Rice stays alive with win over La. Tech
BILOXI, Miss. — Cade Edwards’ two-run double in the first inning got Rice off to a good start, and three Owls pitchers held Louisiana Tech to five hits in a 4-3 victory Thursday that eliminated the Bulldogs at the Conference USA baseball tournament.
Rice (25-30) will play Marshall, which lost to Southern Mississippi 10-5, in a 3 p.m. elimination game Friday.
Edwards, who also turned in back-to-back defensive gems at second base in the eighth inning, helped spark the seventhseeded Owls to a 4-1 lead after six innings. Edwards drove in two of Rice’s runs with a single and a double and scored a run.
Third-seeded Louisiana Tech (34-24) scored twice in the top of the seventh, but Dalton Wood came out of the bullpen to cover the final 21⁄3 innings for Rice. He struck out six and did not allow a baserunner.
Bulldogs starting pitcher David Leal (4-2) went the distance, allowing four runs on eight hits over eight innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
Owls lefthander Evan Kravetz (6-2) allowed a run on one hit over five innings, striking out five and walking four.
Louisiana Tech scored two runs on four hits off Rice reliever Jackson Parthasarthy before Wood came in to shut down the Bulldogs and earn his first save.
SOUTHEASTERN
Cole Zabowski’s two-out double in the ninth inning scored the game’s only run as Mississippi edged Texas A&M 1-0 in a Southeastern Conference elimination game at Hoover, Ala., despite going hitless for the first eight innings.
The seventh-seeded Rebels (35-24) advance to face No. 2 seed Arkansas, which lost to third-seeded Georgia 3-1.
The Aggies’ John Doxakis struck out 10 and walked four in eight innings of no-hit ball but left after throwing 99 pitches.
Thomas Dillard lined a leadoff single against reliever Bryce Miller (4-2) for Mississippi’s first hit. Dillard reached second on Chandler Jozwiak’s balk and then scored on Zabowski’s double.
The sixth-seeded Aggies (37-21-1) failed to score and wasted a brilliant pitching performance for the second consecutive day. Chris Weber held Georgia hitless for 71⁄3 innings of a 2-0 loss to Georgia on Wednesday.
BIG 12
Alek Manoah’s dominance on the mound helped fourth-seeded West Virginia beat No. 1 Texas Tech 5-1 in the Big 12 tournament at Oklahoma City.
Manoah, the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, gave up one run on four hits and struck out 10 in eight innings. He outdueled the Red Raiders’ Caleb Kilian, a first-team All-Big 12 selection.
The Mountaineers (3618) advance to Saturday’s semifinals and need one more victory to reach Sunday’s title game. Texas Tech (37-16) will play Kansas in an elimination game Friday.
In an elimination game, Josh Watson hit a grand slam in a tournamentrecord 14-run fourth inning as TCU routed Oklahoma 15-3 in seven innings.
The Horned Frogs (3025) advance to play the Baylor-Oklahoma State loser at 7 p.m. Friday.
Zach Humphries and Johnny Rizer also homered in the fourth. Eleven of the 18 Horned Frogs batters got hits during the inning.
Nathan Wiles (8-4) allowed nine runs in 31⁄3 innings for the Sooners (33-23).
In the first elimination game of the day, Brett Vosik had three hits and four RBIs as Kansas rallied for four runs in the bottom of the 11th inning to stun Kansas State 15-14.
James Cosentino drilled a two-out fly ball to the base of the center-field wall to knock in the winning run for the Jayhawks (32-25), who trailed 14-11 entering the 11th inning.
Chris Ceballos gave the Wildcats (25-33) a 12-11 lead with an RBI single, and Dylan Phillips followed with a two-run double into the gap.
SOUTHLAND
Michael Garza’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Incarnate Word to a 3-2 victory over Sam Houston State in a Southland Conference tournament elimination game at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.
Garza’s hit drove in Shea Gutierrez, who opened the inning with a single and stole second.
The top-seeded Bearkats (31-25) trailed 2-1 until they rallied to tie it in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by senior Hunter Hearn and sophomore Jack Rogers.