The Sam Houston State University baseball team fell short on Tuesday afternoon losing to Rice 8-3. Despite scoring three runs to tie the Owls in the fourth inning, the Kats could not hang on.The seventh-ranked Owls battled back in the sixth inning scoring two runs off of back to back doubles by Eric Arnold and Jesse Roman. The team sealed the game in the eighth inning scoring three runs including a two-run double by Matt Cunningham.Jose Cruz led the way for Rice going 3-for-5 with a triple, an RBI and one run scored. Jesse Roman was 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and Matt Cunningham had a double and 2 RBI.The Kats managed to score three unearned runs in the fourth inning off of a hit batter, a walk and two infield errors. Sophomore Phillip Weaver had two hits and senior outfielder Aaron Dieudonne, who is batting .364 on the season, had the only other SHSU hit.Freshman pitcher Ryan Herrara, of Deer Park, performed well with two straight innings before giving up two runs in the sixth. Freshman Nathan Brewer started on the mound for the Kats and gave up three runs and five hits in three innings. Dustin Craig had three strikeouts and gave up only one hit and no runs in 1 2/3 innings of play.The win improves Rice to 4-0 on the season and drops the Bearkats to 0-4. Team leaders thus far include John Warmke batting .429, Jeremy Locke at .375 and Clint House at .313.Over the weekend the team dropped three straight games to Tulane bringing its record to 0-3 going into Tuesday’s game. Against Tulane the Kats lost 11-1, 12-0 and 3-2, scoring only three runs on the weekend. Friday the team will travel to Austin to take on the University of Texas. The game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.
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