Teams from across Texas will flock to Houston for the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic. Here’s an overview of the path for Rice baseball.
Rice baseball enters the third weekend of its regular season at 3-4 with a series win over Houston Baptist, a sweep at the hands of Louisiana and a midweek rout of Prairie View A&M. Now they return to Minute Maid Park for the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic.
The Owls faired well in their last appearance in the Shriner’s Classic in 2019. After dropping their Friday opener to Texas State 1-0, Rice beat Baylor 6-3 and run-ruled TCU 12-2 in seven innings on Sunday. First baseman Dominic DiCaprio and outfielder Andrew Dunlap were named to the all-tournament team.
Weekend Notes
Times: Friday 11:00 a.m. | Saturday 11:00 a.m. | Sunday 7:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Projected Rice Baseball Starters
Friday | Blake Brogdon (0-1, 7.27 ERA)
Saturday | Roel Garcia (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday | TBD
Sam Houston (Friday)
Sam Houston had their opening weekend series against Oklahoma State canceled. They’ve only played five games thus far and sit at 1-4. Their schedule to date includes midweek losses to Texas State and Baylor and a series loss to UTSA.
The game they did win came on Friday night with Tyler Davis on the mound, who Rice might very well see this week. Their lineup includes three All-Conference picks led by outfielder Jack Rogers who enters the weekend with an absurd .444 average.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Saturday)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi swept Central Michigan to start the year before winning one of their next four against Houston and falling to Texas in a midweek game.
Henry Bird, who started both of the second games in their first two series was fine the first time out before getting pummeled by Houston, allowing seven runs and nine hits in three innings. Catcher Josh Caraway is only hitting .231, but leads the team with five extra-base hits and a 1.025 OPS.
Texas State (Sunday)
Sitting at 4-6, Texas State has played more baseball than any of the Owls’ opponents thus far. They split a four-game series with BYU and won midweek games against Sam Houston State and New Mexico State and. They were also swept by Sacramento State and defeated by Texas on Wednesday night.
Presumptive starter Zeke Wood has walked nine and hit two batters in 9.2 innings. He also has nine strikeouts. Third baseman Justin Thompson has provided the punch at the plate. He’s reached base safely in all 10 games and leads the team with 13 RBI and a .907 OPS.
