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Rice Baseball rockets past Sam Houston to sweep season series

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Hitless through five, the Rice Baseball bats caught fire late, pulling away from Sam Houston late to sweep the season series two games to none.

A walk, stolen base and a Sam Houston error put Rice baseball in the driver’s seat in their rematch with the Bearkats on Tuesday night. The Owls were able to plate two runs in the first inning, taking advantage of Sam Houston mistakes and putting some pressure on their hosts in the early goings.

Staked to a 2-0 lead, Jackson Blank turned in 4.1 clean innings of work, weaving through three walks and three hits, but keeping Sam Houston off the scoreboard. Neither team would interfere with that meager two run Rice advantage until Max Johnson opened the sixth inning with a home run, which oddly enough was the Owls’ first hit of the game.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball swept by East Carolina despite strong pitching performances

Once Johnson broke the seal, his teammates followed. Hiram Bocachica walked in the next at bat, passing the baton to Blaine Brown, who lifted the first pitch he saw over the fence in right center field. Suddenly, it was 5-0 and the Owls were in control.

Rice reliever Marco Fuentes was tagged for one run before Jack Ben-Shoshan ended the next two innings with punchouts — two of a career-high nine strikeouts on the night — to keep Sam Houston at arm’s length until three insurance runs in the eighth, aided by more Sam Houston mishaps, gave Rice a commanding 8-1 lead, which they’d pad further in the ninth.

What it means | Ready to hit late

Having a lead certainly helped, but the fight showcased by this team in the late innings on Tuesday was crucial. Hitless through five innings, a quiet final four frames wouldn’t have been shocking. The team could have chalked things up to another “not their night” at the plate and looked ahead to UTRGV.

Instead, they got their best sequence of plate approaches of the evening and built up much needed margin for a bullpen still working through its own challenges. From that point onward, it was Sam Houston playing timid, not Rice.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Colin Robson reached on what should have been a routine ground ball in the eight and Trey Duffield made the Bearkats pay with an RBI single, padding the lead. These are the sort of avalanche-type moments Rice baseball has been searching for and might finally be on the cusp of finding.

Up Next: at Sam Houston (Tues), vs UTRGV (Wed), at Tulane x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball swept by “three clean games” from East Carolina

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Rice baseball dropped three close games to East Carolina over the weekend, making progress while still making it clear this team has a ways to go.

FRIDAY | ECU 4, Rice 2

Davion Hickson set the tone on Friday night, reaching season-highs in innings (eight), pitches (121) and strikeouts (9), battling against ECU. He allowed four runs, three earned, and while not a perfect night, the length was instrumental in limiting the Owls’ bullpen exposure for the remainder of the weekend.

More: Why Wait? David Pierce hired as Rice baseball head coach

Hickson’s lone run support came in the fifth inning via a two-run home run from Blaine Brown, turning a 4-0 deficit into a more manageable two run game. That margin would stay at two, though, with Rice producing just one more base runner for the remainder of the game, unable to do further damage against ECU starter Ethan Norby or his relief, Brad Pruett.

SATURDAY | ECU 5, Rice 3 (11 inn)

Rice baseball had every chance to even the series on Saturday, opening the game with two runs in the first inning to support JD McCracken, who turned in a marvelous outing. McCracken kept ECU off the board until the eighth, but still left the game as the pitcher of record in line for the win. McCracken had reached that place thanks in part to a crucial sac fly from Blaine Brown in the seventh, the difference in the score to that point.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball takes one of three from FAU in Pierce’s AAC debut

Unfortunately, the bullpen could not close things out as ECU tied the game off Jack Ben-Shoshan in the ninth. Rice got the winning run into scoring position with one out in the bottom of the inning, but couldn’t bring him around. ECU would take the game with two runs in the 11th, their first lead of the game.

SUNDAY | ECU 8, Rice 5

It was death by paper cut in the early innings for Rice in the series finale. ECU leaned on bunts and singles to cobble together a 3-0 lead through three, not delivering an extra-base hit until a double that made it 5-0 in the fourth. All of those runs were charged to Rice starter Tucker Alch.

On the brink of falling out of the game, head coach David Pierce turned to pinch hitter Jacob Devenny with two outs and two men on in the fourth. Devenny responded with a three-run shot down the right field line to get the Owls back within two.

Both teams traded runs in the fifth before ECU tacked on two more in the seventh, leaving Rice in a three-run hole by the time the bottom of the ninth arrived. Rice would load the bases for Michael Zito who drove a ball to right center field but saw it fall harmlessly into the glove of an ECU outfielder to end the game.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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Rice Baseball surges past Texas Southern

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A close game in the early innings tilted heavily in favor of Rice Baseball late as the Owls scored eight in the final four innings to beat Texas Southern.

Reed Gallant set the tone for Rice baseball on Wednesday night, battling through 4.1 innings before a two-run RBI single forced him from the game. His ability to navigate through eight hits while allowing just two runs was instrumental to the Owls’ chances. Case in point, by the time he turned the ball over to Garret Stratton, his teammate had already built a four-run cushion.

Those four early runs came in two pairs, each via two-out hits in successive innings. Landon West got things started by scooping a double to shallow left center field that just slipped under the glove of a diving outfielder to plate two in the third. Blaine Brown followed with a single through the left side of the infield in the fourth, stretching the Owls’ advantage from 2-0 to 4-0.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball takes one from FAU in David Pierce’s first series

After knocking Gallant out in the fifth and getting two runs back, Texas Southern nearly leveled the score in the sixth, loading the bases and scoring once off Von Baker, who loaded the bases with one out. The defense came to his rescue with Max Johnson rifling a grounder to Aric Anderson at home to turn an inning-ending 5-2 double play to preserve the Owls’ lead. That was one of several superb defensive moments from Rice.

