No. 23 UH, Rice drop series finales; UT loses at Kansas

ORLANDO, Fla. — Rylan Thomas went 3-for-4 with a walk, Eli Putnam and Kyle Marsha each had two RBIs, and Central Florida beat No. 23 Houston 6-1 on Sunday afternoon, taking two of three games in the teams’ American Athletic Conference opening series.

Houston (20-7, 1-2) scored its lone run on Connor Hollis’ fielder’s choice RBI in the fifth inning that tied the game at 1.

But the Knights quickly responded with three runs in the fifth inning, and the Cougars hardly put up any threat thereafter.

Jake Scheiner went 1-for-4 for the Cougars, reaching base for the 17th consecutive game.

Corey Julks went 2-for4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Houston will next face Rice on Tuesday night at Schroeder Park.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 8 RICE 2

Jared Shouppe went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs, Jake Miednik worked seven innings of two-run ball, and Florida Atlantic routed Rice in Boca Raton, Fla., taking two of three games in the teams’ Conference USA series.

Dominic DiCaprio hit his fourth homer of the season and drove in both runs for Rice (9-21, 2-7), which has yet to win a series this season.

KANSAS 5, TEXAS 4

The Jayhawks’ bullpen held the Longhorns scoreless over the final four innings, and Kansas held on to win the rubber match of the teams’ series in Lawrence, Kan.

Ryan Reynolds hit his first home run of the season, and Kacy Clemens went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a stolen base for Texas (19-12, 4-5 Big 12).

TEXAS SOUTHERN 3 NICHOLLS ST. 2

O.J. Oloruntimilehin and Horace LeBlanc III each drove in a run in the sixth inning to give the Tigers a three-run lead, and Texas Southern held on to defeat the Colonels in Thibodaux, La., for its first non-conference win of the season.

Michael Villanueva worked 6 2⁄3 scoreless innings for the Tigers (919), and Darius Boykins slammed the door shut on Nicholls State over the final 1 2⁄3 innings to earn his first save of the season.

TCU 12, KANSAS ST. 4

Cam Warner hit a grand slam, Oak Ridge product Luken Baker had a pair of RBIs, and the third-ranked Horned Frogs (22-5, 8-1 Big 12) completed a three-game sweep of the Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan.

OKLAHOMA 5 TEXAS TECH 4

Kyle Mendenhall homered in the ninth inning, and the No. 17 Sooners won in a walkoff over the No. 4 Red Raiders (25-6, 4-2 Big 12) in Norman, Okla., taking two of three games in their series.

BAYLOR 6, WASHINGTON 3

Shea Langeliers homered twice and finished with four RBIs, and the 22nd-ranked Bears (19-9) beat the Huskies in Seattle to avoid being swept in the teams’ three-game series.