Rice baseball picked up its first home series sweep of the season, battling through the rain to take all three games against Houston Christian at Reckling Park.
It was all smiles at Reckling Park following a weekend sweep of a team from across town. Rice baseball moved to 8-11 on the season with conference play looming ahead. “All in all, it was an excellent weekend for us. We were challenging the guy on the offensive side to be more than they have been, get on the plate and create some more issues on the offensive side and they really did,” head coach Jose Cruz Jr said.
“They took it personally and they were swinging the bat. They were confident. They battled with two strikes. They got hits with guys on base. They had more stolen base attempts, executed bunts. All that was really good. That’s the kind of attitude that we just need to have moving forward.”
FRIDAY | Rice 10 – HCU 7
It became evident this would not be a pitcher’s duel when Rice ace Parker Smith was lifted after three innings that required 62 pitches to get through. The Owls were in front 4-3 when Smith departed, but ceded that advantage in the fifth inning when Smith’s relief, Tom Vincent, surrendered a pair of two-out RBI hits.
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Trailing 7-6, Rice went quietly in the sixth before getting something going in the seventh. The first three batters reached, setting up a bases-loaded situation with no outs. Two strikeouts later, the burden fell to Trey Duffield who delivered in style, mashing the two-out delivery over the left field fence for a grand slam. Vincent followed with a scoreless eighth before Davion Hickson stepped in for the ninth, earning his second save of the season.
SATURDAY | Rice 7 – HCU3
Rice were visitors in their home park after weather forced the Saturday contest, previously scheduled to be played at Houston Christian, back to South Main. They found themselves trailing after the first inning, giving up a pair to HCU via a pair of errors in the infield, before rallying back in the top of the second.
The Owls hung three on HCU starter Parker Edwards, who they’d knock out of the game early in the fourth. JD McCracken settled in quickly, working through five allowing just two earned runs as the bats continued to tack on runs, steadily increasing their advantage. Treyton Rank’s two-RBI double in the eighth left plenty of cushion for Tyler Hamilton, who earned the last six outs and his first save of the season.
SUNDAY | Rice 10 – HCU 6
There was no Rice deficit to be seen in the series finale. The Owls struck for two in the first inning before hitting around in the second, sending 11 to the plate in a seven-run outburst that gave the home team a commanding 9-0 lead entering the third. At that point, all Ryland Urbancyzk had to do was hold the line. He worked 4.2 innings in relief, handing the ball to Mauricio Rodriguez who earned the win.
Kyte McDonald, Jack Riedel and Nathan Becker all had three-hit games as Rice baseball unloaded the bench and was able to get a host of position players into the game in the later innings. HCU was eventually able to get a bit closer, threatening with bases loaded in the ninth, but Davion Hickson came in and shut the threat down quickly, earning the save and clinching the sweep.
THREE FOR THE ROAD
Rice baseball needed a weekend to get right and did just that against Houston Christian. Three straight wins, regardless of opponent, are a boon for morale. Here are three takeaways from the series:
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1. Left on Board
ON DECK | at UH (Tues), vs UH (Wed), vs Tulane (Fri-Sun)
