Owls swept at home by Stanford
Rice put itself in good position to get a win on Sunday afternoon.
The Owls showed patience at the plate. They received a scoreless and hitless 3 1/3-inning relief effort by Davion Hickson. The team even out-hit Stanford. And Max Johnson showed signs of breaking out of a seasonlong hitting slump.
It still was not enough for the Owls. The Cardinal made the most of its five hits.
Malcolm Moore drove in three runs on a two-run home run and run-scoring double, lifting Stanford to a 4-3 victory over Rice, completing a sweep at Reckling Park.
The Owls never held a lead in any of the three games against the Cardinal of the Pac 12.
“The fight in the guys was good,” Rice coach Jose Cruz Jr. said. “We competed well on the mound. Good enough offensively, just not good enough to get it done.”
Rice left the bases loaded in the eighth and could not bring in a run after getting within 4-3 in the fifth. The Owls stranded 10 base runners. Stanford’s bullpen did a good job of shutting Rice down, not yielding a hit over the final three innings.
Treyton Rank and Nathan Becker collected two hits each for the Owls, who totaled seven. Kyte McDonald, Jack Riedel and Jacob Devenny added hits for Rice (3-8).
“It’s coming along,” Cruz said. “The lineup is starting to lengthen. Now we need to make sure all the surrounding pieces can contribute in some way offensively and give our pitching a chance to hold the lead.”
While the Owls made contact and had their opportunities to score, Hickson kept Stanford from extending its lead. Hickson got the last 10 outs for the Owls, mixing his fastball with change-of-pace pitches. The Florida State transfer walked only one batter. He struck out five, including the side in the ninth.
“He’s definitely a special talent,” Cruz said. “We’re glad to have him and he’s getting better and better. It’s nice to have him in the backend. It would have been nice to have a lead for him.”
Stanford scored a pair of runs in the first and fifth inning, making the Owls play catch-up. Rice tied the game 2-2 in the second. Rank doubled up the middle, scoring Becker, who led off with a single, and Pierce Gallo, who drew a four-pitch walk.
A two-run homer by Moore off Tom Vincent gave the visiting Cardinal a 4-2 advantage in the fifth inning. Moore clubbed his fourth home run of the season that cleared the right-field wall, just below the scoreboard.
In Rice’s at-bat in the fifth, back-to-back twoout doubles brought the Owls within 4-3. Becker’s two bagger scored Riedel.
Numbers do not tell the entire story on Johnson, who went 0-for-2 to extend his 0-for-20 start at the plate. The shortstop hit the ball hard in his first at-bat, a long out to right field. And he hit a ball in the fourth down the leftfield line that was barely foul, before being retired on a fly to center.
But Johnson walked twice, including the eighth inning when in a 10-pitch at-bat, he walked on a 3-2 count to load the bases. That threat ended when Ben Dukes flied to left, the first batter Toran O’Harran faced.
“He (Johnson) wanted it,” Cruz said. “He was in the moment there. Grinded the pitcher, got some good rips, and gave us a chance. He kept the line moving.”
McDonald made the defensive play of the game, and doubled. In the third,
McDonald made a diving catch to rob Owen Cobb of a hit. Dukes in right field had to leap over McDonald to avoid running into the center fielder, who secured the ball after a long run to his left.
Stanford (6-5), which played in the College World Series last year, won the first two game of the series by a combined 14-4.
Rice starter Ryland Urbanczyk (0-2) went four innings before getting pulled after 56 pitches. The righthander gave up three runs and three hits, walking two and recording four strikeouts.
“He’s very competitive,” Cruz said. “He has plus stuff beyond one pitch. He has three plus pitches. That causes some hitting issues for the opposition. He’s just going to get stronger. His stamina should get better as the season goes on.”
Not a hard thrower, Stanford’s Nick Dugan (3-0) attacked the top of the order of Rice, getting five of his seven strikeouts among the Owls’ top four batters. The righthander was pulled with two outs in the sixth. Dugan allowed three runs and seven hits.
Rice concludes a fivegame homestand on Tuesday against Prairie View A&M at 6:30 p.m.