After suffering their first weekend sweep at home since 1993, Rice baseball looks to rebound against Prairie View A&M at Reckling Park.
It’s been a tough start for Rice baseball, but Prairie View A&M hasn’t come out of the gates full speed either. Winners of one of their first six games, the Panthers need this one as much as the Owls. After their midweek bout with Rice, Prairie View A&M starts conference play against fellow SWAC opponent Arkansas-Pine Bluff over the weekend.
When and Where
- Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. CT
- Watch: CUSA TV
- Listen: Stretch Radio
Pitching matchups
Drake Greenwood and Kel Bordwine got midweek starts for Rice last Tuesday and Wednesday night, respectively. Neither lasted more than three innings before giving way to a slew of arms out of the bullpen. Unless the starter comes out locked in, it’s highly probably a variety of pitchers see action on Wednesday. At some point we could see Evan Kravetz, who started the last two Saturday games, return to a bullpen role, freeing up someone else to pitch Tuesdays.
Brian Williams started Prairie View A&M’s only midweek game of the season to this point against Texas A&M. The Navarro Junior College product tossed 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three.
Names to know from the plate
Prairie View A&M relies on a core of four players at the plate, Alex Martinez, Daniel Lingua, Dalton Horner and Demarie Smith. 14 different players have appeared in at least half of the Panthers’ games this season, but only that quadrant have played in all six of their contests.
Smith has gotten off to a slow start from the plate, hitting .222, but the rest of the group has been on a tear. Martinez is slashing .400/.444/.680 with a 1.124 OPS. Lingua’s line sits at .381/.500/.571. Horner rounds out the group with a .364/.440/.545 clip.
It’s a mixed bag beyond that core, but in general, this is a team that hits for average (.248) without a ton of power. The heart of their order doesn’t strike out much, but the dropoff from the top is noticeable. If their pitching can hold up, the offense has proven they can score some runs.
ON DECK | vs Prairie View A&M (Wed), vs Texas State (Fri), vs Baylor (Sat), vs TCU (Sun)
