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Rice Baseball: Making sense of the 2022 Season

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The 2022 Rice baseball season did not go as planned. From the highs to the lows, here’s how Jose Cruz Jr.’s crew faired this year.

His exact words were “I’m not going to promise the moon right now” when asked what Rice baseball would look like this season. That humble acknowledgment of the forthcoming growing pains by new head coach Jose Cruz Jr. served as guardrails to what would become a challenging season at Reckling Park.

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From the most meaningful wins to the most head-scratching losses, from surprise superstars to questions still outstanding, here’s a deep dive on the 2022 Rice baseball season.

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Rice Baseball: 2022 MLB Owls update – May 25

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The 2022 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon had a routine off day on Tuesday, piggybacking off a scheduled off day on Monday for a two-day break. The short time off meant he only appeared in three games since the prior update, collecting three hits, one of which was a double.

Through May 25 Rendon is hitting .239 with 14 extra-base hits, 20 walks and 31 strikeouts. His OPS is .742 and he’s collected 22 RBI.

J.T. Chargois – Tampa Bay Rays

Chargois suffered a setback in his rehab process this week and was placed on the 60-day IL pushing his return to the mound back by several weeks.

Through May 25, Chargois has a 0.00 ERA with a 0.000 WHIP. He’s averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffer was extremely active this week, appearing in three games and earning two holds and his second win of the season. His most recent outing against the Tigers was his best, striking out two of the three batters he faced to preserve a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning before ceding to Jhoan Duran who earned the ninth inning save.

https://twitter.com/AaronGleeman/status/1529286213957459968

Through May 25, Duffey has a 3.63 ERA with a 1.096 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge was saddled with his first loss of the season last Thursday, allowing a walk-off home run against the Orioles in what had been a tied ballgame in the ninth inning. He bounced back with a scoreless inning against the White Sox three days later and record an out against the long better he faced against the Orioles on Tuesday.

Through May 25, Luetge has a 5.56 ERA with a 1.500 WHIP. He’s averaging 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Glenn Otto – Texas Rangers

Otto made his fifth start of the season last Thursday, going six innings against the Astros while allowing just two earned runs. Despite the quality start, he was handed a loss thanks to a meager one-run showing from his lineup in response. Otto is 1-2 this season.

Through May 25, Otto has a 5.55 ERA with a 1.479 WHIP. He’s averaging 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Transfer Portal churn, offers and staff changes

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It’s been a whirlwind week on the Rice football recruiting front with new additions tempered by a few departures along the way.

More than two dozen offers were handed out to prospective members of future Rice football recruiting classes in the past week and a half. Those offers resulted in four commitments: former Notre Dame safety Litchfield Ajavon, JUCO offensive lineman Isaiah Gonzalaz, former HBU wide receiver Tyson Thompson and 2023 corner Jamarion Clark.

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This update will touch on those new commits, the wave of new offers and other changes on the recruiting front, including one portal loss and a staff change that will impact the Owls going forward.

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Rice Football Recruiting: WR Tyson Thompson commits to Owls

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Rice Football recruiting has added another pass catcher from the transfer portal, picking up a commitment from former HBU wideout Tyson Thompson.

A busy week for Rice football recruiting has yet to slow down. After adding two transfers and one more commitment from the high school ranks in the past six days, has Rice reached just across town to add another potential impact player for the offense. Former Houston Baptist wide receiver Tyson Thompson has committed to the Owls.

Formerly a member of the 2020 recruiting class, Thompson’s breakthrough season came last fall, his first complete season with the FCS program after HBU played only a partial schedule in his first year with the team. As a redshirt freshman, Thompson led the team in receptions (57) and yards (562) while hauling in two touchdowns.

Following his decision to enter the portal in late April, Thompson chose Rice over Ball State, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Northwestern State and others. A Houston native, Thompson said it had “always been a dream to play for Rice football.” After spending two seasons across town, he’ll have three years of eligibility with which to fulfill those dreams.

Thompson joins what will be an almost completely revamped recruiting corps for the Owls, built primarily from the Transfer Portal. He’ll join Bradley Rozner (JUCO transfer), Luke McCaffrey (Nebraska transfer), Sam Crawford (Tulsa transfer), Isaiah Esdale (West Virginia transfer), and Tre Patterson (New Mexico transfer) on the field next fall.

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Adding players that can stretch the field has been an emphasis of this coaching staff since they arrived at South Main. Thompson showcases that breakaway speed on the first play of his highlight tape, taking a shallow crossing route 50-yards to the house. He’s also a talented return man and could contribute on special teams right away.

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Conference USA Baseball Tournament 2022 Preview, schedule, how to watch

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The Conference USA Baseball Tournament is headed to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Here’s how to watch and what to be looking for this week.

The final weekend of regular season play saw teams jockeying for position, but now theĀ Conference USA Baseball Tournament field is finally set. The top eight squads will square off with hopes of an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and their chance to play for a trip to the College World Series.

All games will be streamed on ESPN+ with the exception of the tournament championship, available on CBS Sports Network. The tournament runs from Wednesday, May 25 to Sunday, May 29. The full schedule and updated bracket are available on the Conference USA Baseball Tournament website.

Assessing the field

The favorite | Southern Miss enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed with a three-game lead on the next closest member of the field. The Golden Eagles are the conference’s only nationally ranked team and possess enough firepower on both sides of the ball to separate themselves from the next bunch behind them.

The contenders | Old Dominion, Florida Atlantic and UTSA finished the regular season with identical conference records (19-11) just one game back of Louisiana Tech (20-10). If any of those clubs and win their first two games, they’ll be in the driver’s seat to win the tournament. The field is rather deep this year behind Southern Miss and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if one of these “next four” wins it all.

The darkhorse | Charlotte dropped their final conference series against Louisiana Tech two games to one, but prior to that the 49ers had won four straight series with two sweeps. Winners of 16 of their last 20 games, this is a team playing way above what their record says they are entering the tournament.

The wild card | UTSA has somewhat quietly assembled a remarkable season, posting at least one win over every team in the tournament field. They can score runs in bunches. If they can avoid taxing their pitching staff, a run through the winner’s bracket is certainly within reach for this squad.

The bracket

The opening day of games will take place on Wednesday, May 25:

Game 1 – 9:00 AM | (3) Old Dominion vs (6) Middle Tennessee

Game 2 – 12:30 PM | (2) Louisiana Tech vs (7) Charlotte

Game 3 – 4:00 PM | (1) Southern Miss vs (8) UAB

Game 4 – 7:30 PM | (4) Florida Atlantic vs (5) UTSA

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