Former Husker Brice Matthews came alive on Monday night in his fifth career MLB game. Backed by his first two home runs in his MLB career, Matthews helped the Houston Astros to a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Houston, Texas native finished 2-for-4 in the Astros‘ win after finishing his first four games with only one hit. His two home runs earned him five RBIs on the night. 

Matthews jump-started Houston’s offense by sending a three-run shot over the wall with two outs in the top of the second, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead. 

The Astros added another run later on, but Arizona closed the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth. Matthews then drove in his second home run of the game in the seventh, this time a two-run blast to bring Houston’s lead to three. 

With the win, Matthews takes another significant step in his MLB career. Houston drafted him 28th overall in the 2023 MLB draft. Matthews then slashed .283/.400/.476 with 10 homers, 39 RBIs, and 25 steals for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Houston’s Triple-A team.

His play earned him a spot in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta, but he was officially called up to the Astros on July 11 and made his major league debut that same day.

At Nebraska, Matthews batted .359 in his senior year, which included 20 home runs. He also stole 20 bases, becoming the first Husker in school history to achieve that feat. His play earned him First Team All-Big Ten.

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