No. 19 Rice Outlasts Bobcats, 3-1

by, Joshua Flanagan, TXST Assistant Director of Sports Information

SAN MARCOS – Texas State received a solo home run from Tanner Hill on his birthday Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough to take down No. 19 Rice. The Owls prevailed in a defensive battle, 3-1, behind impressive pitching.

Rice took the lead with a run in the third inning, but Hill knocked his 12^th home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth to tie it up. The Owls answered back in the seventh with two unearned runs coming with two outs in the inning.

Both teams combined for six hits with Texas State leaving six runners stranded. The Bobcats will look to bounce back this weekend against Sun Belt Conference opponent Little Rock.

WHO STOOD OUT

Tanner Hill / C/1B / Senior / San Marcos, Texas

With a home run in the fourth inning, Hill tied the game, 1-1. It was his Sun Belt Conference-leading 12^th home run of the season, tying him for seventh in the nation in home runs.

Jonathan Hennigan / LHP / Junior / Center, Texas

Hennigan made an impressive outing, only giving up one earned run in 6.2 innings. He tallied five strikeouts while keeping Rice to just three hits into the seventh inning, throwing 94 pitches.

Quinn Atwood / RHP / Junior / Katy, Texas

Atwood came on in relief in the seventh inning and retired seven consecutive batters with the help of the Bobcat defense. In six consecutive outings for Atwood, he has lowered his ERA in every one.

SCORING RECAP

–       Top 3^rd – A leadoff walk and sacrifice bunt put a Rice runner at second base. A base hit to left field plated him for a 1-0 Rice lead. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

–       Bottom 4^th – Tanner Hill hit a solo home run to tie the game, 1-1. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

–       Top 7^th – Second Rice batter of the inning drew a one-out walk and stole second. With two outs, a throwing error by Texas State kept the inning alive and allowed the runner to score to put the Owls up 2-1. A double after that plated the man who reached on the error, pushing the lead to 3-1. (2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left on base)

NOTES

–       After moving to second and fourth in the lineup on Sunday, Jonathan Ortega and Granger Studdard returned to the leadoff and third spots respectively.

–       Tanner Hill hit his Sun Belt Conference-leading 12^th home run of the season, tying him for seventh in the nation in home runs. Tuesday was also Hill’s birthday.

–       Hill’s home run is the team’s 32^nd of the season with 23 of them being solo shots.

–       With 32 homers, the Bobcats are tied for 27^th in the nation in team home runs.

–       In the sixth inning, Ortega stole second base for his sixth steal of the season, tying him for the team lead with Theodore Hoffman.

NEXT UP

Texas State returns to Sun Belt Conference action with a three-game series against Little Rock in San Marcos over the weekend. Games are scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. After that, the Bobcats will take to the road for games against nationally ranked Texas A&M, UL Lafayette and Texas.