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Rice Baseball 2021: Previewing the LA Tech Series

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Rice baseball is still looking for their first Conference USA series win. Can they get it this weekend against Louisiana Tech?

The first two weekends of Conference USA play have come and gone. Rice baseball is lagging behind in the standings thus far but could turn that around with a series win this weekend against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs lead the West through two conference weekends. The No. 16 Bulldogs will be the Owls’ toughest test yet.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m. / 4.00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (13-14-1) played to the first tie among any C-USA team this past weekend, failing to close out a Sunday win to salvage a series draw. They narrowly dropped their series to Middle Tennesee 2-1-1.

Louisiana Tech (20-7) has been red-hot in recent weeks, winning three of four in each of their first two conference series. Last weekend they outscored UAB 31-14 in four games.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Blake Brogdon (2-4, 5.80)
Saturday 1 | Roel Garcia (1-1, 4.21)
Saturday 2 | Mitchell Holcomb (4-2, 4.24)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (1-3, 5.80)

LA Tech Pitching

It all starts at the top for the Louisiana Tech staff, led by ace Jonathan Fincher. The lefty has a perfect 5-0 record and a sterling 1.62 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched. Sunday man Jarrett Whorff has been impressive too, 5-1 so far this year with a 2.49 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. Behind them, look for Tyler Follis, Landon Tomkins and Tanner Knight as the first arms trusted out of the bullpen.

LA Tech Hitting

Part of what makes Louisiana Tech so difficult at the plate is their tremendous amount of balance. They hit .293 as a team with 27 home runs in their 27 games played. Second baseman Taylor Young has been an absolute force, leading the team with a .330 average, 30 hits and 10 doubles. Hunter Wells joins him at the top of the lineup. He’s hitting .327 and tied for the team lead with five home runs.

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Rice Soccer: Owls clinch Conference USA West Title

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Rice soccer clinched the 2021 Conference USA West division title on Thursday, defeating UTEP at Holloway Field.

Picked to finish second in the preseason polls, Rice soccer one-upped those early expectations in the 2021 spring season. The Owls lost their conference home opener to North Texas 2-1 before reeling off six consecutive victories, the last five of which came via shutouts. Along the way, they picked up a win over Texas A&M.

On Thursday night the Owls made things official, clinching the divisional title with a win over UTEP. Catarin Alburquerque scored in the seventh minute. Haley Kostyshyn followed soon after with a 14th minute goal. Up 2-0, Rice held that margin for the remainder of the contest, outpacing UTEP in shots (14 to 8) and  shots on goal (6 to 2).

With the regular season in the books, Rice soccer finishes the season with a 5-1 record in Conference USA play and a 9-2 record overall. Just this past week, Rice was one place outside of the United Soccer Coaches Poll finishing with 35 votes. It’s very possible Rice enters the Top 25 prior to the conference tournament, slated to be played at Holloway field next week.

As for the rest of the C-USA field, North Texas, which has one game remaining, can’t catch the Owls’ in the standings. No matter how the Mean Green fair in their finale, Rice will have the top seed heading into the conference tournament. The Owls fell to North Texas in Denton in the most recent tournament. The opportunity to return the favor at home this time should be ample motivation.

The Conference USA Tournament will be played from April 13 to April 17.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2022 DL Davion Carter commits to Owls

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The first commitment of the 2022 Rice football recruiting class in the books. Defensive lineman Davion Carter has committed to the Owls.

It’s been a relatively quiet spring on South Main, at least as far as the 2022 Rice football recruiting class was concerned. But even without a commitment through the end of March, the Owls were hard at work behind the scenes, having already offered several priority targets. Now one of those targets has become the first commitment.

Mesquite defensive lineman Davion Carter has committed to the Owls. His addition marks the second year in a row Rice has landed secured a commitment from their first defensive offer, following in the footsteps of linebacker DJ Arkansas.

Like Arkansas, Carter will form a strong foundation for what Rice hopes to be another highly regarded class. 247 Sports currently ranks Carter as the No. 12 highest-rated commitment in Rice history. Carter picked Rice over offers from Baylor, Houston, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Marshall and others. He’ll be the first of many to come in the 2022 class.

Rice has started to get used to having the tandem of Elijah Garcia and De’Braylon Carroll in the middle of the field. Carter looks to be the next man up in the lineage and someone that can make a difference quickly. It’s hard to win against him inside, making it fairly easy to see why the Owls were drawn to him from the start.

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Carter is a force to be reckoned with in the interior of the defensive line. He has the power to blow his man back and disrupt passing lanes. At the same time, he possesses enough quickness and vision to chase down ballcarriers while they’re still in the backfield. Getting someone of his ability in the defensive trenches is huge win for the 2022 class.

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Rice Football 2021 Spring Ball Review: Defense

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The Rice football spring practices are complete. What did we learn about the defense and where does it stand entering the summer?

There wasn’t much mystery with the Rice football defense entering spring practices. The Owls finished the 2020 regular season ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense and returned the vast majority of their starters and depth. Beyond filling an open spot at linebacker, spring was about tidying up loose ends and building depth. From the line to the secondary, here’s where each position group ended up.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Search begins after Tina Langley’s departure

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Rice women’s basketball is on the hunt for a new head coach. With Tina Langley moving on, where will the Owls turn next?

In a way, it came out of the blue. One Sunday afternoon, Rice women’s basketball was cutting down the nets at the WNIT. A little more than a week later Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard gathered with media on a zoom call to announce what he termed an “aggressive” search.

The search was made necessary the day prior when Washington announced the hiring of now-former Rice coach Tina Langley. After turning Rice into three-time Conference USA Champions with postseason championships in the CBI and WNIT, Langley had caught the eye of the Huskies. Now she’s headed to the Pac-12 and Rice has to start over, albeit not from scratch.

In a statement released shortly following Langley’s announcement, Karlgaard spoke to the structure Langley was leaving at South Main. “We have an incredible foundation in place for women’s basketball, including a winning program, top-notch student-athletes, strong university and alumni support, and a world-class institution,” Karlgaard said. “As we look for the next leader of our program, we are in a prime position to attract the very best coaches in college basketball to Rice University.”

Those close to the program always knew Langley was destined for bigger things. She was reportedly on the shortlist to be the successor at Duke last summer before the Blue Devils looked elsewhere. Langley and the Owls made the extra year count, ending a grueling 2021 season with a trophy. In many ways, she went out on top.

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Langley leaves Rice women’s basketball with the highest winning percentage in program history (.673). She went 126-61 in six seasons, winning 20 or more games in her final five campaigns. She coached WNBA draft selection Erica Ogwumike and reigning three-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Year, Nancy Mulkey.

With Langley headed West, Rice has work to do. Karglaard met with the team on Monday, shortly after Langley informed them of her departure. Now Karlgaard intends to gather further feedback from current players first then formally begin reaching out to candidates.

Karlgaard noted interest in the job “was pretty high right now” and the candidate pool would focus on coaches with “a depth of experience”, including former assistants (like Langley) and others that already had head coaching experience. Presumably, there would be more sitting head coaches interested this time around than when Langley was hired six years ago. Altogether he expects the search to last somewhere “between 10 and 20 days”, with the freedom to extend the search should it be necessary.

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