Rice Baseball slugged several home runs but still fell to Houston on the road as the Cougars took the Silver Glove Series.
Close games had become the norm for Rice baseball in the early days of the David Pierce era and Tuesday’s midweek tilt against crosstown rival Houston looked like it would follow a similar trend in the initial frames. Houston scratched across a single run in each of the first three innings off Rice starter Jackson Blank with the Owls scoring one run on a wild pitch in the third.
Houston led 3-1 after the third and began to pull away in the next few innings. The Cougars scored two in the fourth with Jack Ben-Shoshan on the mound and three more in the fifth against Von Baker. The bats hadn’t collected a hit yet, waiting until Aric Anderson opened the top of the sixth with a home run to break up five innings of no-hit ball from the Cougars.
Last Weekend: Rice baseball swept by Tulane
No-hitter averted, Rice would get a couple more home runs to pretty up the box score. Cole Green drove a pitch over the wall in the eighth. Blaine Brown followed with another shot to the left side to start the ninth and was joined a few batters later by Hiram Bocachica, who mashed the Owls’ fourth long ball of the night. It wouldn’t be enough to keep pace with the Cougars, though, who prevailed 10-7.
With the win, Houston clinches the Silver Glove series. The two teams will meet once more this season, next Tuesday following the Owls’ weekend series against South Florida.
What it means | Catcher platoon paying off
There was, understandably, much trepidation when longtime backstop Manny Garza entered the Transfer Portal this offseason, forcing the Owls to reckon with a different path forward at the catcher position. They added Lorenzo Rios from Northwestern from the portal, but it’s been their home-grown players who have proven to be the answer at the position.
Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start
Landon West leads the team in on-base percentage. Anderson has only made 12 game appearances, but is hitting .320 with two home runs and two doubles across his eight hits. Anderson played sparingly under Jose Cruz Jr, but has appeared in eight games since David Pierce took over the program, performing well.
The catching tandem has also gunned down 10 would-be base stealers and allowed just nine passed balls. The defense has been solid, and at times, superb. For a position that was a question mark entering the spring, this duo has answered the call.
Up Next: vs South Florida x3 (Fri-Sun)