A double from Cole Green and a groundout from Trey Duffield put Rice back in front by four and that’s as close as Texas Southern would get for the rest of the night. The Owls scored three in the sixth and five in the seventh, turning a close game into a much-needed, one-sided home win.

What They’re Saying

What it means | Off the mat

The overall record isn’t going to look pretty this season, but that’s to be expected after Rice baseball bottomed out at 2-16, making a coaching change in the process. However, Rice is 4-4 over their last eight, their first stretch of .500 baseball since winning two of three in their initial homestand of the season, with wins over Sam Houston and USC.

David Pierce was hired to quell the storm and make this team respectable again. But even though eyes have, understandably, already begun to peek ahead at next season, his impact on this current roster cannot be understated. Those around the program have commented on the team’s renewed energy and passion and the results are starting to speak for themselves.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Pierce is now officially 2-3 as the Owls’ manager. That’s in a week’s worth of baseball with a team he didn’t build and is only now beginning to understand. Nevertheless, it’s better than where the Owls have been and if this recent stretch is any indication, it means Rice baseball will be competitive this season after all. Given how rocky the start of the year was, that’s a win in itself.

ON DECK | vs ECU x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball clipped by Lamar in narrow defeat

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Rice Baseball drops one-run game against Lamar despite a continued resurgence on the mound.

Runs were at a premium on Tuesday evening in Beaumont, TX as Rice baseball battled Lamar in a razor-close game for nine innings. Jackson Blank drew the start and went four innings, limiting the Cardinals to just four hits while striking out five.

The Owls fell behind in the second when Lamar tagged Jackson Blank with a two-out, two-RBI double to pull ahead. That margin would hold for some time before Rice got one run back via a two-out triple from Trey Duffield, which drove in Cole Green to cut the Owls’ deficit in half.

More: Rice baseball hires David Pierce as head coach

Rice had some big swings in this one, but the Duffield triple was the only one put to good use. The Owls were unable to capitalize on earlier doubles from Blaine Brown and Michael Zito.

The Rice pitching kept them within striking distance, but Rice went down quickly in the eighth and once again in the ninth, dropping the midweek bout by a final score of 2-1.

What it means | In Arms We Trust

The advance of the Owls’ pitching since Jose Cruz was relieved of his duties roughly two weeks ago has been a sight to behold. Rice pitching allowed 9.31 runs per game across those first 16 contests, serving as batting practice for the vast majority of their foes and posing little threat to anyone on the mound, regardless of the caliber of opponent.

Since Parker Bangs became the interim and, presumably, was given similar latitudes to manage the staff by new head coach David Pierce, the pitching staff hasn’t just gotten better, it’s improved by leaps and bounds.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Rice allowed 9.31 runs per game through their first 16 games. In nine games since, including Tuesday against Lamar, Rice has allowed 4.22 runs per game, a 50 percent reduction. Rice hasn’t allowed double-figures once over that span. They did so six games in a row during their prolonged losing streak.

The bats haven’t seen the same degree of resurgence. Until they do, Rice baseball will have to rely on their arms, something that seems more plausible now than it did a few weeks previously.

ON DECK | vs Texas Southern (Wed), vs ECU x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball wins one of three in David Pierce debut at FAU

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Rice baseball picked up its first AAC win of the season but dropped the series on the road to Florida Atlantic in the first games under new head coach David Pierce.

FRIDAY | FAU 9, Rice 3

A solo home run from Blaine Brown got Rice baseball on the board first, turning the ball over to starter Davion Hickson, who was coming off two weeks of rest. Hickson put together one of his better outings of the season, but still got himself on the hook for four runs (three earned) across 5.1 innings pitched.

More: Why Wait? David Pierce hired as Rice baseball head coach

He left trailing 3-1 and watched from the dugout as his relief, Marco Fuentes, gave up a two-run home run to put Rice in an even further hole. FAU would tack on another run in the seventh and three more in the eight to run away with the opening game by the final score of 9-3.

SATURDAY | Rice 3, FAU 1

Florida Atlantic struck first in the second game, going ahead of the visiting Owls 1-0 on an RBI single in the second inning against Rice starter JD McCracken. That would prove to be one the only productive innings FAU would have against McCracken, who tossed six innings of one-run ball, limiting FAU to just five hits while striking out three.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball splits weekend series with Houston Christian

While McCracken did his work on the mound, Rice made the most of some opportunistic hitting, scoring a pair of runs on a two-out single from Hiram Bocachica in the fifth before Bocachica added an insurance run in the seventh, driving in one more run to account for all three of the Owls’ RBI on the afternoon. That would prove to be enough for Rice to notch their first win under new head coach David Pierce.

SUNDAY | FAU 6, Rice 4

Rice struck first in the rubber game, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Tobias Motley in the fourth inning. FAU would even the score in the bottom of the inning, picking up a run against Tucker Alch, who would only be charged for two runs through five innings of work that afternoon.

FAU went in front momentarily in the sixth on an RBI double down the left field line but Trey Duffield answered with a massive one-out 2 RBI single to catapult Rice back in front in the top of the seventh inning. The back-and-forth would not stop there, though, FAU launched a three-run bomb to retake the lead, 6-3.

Rice would get the trying run to the plate in the ninth, but only managed to get one run across, dropping the game and the series.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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