For Rice baseball, their first series win of the season was a big one, taking two of three from South Florida which entered the weekend atop the AAC standings.
FRIDAY | USF 14, Rice 3 (7 inn)
With Davion Hickson completing his suspension, JD McCracken drew the Friday night start for Rice baseball this week. He worked calmy through the first and the second inning before USF ambushed him with a three-run, four-hit third inning. He’d managed just one more out before being lifted in the fourth in favor of Garrett Stratton with the Owls trailing 4-1.
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Landon West had done his part to get Rice on the board with a solo home run in the second and proceeded to cut the deficit in half with a sac fly in the fourth. Stratton kept the Owls in the game, working into the seventh before surrendering a three-run home run to put Rice behind 7-2.
Treyton Rank got one back with a home run in the bottom of the frame before USF opened the floodgates in the eighth. Nolan Roycraft recorded one out and was charged with seven runs. Micah Davis gave up two of those, enough to push the Owls’ deficit to 11 and end the game via a run rule.
SATURDAY | Rice 15, USF 3 (7 inn)
Tucker Alch delivered 4.1 innings of no-hit baseball, leaving the game with a 4-0 advantage after hitting the first two South Florida batters to open the fifth. His relief came in the form of Davion Hickson, who collected the next two outs, albeit with USF scoring on an overthrown ball from catcher Aric Anderson on a stolen base attempt.
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Hickson would work through an uneventful top of the sixth before spending a lengthy time on the bench as he watched the Rice bats pile on seven more runs. Anderson, Graiden West, Colin Robson, Blaine Brown and Michael Zito had RBI in the inning, setting Rice up for a potential run-rule win. They’d earn that early ending with a walk-off grand slam from Brown.
SUNDAY | Rice 5, USF 2
Perhaps still reeling from Saturday’s shellacking, South Florida didn’t play clean baseball in the rubber game and Rice baseball took advantage of those miscues. Graiden West scored on an error in the second to put Rice in front, setting up another unearned run in the same frame. The Bulls got one back in the top of the third, but another error in the bottom half of the inning allowed Rice to add two more to its total.
On the mound, Jackson Blank worked through traffic to allow just two runs in four innings, giving way to Jack Ben-Shoshan in the fifth who would allow just two hits in his five innings of relief, stymying the USF offense. Neither side would score after the fifth as Ben-Shoshan slammed the door, earning the win and clinching the first series win for Rice baseball under head coach David Pierce.
THREE FOR THE ROAD
