The 2021 Rice baseball season started strong with a series win over HBU. Next, they face Louisiana. Here’s how the teams stack up.
After falling in extra innings in their season opener, Rice bounced back and took the final two games of their improvised three-game season-opening series against Houston Baptist. The Owls had originally intended to host a pair of out-of-state teams as well as the Huskies, but neither Washington or Arkansas Little Rock were able to travel to Houston.
Instead, Rice made the best of a crosstown series, opening their year with a pair of wins. With a midweek tune up against Lamar canceled, Rice will make their road debut on Friday against the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Game Notes
Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 2:00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: LA ‘Tigue’ Moore Field at Russo Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
How each team fared this week
Rice baseball (2-1) took two of three against Houston Baptist. COVID-19 concerns at Lamar forced the cancellation of their previously scheduled Tuesday game.
Louisiana (3-2), like Rice, dropped their opener but went on to win their opening weekend series over Tulane, 2-1. They defeated Louisiana Tech 2-0 on Tuesday and lost to LSU on Wednesday.
Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday | Mitchell Holcomb (0-0, 5.06) vs Hayden Durke (0-0, 0.00)
Saturday |Blake Brogdon (0-0, 3.60) vs Conor Angel (0-0, 11.57)
Sunday | Roel Garcia (0-0, 0.00) vs Carter Robinson (0-0, 3.60)
Louisiana Pitching
Pitching has been a plus for Louisiana early on in the season. Staff ace Hayden Durke allowed one hit and no runs in his opening five-inning performance. The Ragin’ Cajuns entered the weekend with six members of their pitching staff under 1.00 in WHIP, including reliever Brandon Talley, who has struck out seven of the 16 batters he’s faced this season.
Louisiana Hitting
The Ragin’ Cajuns are even with their opponents, batting .247 and allowing their opponents to hit .247 as well. To this point, they’ve mashed four home runs on the season and have hit 11 extra base hits. That’s a decent amount of power, which has been largely shared throughout the lineup. Catcher Drake Osborn was the hot hand late, going 4-for-6 in the series finale against Tulane with a double, home run and four RBI.
