HOUSTON – Rice rallied from an early deficit by scoring in three consecutive innings against Missouri State, claiming the deciding game of the two clubs' three-game series with a 5-1 victory over the Bears Sunday afternoon at Reckling Park.
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After turning in a season-best nine runs in their victory over the Owls on Saturday, the Bears' offense sputtered in the rubber match of the series, finishing the day just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Rice starter Drake Greenwood struggled in the opening inning, but settled into a groove and combined with freshman reliever Cristian Cienfuegos (1-0) to blank the Bears over the final eight frames.
Trailing 1-0 in the third, the Owls (2-8) came up with the tying run on a Justin Collins sacrifice fly to right, then grabbed the lead the following inning when Rodrigo Duluc doubled and scored on a two-out Aaron Beaulaurier line-drive single that caromed off Bears pitcher Peyton Carson to allow the Rice baserunner to score from third.
Following a leadoff walk to Trei Cruz to open the fifth, Austin Bulman delivered the back-breaking blow with a two-run homer to left field for a 4-1 Rice lead.
Cienfuegos would take care of the rest, silencing the Bears' bats over his 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed just one hit and three total baserunners while striking out three hitters to earn his first collegiate victory.
Freshman Drake Baldwin led the Bears (5-6) with a 2-for-2 day in which he reached base in all four of his trips to the plate, while Trey Ziegenbein combined with Hayden Juenger to limit the Owls to one run over 3.2 innings of relief work.
For the third straight game in the series, the Bears jumped out to an early lead after plating a first-inning run against Greenwood. Jack Duffy set the wheels in motion for the Missouri State offense, driving a double off the left-field wall to lead off the game. A Grant Wood ground ball to the right side moved the runner to third, and Baldwin followed a walk to Ben Whetstone with an RBI single to center for a 1-0 Bears advantage.
Carson (0-3) flirted with danger in the first inning, allowing a leadoff single to Cade Edwards. The Bears lefty retired the next three Rice hitters to keep the Owls off the board, retiring Cruz and Collins on ground balls and getting Bulman to look at a called third strike.
MSU mounted threats of their own in the third and fourth innings, putting their leadoff man aboard in each frame. A Greg Ziegler infield hit and a Rice error put a man at second to open the third, but Greenwood rebounded to retired Duffy on a pop-up, Wood on a strikeout and Whetstone on a slow roller to short.
After Rice scratched out a run in the home half of the third to level the score, the Bears used a leadoff walk to Baldwin and a one-out double by Dakota Kotowski to put two men in scoring position. But Baldwin was thrown out at the plate on a pop-foul down the first-base line to complete an inning-ending double play.
The Owls pushed home another run in the fourth to claim their first lead of the day, cashing in on Duluc's one-out double down the left-field line with the help of back-to-back, two-out infield singles by Tyler LaRue and Beaulaurier.
Edwards and Duluc each produced two-hit games for the Owls, and Greenwood ended his day with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
Missouri State returns to action Tuesday (March 3), when the Bears travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State in a 4 p.m. contest at Reynolds Stadium.
