BATON ROUGE, La. – A five-run third inning gave Rice the lead for good and allowed the Owls to defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 9-5, in an NCAA Baton Rouge Regional elimination game Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.
The Lions, making their third NCAA Regional appearance in the past four years, finished the season with a 37-22 overall record. Rice (33-30) advances to the Baton Rouge Regional final for the second straight season.
The Owls will have to beat top seed LSU (45-17) twice, once tonight at 8 p.m. and again on Monday at 6 p.m. One more win for LSU will send the hosts to the NCAA Super Regionals.
Junior
Taylor Schwaner and senior
Ryan Byers each homered in the loss for Southeastern. The two Lion sluggers, along with senior
Carson Crites and junior
Derrick Mount, each had two hits apiece to lead a 10-hit SLU attack.
Rice countered with 13 hits of its own. Ford Proctor led the way with a 3-for-5 performance, while Dane Myers contributed a home run and a game-high four RBI.
SLU scratched out the game's first run in the top of the second inning. Crites led off the inning with a sharp single up the middle and promptly stole second. After moving to third on a deep fly ball by senior
Webb Bobo, Crites scored when Mount hit a slow roller under the glove of Proctor. Mount's 38
th RBI of the season gave the Lions an early 1-0 lead.
Rice threatened in its half of the second. Dominic DiCaprio led off the inning with a double into the left field corner, then Tristan Gray beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners with no outs.
SLU sophomore starter
Carlisle Koestler (4-5) then induced a grounder by Andrew Dunlap and Schwaner threw out DiCaprio at home. Koestler then forced Dayne Wunderlich to hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to allow SLU to maintain its 1-0 lead.
Rice took the lead for good in the bottom of the third, as the first five Owls reached base and scored. The inning's first run came when Charlie Warren was ruled safe at home on a fielder's choice off the bat of Ryan Chandler. Proctor then gave Rice the lead with a run-scoring double into the left centerfield gap. Dane Myers capped the frame's output by depositing a three-run home run over the left centerfield fence, putting the Owls firmly ahead, 5-1.
SLU cut into the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Schwaner followed a leadoff single by sophomore
Brennan Breaud with a towering shot off the batter's eye in straight away centerfield. His team-high 16
th home run of the season gave him 72 RBI on the season and moved him into sole possession of second place on the school's single-season RBI list.
Southeastern was poised to pull closer, as Bobo walked and junior
Drew Avans singled to put runners on the corners. However, Rice starter Kendal Jefferies (3-1) retired
Evan Pace to keep the deficit at 5-3.
Rice chased Koestler from the game in its half of the fourth inning. Warren laced a one-out double and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Proctor. Junior
Evan Hileman came in to strike out Myers to keep the Rice lead at 6-3.
Rice added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with one out on singles by Tristan Gray and Dunlap, followed by a Wunderlich walk. Hileman looked poised to get out of the jam, but a potential inning-ending grounder was misplayed by Crites, allowing Gray to score and push the Rice advantage to 7-3.
SLU pulled closer in the top of the sixth inning. Schwaner led off with a double off the centerfield fence and Crites singled him home to force Jefferies from the mound. The Lions put a pair on with two outs to bring the tying run to the plate, but Myers forced Pace to line out to center to keep Rice ahead, 7-4.
Rice got the run back thanks to a pair of errors in the bottom of the sixth inning. The two errors allowed the Owls to grow their lead back to four at 8-4.
Southeastern would not go away quietly. With one out in the top of the seventh, Byers lifted his second home run of the regional and his 13
th of the season over the left centerfield fence to cut the Lion deficit to 8-5.
Rice added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Myers helped his cause with an RBI double off the right centerfield fence to give the Owls a 9-5 lead heading into the ninth inning.
Myers hit Pace to lead off the inning to put a runner on. However, he retired senior
Jacob Seward, Byers and Breaud to close out the win with his first save of the season.
SLU – 010 201 100 – 5 10 3 (37-22)
RICE – 005 111 01x – 9 13 1 (33-30)
Carlisle Koester,
Evan Hileman (4) and
Evan Pace. Kendal Jefferies, Dane Myers (6) and Dominic DiCaprio. W – Jefferies (3-1). L – Koestler (4-5). Save – Myers (1). HR – SLU:
Taylor Schwaner (16),
Ryan Byers (13); RICE: Dane Myers (8). 2B – SLU:
Taylor Schwaner (16); RICE: Dominic DiCaprio (15), Ford Proctor (19), Charlie Warren (6), Dane Myers (12). T – 3:10. A – 9,963.
NCAA Baton Rouge Regional – June 2-5, 2017
Friday, June 2
Game 1 – No. 1 LSU 15, No. 4 Texas Southern 7
Game 2 – No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana 12. No. 3 Rice 6
Saturday, June 3
Game 3 – Rice 13, Texas Southern 6 (TSU eliminated)
Game 4 – LSU 11, Southeastern Louisiana 6
Sunday, June 4
Game 5 – Rice 9, Southeastern Louisiana 5 (SLU eliminated)
Game 6 – Rice vs. LSU, 8 p.m. (WatchESPN)
Monday, June 5
Game 7 – Rice vs. LSU, 6 p.m. (If necessary) (WatchESPN)
