HOUSTON, Texas – HCU closed out the three-game series against Rice losing, 7-6, in a nail bitter at Reckling Park.
The Huskies (1-13) were led by freshman leftfielder
Trent Baker going 2-for-4 with a homerun, a double, and two RBIs. Senior second baseman
Diego Davila went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run. Freshman center fielder
Trent Baker went 2-for-3 with three runs and two walks. Junior centerfielder
Samuel Benjamin added a homerun, two RBIs, a walk, and a stolen base while redshirt junior first baseman
Reed Chumley had a two RBI, double, with a run.
Junior righthander
Zach Ryan (0-1) took the loss, giving up one earned run, on three walks and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of relief for HCU. Senior righthander
Will Ripoll pitched five innings to start the game, recording one earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts.
HCU got off to a hot start in the top of the second inning when
Reed Chumley doubled off the center field wall scoring
Logan Letney and
Diego Davila followed by a
Trent Baker homerun to left center field scoring Chumley to give the Huskies a, 4-0, lead. The Huskies added two runs in the seventh inning after
Samuel Benjamin hit a two run blast to left field to tie the game at 6-6.
The Owls (8-8) were led by Connor Walsh going 2-for-3 with a double, a run, and two walks, while Drew Holderbach went 2-for-5 with a double and a run. Jack Riedel was 1-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs, and two walks.
Jack Ben-Shoshan (1-0) earned his first win of the season pitching two shutout innings of relief allowing one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts. Cristian Cienfuegos earned his second save of the season pitching one inning of relief striking out two batters.
Rice was held scoreless through five innings before posting six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning starting with a Jack Riedel single up the middle scoring Connor Walsh and Drew Holderbach. The Owls tacked on two more runs when Ben Royo singled down the left field line scoring Manny Garza and Jack Riedel to tie the game at four a piece. Guy Garibuy Jr. gave Rice the lead after singling through the right side scoring Ben Royo and Max Johnson. The Owls final run came in the bottom of the seventh inning after HCU walked the bases loaded, Cristian Salazar was hit-by-pitch to score Jack Reidel and take a late, 7-6, lead.
The Huskies hit the road to face former conference opponent Sam Houston State in a midweek matchup on Tuesday, March 14
th in Huntsville, Tx at Don Sanders Stadium at 1 p.m.