Sophomore third baseman Zach Arnold guns down a runner at home in the third inning of UH baseball’s win over Rice on Tuesday night at Reckling Park. | James Mueller/The Cougar
Round one of the Silver Glove Series belonged to Houston, as the Cougars beat cross-town rival Rice 10-7 on Tuesday night at Reckling Park.
UH made Rice pay for an early error as sophomore second baseman Alex Lopez and sophomore catcher Anthony Tulimero each drove in a run to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead after the first half-inning of the game.
The Owls answered back with three runs off of four walks, a passed ball and a double to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third.
The Cougars put up a three-spot of their own in the fourth highlighted by a two-run double to right center from junior left fielder Brandon Uhse.
Rice plated a run in both the fourth and fifth to even the game.
The Owls lead was once again short-lived, as UH retook the lead the next half-inning. Freshman DH Cameron Nickens reached third after a fielding error by Rice’s right fielder and then crossed home two batters later on a wild pitch that went all the way to the backstop.
The back-and-forth game continued in the bottom of the sixth. Rice’s Jack Riedel made it 6-6 on a solo shot to right field, his first career collegiate home run.
Uhse came through in a big way for the Cougars once again, hitting a ball of the right field wall for a two-RBI double to put UH up in the eighth. Sophomore third baseman Zach Arnold made it back-to-back hits, singling through the left side of the infield to make it a 9-6 game.
UH tacked on a run in the ninth on a Nickens sacrifice fly.
Junior right-handed pitcher Ben Sears came out of the bullpen in the eighth, tossing two innings of one-run baseball to close things out for the Cougars. Sears earned his second save of the season.
Junior pitcher Logan Clayton earned the win, throwing a scoreless seventh inning including two strike outs.
