Rice hammers Herd, 18-0, in seven

Owls advance to Saturday’s championship game against Southern Miss

Less than 24 hours after using an 11-run first inning to spark a 24-3 blowout victory of cross-town rival Houston, No. 20 Rice plated 11 second inning runs and mauled Marshall, 18-0, in seven innings on Friday afternoon.

With the win, the Owls (38-20) advance to play Southern Miss in Saturday’s CUSA Tournament Championship Game. Rice is 3-0 in the newly formatted event and has hammered its three opponents—East Carolina, Houston and Marshall—by a tally of 53-6.

Michael Ratterree started the second inning with a walk. Following a Jimmy Comerota single and Michael Fuda sacrifice turned single, Steven Sultzbaugh slugged a grand slam to left and it was 4-0 Rice. The Owls would go on to plate seven more runs on five additional hits in the frame.

Rice ran its lead to 16-0 in the third when it scored five on the strength of two-run blasts by Jimmy Comerota and Chad Mozingo.

The Owls scored their final two runs in the fifth when Steven Sultzbaugh and Chad Mozingo delivered their second homers of the ballgame.

Jared Rogers (8-1) allowed just five hits in the seven-inning, complete game shutout.

In the game, Rice pounded out 19 hits against six different Marshall pitchers. Starter Mike Mason (3-7), who allowed six runs—all earned—on seven hits in the second inning, took the loss.

The Herd heads home to Huntington after ending its season at 27-31.