Houston infielder Justin Cherrington (32) celebrates his game-winning home run with teammates during an NCAA baseball game against Rice Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in Houston. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar
In the first game of the much-anticipated Silver Glove Series, the rivalry between the UH Cougars and the Rice Owls baseball teams has lost none of its tenacity in recent years.
The game was expected to be a competitive display of sportsmanship on a Tuesday night, March 10, at Don Sanders Field at Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park.
The Owls tried to stalk Houston and get the win in an intense rivalry matchup. The Cougars, however, had different plans in mind for these Owls, as they went on to win 13-1.
The Cougars began the scoring spree almost immediately as redshirt sophomore outfielder/first baseman Xavier Perez homered to left-center with a 399-foot dinger. That also brought in fellow sophomore outfielder McClane Helton, who was on first base, putting the Cougars up early 2-0.
The scoring melee continued for the Cougars in the third inning on a sacrifice fly to deep center field, allowing senior catcher Dylan Maxcey to score while also advancing senior infielder Carsten Sabathia III to third base.
Later in the third inning, sophomore infielder Jackson LaLima doubled down the left field, allowing Sabathia to get to home plate, giving the Cougars a 4-0 lead going into the fourth inning.
It was a lively fourth inning for the Cougars as they scored three runs before the inning was finished. First, Maxcey’s sacrifice fly to center field brought in senior infielder Tyler Cox, with Helton being called out on third base for a Rice double play. This allowed Perez to advance to second base.
Next, Sabathia slammed a 354-foot homer out of the park, which brought Perez home for an additional score. Perez then reached on a fielder’s choice hit to second base, which allowed freshman outfielder Peyton Dickens to score while advancing Cox to third base and Helton being called out at second, putting the Cougars up 8-0.
Fast-forward to the eighth inning, where Rice finally puts numbers on the board with redshirt freshman infielder Kutter-Gage Webb scoring the only run of the night for the Owls, while freshman outfielder Landis Davila was grounded out to first base after the hit.
The Cougars also scored in the eighth inning when senior infielder Carter Sintek drew a walk, making way for senior infielder Antonelli Savattere to come home and advancing LaLima to second base.
With the bases loaded, in comes sophomore infielder Justin Cherrington, who slammed the ball 427 feet out of the park for a grand slam. Redshirt senior outfielder Irvin Weems III, Lalima and Sintek all score. This invoked the run rule, ending the game with the Cougars winning by a massive landslide and Rice barely avoiding a shutout with the final score of 13-1.
An amazing all-around effort by the University of Houston baseball team, which scored runs in almost every inning. The next matchup between these two teams is Tuesday, April 21 at Reckling Park. The Cougars’ next opponent will be the Kansas State Wildcats at home on Friday, March 13.
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