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Rice Women’s Basketball coach Lindsay Edmonds ready to bring tempo, focus to South Main

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Rice women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds was formally introduced this week and by all accounts, seems like a tremendous fit with the Owls.

After nearly a decade as an assistant at NC State, newly appointed Rice women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds is ready for her next adventure. Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard formally introduced Edmonds in a virtual press conference on Monday, crediting his most recent hire as a candidate that “embodies every characteristic that we were looking for.”

Karlgaard spoke up Edmonds as a person who cared deeply about her players both on and off the court. Edmonds reaffirmed those truisms. stating multiple times in the brief sessions that she was seeking to find and develop the “total-package player,” one who values basketball, academics and personal growth.

But before she could get there, she had to make the decision to step out of her current role and embrace the Owls. “Leaving a great place is hard,” she said of her roots at NC State, “but coming to a great place is a pretty easy decision.”

Recalling her first visit to campus, Edmonds elaborated, “It became very clear, pretty quickly that Rice truly is a special place,” being sure to include a reassuring, definitive opening to her remarks, “I am very honored to be the next coach here at Rice University.”

When it came to specifics, Edmonds’ intentions were crystal clear. Off the court, she plans to prioritize building relationships with her current roster and hiring the right staff, something she emphasized as being a critical factor as a first-time head coach.

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On the court, she talked about tempo and pace, getting the ball out in transition to score. Whereas former head coach Tina Langley built her brand on ball control and tenacious defense, Edmonds seems to lean towards a more aggressive style, although she did mention a focus on rebounding and defense as well.

We’ll see Edmonds and her team on the court soon enough. For now, the important work of finding the right person for the job has been done. Edmonds aced the interview. Now she’s tasked with taking up the baton and continuing onward.

“I’m really excited about where the program is at, “she said. “I’m excited to continue on that and would love to take it a step forward.”

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls manage series split vs UTSA in rematch

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Rice baseball started strong, riding two early wins to a series split against UTSA in a rematch of a previous meeting this season.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball splits series 2-2

1. Split shows signs of progress

Rice baseball has yet to win a weekend series against a conference opponent. Coming into this weekend, they hadn’t managed a split either. So by taking the first two games against the Roadrunners, tangible signs of progress were produced. When Rice puts together a complete game from all phases — not even necessarily a dominant showing by any group — this team can win.

At the same time, the failure to come close in either of the final two games left some well-deserved frustrations. Both things can be true. Not winning the series was a missed opportunity, especially when Rice had the luxury of throwing Roel Garcia in the finale. That should have been advantage, Owls.

2. The bullpen issues linger

Four times in four games, Rice gave up four or more runs in a single inning. The only game they avoided a crooked number, Game 2, they won. As for the rest of the series, they lost two of three when surrendering a big inning. Those bullpen blowups have hampered this team tremendously. Individual arms have flashed one weekend and failed the next.

That makes it hard for head coach Matt Bragga to know what buttons to press. Now he’s forced to ask himself not only “can this guy get the job done?” but also “is he going to be locked in today or not?”. Bragga would probably own up to being a bit too slow to use the hook, but it’s a two-way street with both sides showing weaknesses.

3. Fielding isn’t doing the Owls any favors

The bullpen hasn’t been perfect, but their struggles don’t fall solely on the guys on the mound. Errors were costly to Rice this weekend, and they’ve cropped up more than a few times for Rice over the last few weeks. In conference play, Rice sports a .966 fielding percentage, ninth in Conference USA.

The Owls committed no errors in either of their wins against UTSA this weekend. They committed two errors in each of their losses, including errors in those crucial blowup innings. When looked at another way, Rice allowed seven unearned runs in the final two games. That’s not going to cut it.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Rice 8 – UTSA 6

Following a lengthy lightning delay, the Owls got things started off on the right foot with three runs in the first two innings, two of which came with two outs. That spotted Micah Davis, who threw the first two innings in place of Garcia, given the unexpected and extended delay. Davis gave was to a bullpen day, which, apart from a woeful outing by Drake Greenwood, kept Rice right in the mix.

Tied up at six apiece entering the bottom half of the fifth inning, Bragga turned to Brandon Deskins. He struck out eight in the final five frames, allowing just four hits and no runs. That gave the offense enough opportunities to break through, which they did in the sixth courtesy of a pair of RBI groundouts from Braden Comeaux and Bradley Gneiting to put Rice ahead for good.

