Houston falls to Rice 7-4 in first game of Silver Glove Series

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 22, 2016) The No. 16 Houston Cougars and the Rice Owls took to the grass inside Darryl and Lori Schroeder Field on the campus of the University of Houston on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 for the first game of their annual Silver Glove Series. After playing an intense nine innings, Houston dropped a 7-4 decision to the Owls.

Rice jumped out to an early two-run lead in the first inning and extended their lead to 4-0 after the second inning. The Cougars responded in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs to cut the Owls’ lead back to two. Rice tallied their fifth run in the fifth inning, with Houston responding the keep the Owls’ two run advantage intact heading into the final four innings of the game. Houston, after a momentous seventh innings which saw their bats explode for four hits and one run. With one out in the ninth inning, Rice capitalized on two Houston errors to add two additional runs to their total to close out the scoring.

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

The second game of the Silver Glove series will a May 10 matchup at Reckling Park on the Rice University campus. The third meeting between these two cross-town rivals, and the possible rubber game of the series, will take place at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas on May 17. Both games have a scheduled 6:30 p.m. first-pitch.

Next up for the Cougars is a three-game home series against the George Washington Colonialsbeginning on Thursday, March 23 with a 6:30 p.m. start. They will continue the series on Friday, March 24 with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch and finish it up on Saturday, March 25 with a 1 p.m. start. George Washington brings an 8-13 record into the weekend series, while the Cougars post a 13-7 mark.

Rice will host Conference USA opponent Old Dominion on Friday, March 25; followed by a 2 p.m. matchup on Saturday, March 26. They will close out their three-game series with a noon meeting on Sunday, March 27.