No. 23 Rice edges Baseball, 3-2, on opening night

Friday, February 17

Austin, Texas

6:30 p.m.

University of Texas

0-1

Rice

1-0

Rice

Texas Longhorns

No. 23 Rice edges Baseball, 3-2, on opening night

02.17.2017 | Baseball

Box Score

The Longhorns tied the ballgame in the sixth but a run-scoring groundout in the ninth put the Owls ahead for good.

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AUSTIN, Texas—Despite a game-tying home run in the sixth off the bat of sophomore Kody Clemens, Texas Baseball (0-1) was edged, 3-2, by No. 23 Rice (1-0) in Friday night's season opener at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The Longhorns got out to an early lead, but a pitchers' duel between Texas redshirt junior Morgan Cooper and Rice junior Dane Myers kept the ballgame close throughout.

After a scoreless top of the first from Cooper, junior Travis Jones opened the Longhorns' 2017 offense with a double to left-center to lead off, but Texas did not find a way to get on the board until the second.

In that frame, Longhorns second basemen Bret Boswell doubled after a misplay by the Rice center fielder and Michael Cantu followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Senior Kacy Clemens then hit a long fly ball that scored Boswell and gave the Longhorns a 1-0 advantage.

With a 1-0 lead, Cooper retired 12 in a row from the second through the fifth before getting into some trouble in the sixth. The redshirt-junior issued a leadoff walk. He then retired the next two but a pair of two-out knocks put the Owls on top 2-1 over the Longhorns after six complete.

It didn't take long for Texas to pull back even, however, as sophomore Kody Clemens answered in the bottom half. The designated hitter drove a 1-2 pitch from Myers over the right field wall to knot the game at 2-2. The long ball was the first of the season for both Clemens and the Longhorns bats.

Nolan Kingham entered in relief of Cooper in the seventh and delivered. The sophomore right-hander sat down the first six Owls he faced, putting up zeroes in the seventh and eighth innings.

After allowing a leadoff single to Myers in the ninth, a passed ball gave the Owls a man in scoring position. A sacrifice bunt gave Rice a runner on third with one out before Myers sprinted home on a soft groundball to give the Owls a 3-2 lead.

The Longhorns were unable to mount a ninth-inning comeback, falling by a 3-2 final. Texas and Rice return to action on Saturday with a 3 p.m. double header. The two sides will face off in a seven-inning contest at 3 p.m. before playing a nine-inning game afterward.