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Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 5: Slot School

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There’s been a lot to learn with this new-look Rice Football offense during spring practices, including the introduction of a new position: slot.

Keeping track of where players are lining up and where they go after the snap has been an adventure in the new offense Rice football is installing this spring. Head coach Scott Abell, renowned for his offensive system, has engineered a scheme that is fascinating to watch, but sometimes hard to follow. That confusion often stems from the slot position and how many different ways it’s utilized in this offense.

More: Spring Practice Notebook 4 — QB Battle and Scrimmage Thoughts

This update dives into what that slot position does, how the Owls use it in the offense and which players are going to be lining up at that position in the fall.

So…. what’s a slot?

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Rice Baseball swept at Tulane

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Rice baseball was able to manufacture more timely hits, but couldn’t get enough of them as the Owls were swept in three games on the road at Tulane.

FRIDAY | Tulane 7, Rice 5

Things were going just fine for Rice baseball starter Davion Hickson on Friday… until they weren’t. Hickson breezed through two innings before a leadoff home run to left greeted him in the third and Tulane proceeded to square him up much more often over the next two and a half innings.

Tulane led 3-0 entering the fifth before Rice responded in earnest, driving in four in the top of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead, courtesy of big hits from Hiram Bocachica and Michael Zito. The feeble lead was quickly erased by a Tulane grand slam in the bottom of the inning. Shortly thereafter, Hickson was ejected, forcing Jackson Blank into the game on little notice.

More: 59 Minutes — David Pierce Challenges Rice baseball to grow

Blank did all he could to give Rice a chance, turning in 3.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit to the 11 Tulane batters he faced. The Owls’ last-ditch effort in the ninth saw the would-be tying run get into scoring position with one out, but Rice would come up two runs short.

SATURDAY 1 | Tulane 10, Rice 3

Tucker Alch drew the start in the first game of the Saturday double-header and despite being staked to a 1-0 early lead on a Tobias Motley home run found himself working from behind following three runs from the home Green Wave across the next two frames. Alch got another dose of run support in the fifth on RBI hits from Blaine Brown and Jacob Devenney before allowing the leadoff man to reach and ceding the mound to Tom Vincent.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball swept by “three clean games” from ECU

Vince got out of the fifth unscathed but ran into trouble in the sixth and was quickly lifted for Garrett Stratton, who got roughed up a bit as well. Tulane was tally 10 runs against the Owls’ staff in the game, striking 20 hits to the Owls’ 10 base knocks.

SATURDAY 2 | Tulane 6, Rice 5

JD McCracken was competitive in the series finale, but still saw three runs charged to his ledger across 5.1 innings of work. He would depart the diamond with the lead, though, supported by a run scoring double from Aric Anderson in the fifth and two-run home run from Zito in the sixth, the latter followed soon after by a go-ahead single to center by Jacob Devenny three batters later.

Jack Ben-Shoshan entered the game in the sixth with the lead and got through the remainder of the inning and the next without issues before Tulane tied things up with a solo home run in the eight. For a moment, the Owls appeared to have landed a sufficient counterpunch with a go-ahead hit from Bocachica in the ninth, but Tulane walked it off with a two-out, two run shot over the right-field wall.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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59 Minutes: David Pierce challenges Rice Baseball to grow

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Following a midweek loss to UTRGV, Rice baseball coach David Pierce had a heart-to-heart with his team, hoping to spark change within the program.

By the time the first player rose from the dugout and began the walk back towards the locker rooms, the stands of Reckling Park had been emptied and attendants had long since finished combing the stadium seats for loose trash. Outside a few scattered family members down the right field line, the facilities were empty, with the exception of head coach David Pierce, his assistants, and every member of the Rice baseball team, huddled together in the dugout for an impromptu team meeting.

Pierce held court for 59 minutes following a 20-5 defeat at the hands of UT Rio Grande Valley. The words weren’t audible from the stands, but the tone was clear. Everyone in the dugout needed to wake up.

“We’re just really trying to find out who we are, not necessarily even as baseball players, just as teammates, the respect for each other and the accountability,” Pierce summed up after the lengthy gathering. “I think once we start becoming a closer team and chemistry’s built and accountability takes place, you won’t see those types of games.”

Pierce noted the conversation ranged from upperclassmen and underclassmen roles to leadership, body language on the field and how the players were treating each other.

“I told them, I lost my job last year. And I learned a lot about myself and learned a lot about falling back in love with just the purity of the game,” Pierce said. “And that’s really what I want them to do. Don’t worry about the record, become more involved in each other.”

