Baseball sloppy in disappointing week
Since splitting its opening series, the Rice baseball team has lost three of the last four games it has played. The Owls lost against Dallas Baptist University last Tuesday, falling 8-4 in their home opener, and then lost two out of three against Southeastern Louisiana University in a three-game weekend series.
The Owls have had trouble on the defensive end, already totaling 13 errors over only eight games. These errors have been costly and have led to 15 unearned runs this season. As a whole, Rice is letting its opponents score an average of almost six runs per game.
On offense, the Owl bats have shown sparks of improvement, most notably in their second game against Southeastern Louisiana when they scored 15 runs. In that game, six different players for Rice had two or more hits. Junior outfielder Ryan Chandler hit a grand slam in the third inning, and Rice came right back in the fourth inning to pad on six more runs. Freshman infielder Brad Gneiting continued his offensive production by hitting two doubles in the game, one of which brought in three runs for the Owls. Rice scored no fewer than four runs in each of its four games this week but failed to keep its opponents below five runs.
Currently, sophomore catcher Dominic DiCaprio leads the Owls with a .545 batting average and nine RBIs. Freshman pitcher Addison Moss leads all Owl pitchers with a 1.80 earned run average and junior pitcher Ricardo Salinas has a team-high 12 strikeouts.
Rice will look to sharpen up its play heading into a three-game weekend series against Pepperdine University. The first game of the series is at Reckling Park this Friday at 6:30 p.m.
More from The Rice Thresher
MMA and milk miles: Rice students engage with sports
It’s not uncommon to find yourself walking to Reckling Park to watch the baseball team or to the recreational fields to play soccer. However, Division I and intramural sports are only a sliver of what the greater Rice community takes part in. From cricket to mixed martial arts to milk miles (yes, milk miles), students engage in a variety of sports that are a testament to their past pastimes, new endeavors and the need to destress.
Reflecting on four years: a heartfelt farewell to the Thresher
As I sit down to write this farewell column, I can’t help but feel a whirlwind of emotions swirling within me. It feels like just yesterday that I nervously clicked the “Join Meeting” button on Zoom in early August of my freshman year to express my interest in joining the sports section of the Rice Thresher. Daniel Schrager and Ben Baker-Katz, the sports editors in my freshman year, welcomed me with open arms, encouraging me to write for the Thresher. Little did I know that this initial encounter would mark the beginning of an incredible journey that has shaped my college experience in ways I could have never imagined.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.