
THREE FOR THE ROAD
