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Houston tops Rice baseball, takes Silver Glover Series

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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)

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Rice Baseball swept at Tulane

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Rice baseball was able to manufacture more timely hits, but couldn’t get enough of them as the Owls were swept in three games on the road at Tulane.

FRIDAY | Tulane 7, Rice 5

Things were going just fine for Rice baseball starter Davion Hickson on Friday… until they weren’t. Hickson breezed through two innings before a leadoff home run to left greeted him in the third and Tulane proceeded to square him up much more often over the next two and a half innings.

Tulane led 3-0 entering the fifth before Rice responded in earnest, driving in four in the top of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead, courtesy of big hits from Hiram Bocachica and Michael Zito. The feeble lead was quickly erased by a Tulane grand slam in the bottom of the inning. Shortly thereafter, Hickson was ejected, forcing Jackson Blank into the game on little notice.

More: 59 Minutes — David Pierce Challenges Rice baseball to grow

Blank did all he could to give Rice a chance, turning in 3.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit to the 11 Tulane batters he faced. The Owls’ last-ditch effort in the ninth saw the would-be tying run get into scoring position with one out, but Rice would come up two runs short.

SATURDAY 1 | Tulane 10, Rice 3

Tucker Alch drew the start in the first game of the Saturday double-header and despite being staked to a 1-0 early lead on a Tobias Motley home run found himself working from behind following three runs from the home Green Wave across the next two frames. Alch got another dose of run support in the fifth on RBI hits from Blaine Brown and Jacob Devenney before allowing the leadoff man to reach and ceding the mound to Tom Vincent.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball swept by “three clean games” from ECU

Vince got out of the fifth unscathed but ran into trouble in the sixth and was quickly lifted for Garrett Stratton, who got roughed up a bit as well. Tulane was tally 10 runs against the Owls’ staff in the game, striking 20 hits to the Owls’ 10 base knocks.

SATURDAY 2 | Tulane 6, Rice 5

JD McCracken was competitive in the series finale, but still saw three runs charged to his ledger across 5.1 innings of work. He would depart the diamond with the lead, though, supported by a run scoring double from Aric Anderson in the fifth and two-run home run from Zito in the sixth, the latter followed soon after by a go-ahead single to center by Jacob Devenny three batters later.

Jack Ben-Shoshan entered the game in the sixth with the lead and got through the remainder of the inning and the next without issues before Tulane tied things up with a solo home run in the eight. For a moment, the Owls appeared to have landed a sufficient counterpunch with a go-ahead hit from Bocachica in the ninth, but Tulane walked it off with a two-out, two run shot over the right-field wall.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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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 drops 4-2 decision to Incarnate Word

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Rice Baseball came up two runs short, falling to Incarnate Word in a midweek bout, their final game managed by interim skipper Parker Bangs.

The final game under the management of Rice baseball interim head coach Parker Bangs got off to an inauspicious start with the visiting Incarnate Word Cardinals scoring two in the first off freshman opener Blaine Brown. Jack Ben-Shoshan entered and prevented further damage, giving the Owls a chance to get back in the game, which they did an inning later.

A groundout from Treyton Rank scored one before Max Johnson singled to right field, leveling the score at two runs, apiece. Things would were quickly for both teams in the third before Incarnate Word got Jackson Blank for for the go-ahead run in the fourth and added one more insurance run off Von Baker in the seventh.

More: Rice baseball hires David Pierce as head coach

Rice would have their chances, getting runners to second and third with one out in the seventh but failing to score. A leadoff walk in the ninth was spoiled by a double-play, followed by back-to-back singles. But even though Rice tallied 10 hits, they were limited to just the two runs, falling by a final score of 4-2.

What it means | Bring on the David Pierce era

Parker Bangs ends his time as skipper with a 2-3 record across four games. That’s not too shabby considering the 2-14 team he inherited and the whirlwind of stress and emotions that have surrounded the program this week. It’s what comes next that is most important, though, more specifically, who comes next.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

On Wednesday, former Rice baseball assistant David Pierce will be introduced as the Owls’ next head coach and get to work immediately. He’ll fly with the team to Boca Raton and coach the Owls for the first time on Friday night against FAU.

To say this season has been unusual would be an understatement, but both Pierce and these players hope their second act is one worth remembering. We’ll all find out whether or not that’s for the better soon enough.

ON DECK | vs Florida Atlantic x3 (Fri-Sun)

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