Coaching isn’t a one-size-fits all type of business. And while there’s no better way to measure its effectiveness than wins and losses, there’s something to be said for the time spent in the dugout on Wednesday night by a coach whom quite easily could have assumed leadership and accountability for this program after an offseason of improvements yet instead chose to get his hands dirty in the midst of a season already veering off center.

“This could be a perfect night for us if they take it the right way,” Pierce said.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Moments like this are part of what pulled Pierce back to South Main after so many years away.

“I told them every day how much I love this place and it’s my mission to get the mentality the way it’s supposed to be and [to elevate] the cultural and the standard. And I’m not gonna stop until we get that,” he declared. “And if we got guys that are just cruising, then they don’t need to play, they probably don’t need to travel and probably don’t need to be on the roster.

“But they have the opportunity right now to flip the switch and really, just get back to enjoying the game and enjoying being in a clubhouse with teammates because it’s going to pass them by.”

On Tuesday, the Texas State team Pierce was assisting at the beginning of the season defeated No. 5 Texas. Sticking around in San Marcos would have been the easier path. Yet here Pierce is, spending 59 minutes in a post game dugout, pouring his heart and soul into players someone else recruited, days removed from taking over a 5-17 team that didn’t reach that record by happenstance.

“I can handle anything. I mean, at the end of the day, I’ve been through it on both sides,” Pierce remarked, shaking off the single game result as he willed his players to see the bigger picture.

“I just was so fortunate to be a part of what Coach [Wayne Graham] started and be a piece of the nine-year share of what this place became,” he said. “And that’s my goal, my mission, to just get that attitude and the fan base excited about us playing. There’s a lot of things that need to be done. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself because I want to make sure that I do everything possible for these guys. I think they want it. They just don’t know how to get it yet.”

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Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – Apr 2

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The 2025 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are making the most of their time in The Show. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers was the lone Rice baseball alum to crack an Opening Day roster this year but he didn’t waste time making his presence felt. Myers tied the game up with an eighth inning RBI on Opening Day before walking it off two days later in extra innings.

Through Apr. 2, Myers is hitting .333 with two extra-base hits, one walk and four strikeouts. His OPS is .813 and he’s collected two RBI.

Injured List

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon is slated to miss a significant amount of time following him surgery this spring. The bad news is another bump in an injury-plagued stint with the Angels; Rendon missed a chunk of last season with an oblique strain.

Matt Canterino – Twins AAA

Canterino was thought to have a real chance to crack the big league roster at some point this season, converting himself to a reliver this offseason in hopes of limiting the stress on his arm and preserving his health. Unfortunately, he’s set to miss a third consecutive season, undergoing shoulder surgery in early March.

Knocking on the Door

The following Owls began the season in AAA:

  • JT Chargois – Round Rock Express (Rangers)
  • Tristan Gray – Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
  • Evan Kravetz – Louisville Bats (Reds)
  • Glenn Otto – Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros)
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Rice Baseball roughed up by UTRGV

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Rice Baseball was run-ruled by UTRGV on Wednesday night as the back end of the bullpen could not vanquish the Vaqueros.

Tobias Motley got Rice baseball on the board in the first inning, driving in leadoff man Hiram Bocachica with one of three singles from the home team in the first frame. That spark would prove to be all the bats had to muster for quite some time as UTRGV mounted an answer.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball swept by East Carolina despite strong pitching performances

The visiting Vaqueros evened the score in the second, driving Rice starter Von Baker from the game. Then UTRGV broke things open in earnest with a five-run fourth inning, smattering a slew of hits across three different Rice pitchers to take the lead. They’d pad their advantage in the next few innings, stretching their edge to as many as nine runs before the Owls were able to punch back.

Rice scored a trio of two-out runs in the sixth, clawing back, albeit briefly, from a 10-1 hole. UTRGV would pour on 10 more runs in their ensuing trip to the plate, forcing the end of the game by run rule in seven innings. The final score was 20-5, with the final Rice run driven in by Barrett Eldridge in the seventh.

What it means | Work in Progress

A 9-1 win over Sam Houston on Tuesday was encouraging, but there was no Jack Ben-Shoshan — who tallied a career best nine strikeouts out of the bullpen against the Bearkats — ready to ride in and save the day this time around. Instead, the undermanned bullpen was exposed, battered by a feisty UTRGV squad that has proven much more capable this season than Sam Houston.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

In some respects, the worst of this performance should be masked in conference play, where back end of the bullpen pieces aren’t asked to pitch material innings as they were on Wednesday night. However, a quiet offensive night is harder to look past without squinting.

As is often the case, the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Rice baseball is better than they were against UTRGV and not as polished as it looked in nine innings against Sam Houston. The key will be getting closer to that more exciting Tuesday showing than Wednesday’s dud before the regular season concludes.

Up Next: at Tulane x3 (Fri-Sun)

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