After taking two of three in the Shriner’s College Classic, Rice baseball hits the road for a short trip within the city to play Houston on Tuesday.
Two games does not a season make, but the significance of the Owls’ most recent pair of victories cannot be understated. Head coach Matt Bragga said the team dug deep after the Friday lost and finally began “playing with a sense of urgency” — and it showed.
Now they’ll look to continue their two-game winning streak with a victory over rival Houston, who went winless at Minute Maid Park over the weekend. The start time has been moved forward to account for the expected cold weather.
When and Where
- Tues., March 5 at 4:00 p.m. CT
- Watch: Cougars All-Access ($)
- Listen: Stretch Radio
Pitching matchups
Drake Greenwood and Kel Bordwine have taken some of the Owls’ midweek starts to this point. Bragga also mentioned Addison Moss could see action on Tuesday or Wednesday. His most recent outing came on Friday against Texas State where he threw two scoreless innings.
Houston has only had one midweek game to this point, a 13-5 extra-innings loss to McNeese State. They had a contest last week against Lamar postponed. Clay Aguilar got the start against McNeese, going three innings, striking out six while allowing four hits. He saw relief duty on Saturday in Houston’s loss to Texas State. More than likely Rice will see a handful of arms for a few innings at a time.
Names to know from the plate
The Houston offense has been somewhat uninspiring so far this season. The Cougars are hitting .219, but the bulk of their offensive prowess rests on the bats of .333-hitter Jared Triolo, .282-hitter Joe Davis and .265 hitter Kobe Davis. They strike out a lot, 94Ks collectively this season, and don’t have much depth. This isn’t a lineup that’s going to score in droves.
ON DECK | vs Sam Houston (Wed), vs Oklahoma (Fri – Sun)
