Rice Regional Baseball Weekend

On Memorial Day, I sat on the plane ordering tickets for the Houston Regional baseball games at Rice.  The guy at the Rice ticket office thought I was a little silly when he realized I was on a plane.  Knowing who was in the Regional we did not want to risk not getting tickets.  Six seats together is a lot.  The guy thought I was even crazier later in the week when he called me back to confirm I wanted 6 passes for the weekend.  During that call we changed our seat location and I let Samuel pick.  That caused him to laugh at me for a second time.  Oh, well!  Samuel knew where he wanted to sit and I thought he should be able to pick! 

So, this past weekend was filled to the brim with baseball. We were hoping for more baseball yesterday and today, but Rice did not prevail unfortunately.  More on that to come....

An awesome place to watch baseball

 

Friday was the first game of the Houston Regional between George Mason, Texas A&M, Texas, and Rice. Rice played GM in the first game. The weather for the weekend was not in our favor so we expected some rain delays.  The game was set to begin at 7p, but it started to storm just after six.  We learned that if lighting strikes within 8 miles of the stadium the game has to be postponed.  Well, that was happening so we ate dinner and hung out in the concourse waiting for game time. 

We were sitting right outside the Rice locker room.  Apparently the players were just as bored as the rest of us because they kept coming onto the concourse.  I, of course, being a good stalker took secret pictures of my two favorite players, #7 and #15.

They "must" have Kona Ice at each game or so they tell me

John Clay Reeves #7, catcher and 39 is Holt McNair, pitcher

#15, Michael Aquino is my favorite!

After the rain stopped, but before the game began the boys decided to watch the players hitting.  One of the best things about Reckling Park is the fans have access to so much.  It is great for the kids.

Samuel stood here forever watching the Rice players warm up.

Finally, it was time for the game after a 90 minute delay.  Thankfully, the wait was worth it because Rice won!

Samuel was fascinated watching this process.

Pre-game team prayer....love that!

National Anthem and team player announcements

Winning the game at 11:30pm!

Elena was a trooper at the game, but faded quickly on the ride home

Loved seeing this in Saturday's paper because I saw that exact moment happen

Saturday's game was again to start at 7p.  Rice was playing Texas and we knew we would have some delay because game one started late.  We were hopeful that the game would start around 8p because it was sunny and lovely when we arrived at the park.

Waiting to enter the stadium

Only in the South do people go to sporting events dressed up and Elena did not want to break that tradition. 

As we were entering the stadium it started to rain.  Who knew that we would have to pass time for 2 hours and 45 minutes.  After wasting lots of time on our phones and making up games the game finally began at 9:45.  All I can say is that my kiddos are super awesome because that was a long time to wait!

Emma, Elena, and I hung out in the ladies bathroom hallway.  It was air conditioned and the concourse was stifling!  The boys hung out in the Rice Basketball arena.  They made up a game called mitt bowling.  According to Drew, they were quite the entertainment for the other people stuck there as well.

Rice and Texas played an 11 inning game.  We stayed until the end of the 9th.  By that time Emma was asleep.  The others were hanging in there, but we knew we would be back on Sunday and everyone needed rest.  We did not get home until 1:30am so it was a crazy long day for all of us!

It was 77 degrees when I took this picture...he is nuts!

She was done!

The game provided lots of excitement, but Rice ended up losing 3-2.  That meant we were back at the park for a 3pm game on Sunday. Thankfully the weather was great on Sunday.  It was sunny and hot, but most importantly no rain!

My third and required group picture of the weekend! I had washed the shirts!

Unfortunately Rice lost to A&M on Sunday.  It was another extra inning game with the most epic collapse of defense in the world.  Rice had the game in the bag and blew it time and time again in the later innings.  It made for an exciting game, but disappointment with the outcome does not even begin to describe how we felt.

As we were leaving the stadium I noticed that Samuel was trying not to cry, but he would not tell me why.  Drew later told me Samuel asked, "Can I say something mean?"  Drew said sure and Samuel said, "Texas A&M is stupid!"  He was so sad that Rice lost and that is just precious to me.

The boys and Emma really learned tons about baseball this past weekend.  It was music to my sport loving ears and heart to hear them comment on a play or encourage a player.  They had fun watching the games and playing out on the hill.  So, even though Rice did not advance it was a great weekend.  Hopefully we can do it again next year with a more positive outcome.  I may even try to talk Drew into season tickets!