Rice baseball recap: #3 Owls broom Blazers

Rice continued its dominance in C-USA play with a weekend sweep of UAB. The Owls now stand at 16-2 in the conference.

Rice @ UAB – Game 1

The Owls cruised to an easy win in the series opener thanks to strong production at the plate and solid work on the mound by starter Matt Langwell. The junior right-hander scattered nine hits over seven innings and only allowed two runs. Though he only struck out one batter, Langwell was still able to be effective by not allowing UAB to string together multiple hits.

Offensively it was business as usual as Rice pounded out 16 hits off of Blazer pitching. Right fielder Jared Gayhart led the way with a perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate, driving in a pair of runs. Gayhart was one of five Owls to hit a double in the game. The Owls weren’t explosive with the bats, but they were consistent, scoring between one and three runs in five innings. They were already up 8-0 before UAB was able to score their only two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Rice @ UAB – Game 2

Youth on the mound was the story in Saturday’s game. UAB was held to just two hits as Rice rolled to a 7-1 win and clinched the weekend series. The players responsible were freshman Ryan Berry and Mike Ojala. Berry went 7.2 innings, striking out five, and allowing just one run on two hits, improving to 7-2 on the year. Ojala was perfect for the last 1.1 innings; it was his eighth appearance of the year, all of which have been in relief.

The Owls failed to flex their muscles at the plate for the first time in a while, only knocking one extra base hit. That didn’t stop Rice from scoring though, as six players drove in runs, including Jared Gayhart who picked up two RBIs as a pinch hitter.

Rice @ UAB – Game 3

Rice completed the sweep of UAB on Sunday with a 6-3 win, running their winning streak to ten games. The Owls plated four runs in the first inning thanks to a couple of walks and back-to-back doubles from Joe Savery and Jess Buenger. Savery and Buenger would be responsible for all five Rice RBIs; the team’s sixth run was due to an error.

Savery also took care of business on the mound, pitching six strong innings allowing just one run and improving to 6-1 on the season. Junior Bobby Bramhall threw 2.2 very impressive innings of relief, allowing just one run and striking out five batters.

Up Next
The Owls are at home the rest of the way, but have the week off. Their next game is May 9 th against out of conference opponent Texas State.