Rice University
13-33, 6-17
Charlotte
30-17, 13-10
Owls Storm Back But Lose a Heartbreaker
5/7/2022 4:56:00 PM | Baseball
Walsh slams two homers to lead Rice
The Details: Charlotte jumped on the Owls for six runs in the second inning to take a 6-1 lead and three in the fourth after the Owls had closed the gap to 6-4. The 49ers added a pair in the fifth before the game was delayed for 47 minutes by rain and picked up where they left off, scoring three more after play resumed to build a seemingly safe 14-4 lead. However, reliever Mark Perkins settled in and held the Charlotte offense in check over the final three innings, creating the opportunity for his Rice teammates to storm back. Rice matched Charlotte's five-run fifth with five in the sixth, highlighted by Pierce Gallo's two-run double. One inning later, Walsh drilled a ball to dead center for his first homer of the season and his first in 102 at-bats dating back to last season, to draw Rice within four at 14-10. After a scoreless eighth, Manny Garza led off the ninth with a single, and pinch hitter Aaron Smigelski followed with a walk. Walsh then left the home crowd gasping while sending the collection of Owl fans, comprised mostly of Smigelski's family and friends, into a frenzy by smashing a 1-1 pitch over the trees beyond the left-field fence to draw Rice within a run. StatCast measured the blast at 466 feet and before the fans were finished cheering its flight, Guy Garibay Jr. singled to put the tying run on base. After a strikeout, Garibay advanced to third on a single by Nathan Becker, but Charlotte escaped with the win by turning a double play to end the game.
Notable
- The Owls tied their season-high with three home runs while setting a season-high in total bases (31) by adding three doubles and a triple in their 17 hits.
- The 27 combined runs were a season-high and the most in a Rice game since the Owls defeated Incarnate Word 15-12 on April 13, 2021.
- Rice fell to 2-9 in C-USA road games and has lost nine in a row after taking the first two games of the opening series at Marshall.
- Walsh was 4x5 with five RBI and scored three runs. He set career-highs for hits, RBI, and home runs, and tied his career-high for at-bats and runs scored.
- Walsh became the fourth Owl to drive in five this season, joining Austin Bulman, Garibay and Smigelski, but the first to do so in conference action. Becker was the last to drive in five in a C-USA game (4/17/21 at Old Dominion).
- Walsh is the fifth Owl to have four hits in a game this year (Bulman, Gallo, Garibay and Garza).
- Garibay's one-out homer in the top of the third was his sixth of the year, matching his career-high as a freshman in 2021 and broke a streak of 10 consecutive home runs at Reckling Park. He hit his first career homer three games into his career at Louisiana on 2/28/21 and had not gone deep away from home in his last 113 at-bats.
- Bulman was 2x5 including his second triple of the season and has now hit in 21 of 23 conference games this season.
- Becker's single extended his hitting streak to a season-best seven games and has now reached base in 33 of 35 starts this season.
- Garza was 2x4, his fifth multi-hit game in eight starts since he returned from an injury.
- Perkins worked a career-high four innings in relief (4,3,2,1,2,1) which tied Roel Garcia for the longest relief outing by an Owl this year.
Up Next: The series wraps up on Sunday with the first pitch set for 12 p.m. (central).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Spencer Giesting (5-4)
L: DeLeon, Alex (3-4)
S: Matt Brooks (1)
Batting:
2B: Gallo, Pierce 2 ; Garza, Manny 1
3B: Bulman, Austin 1
HR: Garibay Jr., Guy 1 ; Walsh, Connor 2
RBI: Garibay Jr., Guy 1 ; Bulman, Austin 1 ; Becker, Nathan 1 ; Gallo, Pierce 2 ; Riedel, Jack 1 ; Hoyle, Johnny 1 ; Walsh, Connor 5
SH: Garza, Manny 1
SF: Becker, Nathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garibay Jr., Guy 2 ; Bulman, Austin 1 ; Gallo, Pierce 2 ; Riedel, Jack 1 ; Garza, Manny 1 ; Ben-Shoshan, Jack 1 ; Hoyle, Johnny 1 ; Smigelski, Aaron 1 ; Walsh, Connor 3
CS: Bulman, Austin 1
HBP: Bulman, Austin 1 ; Riedel, Jack 1 ; Long, Justin 1
PO: Bulman, Austin 1
Batting:
2B: Nate Furman 1 ; Jack Dragum 1 ; Kaden Hopson 1
HR: Cam Fisher 1 ; Kaden Hopson 1
RBI: Nate Furman 1 ; Jack Dragum 2 ; Josh Madole 3 ; Cam Fisher 3 ; Will Butcher 1 ; Kaden Hopson 2
SF: Josh Madole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nate Furman 2 ; David McCabe 3 ; Jack Dragum 3 ; Josh Madole 1 ; Cam Fisher 1 ; Austin Knight 2 ; Kaden Hopson 2
CS: Jake Cunningham 1
HBP: Kaden Hopson 1
