1st inning goes quietly for both sides. 1-2-3.
On to 2

A Riedel walk and Gallo double scores 1 for the Owls. 1-0 going to B2.

Duffield comes in to pinch hit with the bases loaded and two outs (they had gone to the bullpen for a lefty against Becker at DH, so Jose went to the right handed hitter). And it pays off big!!! Bases clearing double makes it 5-0!

Now 6-0 Owls going to top of 4th

Alch running into serious trouble in the 4th. Now 6-3, and he’s coming out for Jackson Blank with the bases loaded and two outs

And the freshman delivers! Blank gets the K on 4 pitches! To the 5th, now 6-3

PHEWWWWWW. Blank gets into bases loaded trouble of his own, but escapes the jam!

Blank leaves another Bull in scoring position. On to the 7th still 6-3

Owls threatening in the 8th. Two on and nobody out, still 6-3

And we pull off the double steal! Owls on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Infield in.

Garza gets plunked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases

Correa chases the high fastball for the K

Motley delivers the sac fly! Now 7-3, and deep enough to enable Duffield to advance to 3rd

Devenny goes oppo for a two-out RBI double! Now 8-3

Swede, thanks for the running commentary.

We’ve been pretty solid in the late innings all weekend. 10 runs over the last three innings on Friday, four runs in the 8th yesterday and two more in the 8th today.

Stratton in to pitch the 8th, with an 8-3 lead

Stratton being aggressive with a big lead, gets the lead off batter K on 3 pitches, straight gas

Easy grounder 4-3 for the second out

Nice catch by Gallo on a shallow fly ball near the foul line. No wasted pitches by Stratton, everything with a purpose and on target. To the 9th, up 8-3

Crap, Rank gets drilled right on the back of his hand, and you can see the massive lump form immediately. Hope that’s not broken.

This new pitcher’s control is clearly lacking. Reidel now walks. Owls on 1st and 2nd. Now the double steal!

Gallo walks to load the bases. Bulls go to the…bullpen…

Two double steals in one game?

(04-21-2024 02:53 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Two double steals in one game?

And six steals in the game.

Duffield delivers his 4th RBI of the day with a line single to make it 9-3. Garza hits into a DP that scores another, now 10-3

Seems like the light switch suddenly went on with Blank as he's now had 3 or 4 quality outings in a row. He was our most highly regarded incoming pitching recruit.

Fingers crossed re. Rank as he has been en fuego the past couple weeks-- clutch too, raising his AVG to .300. This offense can really not afford to lose him. Also, if he's out it likely means Johnson and his 1-37 hitting into the everyday lineup. No thanks. I'd rather have Gallo move to 1B and Royo at 2B, but I doubt that's what Jose will do.

Sweep. reminiscent of the old days.

Just a great sweep, out of town, for the Owls.
I know this USF team is not elite, but they have a winning record this season, so far.
Best all -round performance of the season for Rice.
Congrats!!!

Wow, impressive (and easy) sweep on the road. Outside of the series win at #16 Louisiana, where has this team been all year?

Hopefully, Rank is okay. And we build upon the momentum of the last two weekends as the schedule gets tough again over the next month.

Finally, we are out of last in conference. But we are only one game behind fourth place.