Rice Baseball kept it close, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Houston as the Cougars swept the 2024 Silver Glove Series.
Houston struck first at Schroeder Park on Wednesday night, taking a 1-0 lead over Rice baseball in the first inning in the final game of the Silver Glove Series. The Cougars had already secured the series win but were hunting for a sweep. It wouldn’t come easy, though.
Rice quickly responded. Ben Dukes evened the score in the second inning and Manny Garza put the Owls in front, grounding out in the third inning but getting the go-ahead run across in the process.
Last Time Out: Rice Baseball swept by Wichita State
A solo home run from the Cougars leveled the score in the fourth, but as the game passed the midway point, the Rice pitching tandem of Tucker Alch and Ryland Urbancyzk had managed to wade through traffic on the base paths and keep the visitors in the game.
Robert Fernandez was less fortunate, he gave up a pair of runs in the fifth and was charged with the loss after Rice was unable to complete a rally from the 4-2 deficit. They got one back in the sixth on an RBI single from Tobias Motley, but that would be all.
What it means | Stacking sweeps
If you count the midweek trio of games against Houston as a series, Rice has now been swept in two of their last three series, also falling in straight games against Wichita State this past weekend. Add sweeps at the hands of Notre Dame and Stanford and Rice baseball has been swept in four of eight three or four game series this season. They have two series wins in eight tries.
It’s baseball. Winning every game was never going to happen. Even the best teams can’t achieve that. But avoiding sweeps should be the norm, regardless of the opponent, and that’s something Rice hasn’t done this season. There’s no better time to right the ship than the present with a crucial conference tilt against Memphis looming net.
ON DECK | vs Memphis (Fri-Sun)
