Baseball wins two out of three, but injuries beginning to pile up
Rice baseball rebounded from a four-game sweep in Palo Alto by winning two out of three games this weekend against Houston Baptist University this weekend. At time of print, Rice’s road game at Texas State University was ongoing on Tuesday night.
Rice’s pitching had mixed results during the weekend. Sophomore pitcher Matt Canterino threw seven innings in Friday’s game, allowing no runs and striking out a career-high 12 batters. Saturday, senior pitcher Ricardo Salinas gave up three runs in just three innings, and the bullpen surrendered another five over the eight innings as the Owls fell 8-7 in extras. Sophomore pitcher Addison Moss and senior pitcher Willy Amador helped Rice rebound on Sunday by combining on a four-hit shutout in a 6-0 Owls win.
On offense, Rice averaged nearly eight runs per game over the weekend. Senior center fielder Ryan Chandler, sophomore third baseman Braden Comeaux, freshman second baseman Trei Cruz, junior shortstop Ford Proctor and senior first baseman Chace Sarchet combined to go 31-for-63 in the series for a batting average of .492.
A scary moment in Sunday’s win dampened the mood for Rice, as Moss exited his start after just 3.2 innings pitched. After a pitch, the pitching coach and athletic trainer visited him on the mound and removed him from the game, apparently due to injury. Up to that point, Moss had an ERA of just 1.69 in 16.0 innings. At time of print, there had been no update from Rice regarding his status moving forward. Additionally, junior catcher Dominic DiCaprio attempted to return from injury in Friday night’s game but exited after two at-bats and did not appear in the series again. He has missed seven of the team’s last eight games.
Up next, Rice will play on the road at Lamar University on Wednesday night before returning home for a four-game series against Gonzaga University Friday through Sunday. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday. It is Rice’s busiest week of the year, as the Owls play six games in seven days.
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