After a hiatus in 2021, the Silver Glove Series resumed on Tuesday night at Reckling Park on the Rice University campus and the Cougars took the advantage in the three game series with a 10-7 victory over the Owls.
With one down in the top of the first, Houston took advantage of a hit-by-pitch and a fly ball that was not caught in deep left field to take an early 2-0 on a ground out by Alex Lopez and a two-out single into left-center by Anthony Tulimero . . . Tulimero extended his reached base streak to twelve games with the base hit, he has reached base in every Cougars game this season.
Houston went to the bullpen with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the third after two walks and a batter hit-by-pitch . . . A wild pitch and a double gave Rice a 3-2 lead before a double play behind Derrick Cherry ended the inning.
Tulimero led off the fourth with a single . . . Attempting to steal second, the pitch went slightly wild on Rice’s catcher Justin Long . . . Long threw to second and the throw hit Tulimero in the helmet and ricocheted into left field . . . The Rice left-fielder tried to catch Tulimero at third, but his throw was wide of the bag and Tulimero was able to scamper home for the tying run . . . Two outs later, with two runners on base, Brandon Uhse drove a ball to the wall in right-center to give the Cougars a 5-3 lead.
Tied up at six in the top of the eighth, a lead off single by Ian McMillan was followed by a one out walk to Cameron Nickens . . . One out later, Uhse drove a ball off the right field wall for a two RBI double . . . Zach Arnold then drove Uhse home and the Cougars took a 9-6 lead.
With a 9-7 lead in the top of the ninth, the Cougars loaded the bases with no outs with the help of two batters hit-by-pitch and another single for Tulimero, who was 3-for-5 in the contest . . . One out later, Cameron Nickens hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Lopez from third base and the Cougars extended their lead 10-7.
Ben Sears pitched the final two innings for the Cougars, and while he gave up his first and only run of the season, he closed out the win for Houston and picked up the save, his second of the season . . . Logan Clayton earned the win with his outing and improved to 1-2.
Head coach Todd Whitting was asked about the four RBI night by his lead off man, “After two tough at-bats early, Uhse did a great job of playing the game one pitch at a time and came up with four huge RBIs tonight. He has done a tremendous job at the top of the lineup this season.”
The Rice defense committed five errors in total and their pitching hit Houston batters five times, including Lopez twice.
The Silver Glove Series will resume on May 4 when Rice travels to Schroeder Park.
The Cougars return to Schroeder Park on Wednesday night when they host Southern, first pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm.
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