Loss in 10th adds to Rice’s agonizing stretch
BILOXI, Miss. — Before the Conference USA tournament started, Rice coach Matt Bragga thought the Owls’ toughness would allow them to overcome having to endure three consecutive walk-off losses to Marshall last weekend. Make it four in a row. Rice allowed three runs in the ninth inning Wednesday to send the game to extra innings and then lost to Southern Mississippi 6-4 in the 10th on Matt Wallner’s home run.
The loss drops the seventh-seeded Owls (24-32) into an elimination game against Louisiana Tech at 9 a.m. Thursday. No. 2 seed Southern Miss (35-19) will meet Marshall in the winner’s bracket.
Rice led 4-1 entering the ninth as Matt Canterino gave the Owls a strong start, allowing one run in 61⁄3 innings. Garrett Gayle ran into trouble in the ninth as he gave up a two-run double and then brought home the tying run with a wild pitch.
Braden Comeaux had three hits and scored three runs and Trei Cruz drove in two runs to lead Rice’s attack.
SEC
Chris Weber’s exceptional start for Texas A&M was spoiled with Georgia prevailing 2-0 on a tworun home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Hoover, Ala.
The sixth-seeded Aggies (37-20-1) will now face Mississippi on Thursday morning in an elimination game.
Weber, a freshman from Boerne Champion High, didn’t allow a hit to the Bulldogs until the bottom of the eighth. He then was lifted for Joseph Menefee, who allowed the game-winning home run to Cam Shepherd an inning later.
Shepherd lifted the ball to left field, and A&M’s Cam Blake timed his jump perfectly at the wall. But the ball flew inches above Blake’s outstretched glove over the wall, and the celebration was on by the third-seeded Bulldogs.
The Aggies managed only two hits on Wednesday.
BIG 12
Taylor Floyd got topseeded Texas Tech out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth and the Red Raiders held off Kansas State 7-4 at Oklahoma City.
Josh Jung and Cameron Warren each had three hits for Texas Tech (37-15), which faces West Virginia on Thursday.
Texas Tech jumped ahead 5-1 after three innings and 7-4 after seven. The Wildcats (25-32) loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, but Floyd induced a groundout and struck out Chris Ceballos to close the game.
Micah Dallas (5-0) pitched five innings of five-hit ball to get the win, while Tech chased Jordan Wicks (6-3) after just three innings and five earned runs allowed.
Andy Thomas had two hits and knocked in three runs to help Baylor defeat Oklahoma 8-2.
Paul Dickens earned the win for second-seeded Baylor (34-15). He gave up six hits and had six strikeouts in 6 1⁄3 innings.
Tanner Tredaway and Brady Lindsly each had three hits for seventhseeded Oklahoma (33-22).
The Bears will meet third-seeded Oklahoma State on Thursday after the Cowboys beat TCU 5-2. The Horned Frogs and Sooners will play an elimination game.
Shea Langeliers hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and Thomas hit a two-run blast in the fourth to put Baylor up 4-0.
Baylor added three runs in the sixth, highlighted by RBI singles from Thomas and Nick Loftin.
Oklahoma State (33-17) broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Trevor Boone’s two-run homer.
TCU (29-25) managed only five hits, including Jake Guenther’s home run in the ninth
SOUTHLAND
Enrique Sanchez belted a two-run homer to give No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Sam Houston State at Sugar Land.
Sanchez was given a chance to hit in the seventh when a batter’s interference call was not made.
With Steve Rivera-Chijin running from first base, Cole Fluta struck out swinging for the second out and appeared to step over the plate and get in the way of catcher Jordan Cannon’s throw to second. A batter’s interference call would have resulted in the runner being call out, ending the inning.
Hayden Wesneski (8-4), the Bearkats’ ace, exited after giving up Sanchez’s home run, allowing seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 62⁄3 innings.
Outhit 7-3, Sam Houston failed to score in the last of the eighth after putting runners on second and third with one out. David Worrell (2-1), the last of six Islanders pitchers, ended the Bearkats’ threat and pitched two hitless innings for the win.
Leo Perez, the Islanders’ fourth pitcher, struck out Diego Davila swinging to end the sixth with the bases loaded.
With the loss, Sam Houston (31-24) plays in an elimination game at noon Thursday. A&M-Corpus Christi (31-24) plays at 7 p.m. Thursday.