SATURDAY 1 | Rice 5 – UTSA 4

Starter Mitchell Holcomb allowed some contact and a quarter of one-run innings, but his workmanlike efforts prevented UTSA from every compiling a big inning in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader. While Holcomb held things close, the Rice offense did their best to chip away.

Trailing 4-3 entering the sixth, freshman Nathan Becker homered to tie things up. Then, in the seventh and final inning, a sac fly from Guy Garibay, who step onto the mound for his fourth save in the bottom half of the inning, gave Rice the win.

SATURDAY 2 | UTSA 12 – Rice – 6

Cade Edwards scored on a wild pitch in the first inning to give Rice an early lead. The Owls hung a five-spot in the third with big RBI extra-base hits from Garibay and Will Karp. But none of it would prove to be enough to overcome what has become a much-too-frequent disaster inning from the Rice pitching staff.

Matthew Linskey, who’d faired well as an opener in previous outings, failed to record an out to start the game. He walked two batters and hit a pair, the second of which drove in the tying run. He was lifted for Garret Zaskoda, but the next man up wasn’t able to quell the trouble. Zaskoda would be removed in favor of Josh Larzabal before the inning was through. Nine runs later, the inning ended and this one was essentially over.

SUNDAY | UTSA 12 – Rice 4

Things set up well for Rice entering the final game of the weekend. With Garcia on the mound after Friday’s weather, the Owls were able to hold UTSA scoreless through the fourth inning. Up 1-0 courtesy of an Austin Bulman RBI single in the fourth, Rice was unable to finish.

An error and two singles loaded the bases for UTSA in the fifth. Blake Brogdon entered and wasn’t at his best. He allowed a RBI double and a three-run home run, turning a tight game into a one-sided affair. Rice would close the gap to 7-4 in the eighth, before Brogdon ran into more trouble and UTSA piled on a few additional insurance runs.

ON DECK | Southern Miss (Fri-Sun, four games).

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – April 24

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The 2021 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 from this week.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon has been out since April 10 with a strained groin. Reports indicate he could be back in the lineup at some point early next week, but no date has been set in stone just yet.

Through April 24, Rendon is hitting .290 with one extra-base hit, five walks and seven strikeouts. His OPS is .765.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey’s saw a bit of extra rest after a tough outing last week, but came back strong. He threw two innings this week, striking out two, walking two and allowing no runs. He picked up his second hold of the season in the process.

Through April 24, Duffey has a 3.00 ERA with a 1.833 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Holt strung together a couple of sturdy games in his first week back from the injured list. He’s upped his average by more than 50 points while holding down the third base spot as well as one pinch-hit appearance, his first of the season.

Through April 24, Holt has seven hits in 26 at bats, a .269 average. He’s walked seven times, struck out six times and collected three RBI.

Lucas Luetege – New York Yankees

It was a big week for Luetege, who picked up his first major league win since Sep. 4, 2013, when he was with the Seattle Marines. This time around Luetege was called upon against the Indians, striking out one and walking one in 1.1 innings.

Along the way, Luetege has limited hard contact. Following his Friday win, Luetege led all of baseball in the lowest average exit velocity against.

Through April 24, Luetge has a 4.97 ERA with a 1.263 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

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BREAKING: Rice Women’s Basketball hires Lindsay Edmonds as head coach

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Rice Women’s Basketball has named former NC State assistant Lindsay Edmonds as its new head coach, the school announced on Friday.

On April 6, athletic director Joe Karlgaard met with the media to discuss the recently vacated Rice women’s basketball head coaching position. At the time, Karlgaard prognosticated a national search would begin imminently and wind down somewhere between “between 10 and 20 days.” He also alluded to a wider candidate pool given the timing of the search, including prospective coaches coming off NCAA Tournament runs.

Sure enough, with a few days remaining in that prescribed window, Rice has their new coach. On Friday the Owls announced the hiring of now-former NC State assistant head coach Lindsay Edmonds.

Edmonds joins Rice after seven seasons with the NC State, six as an assistant before being elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2019-2020 season. She helped lead the Wolfpack to Sweet 16 appearances in 2018, 2019 and 2021, three consecutive seasons in which the NCAA Tournament was held. Along the way, Edmonds aided multiple WNBA draft selections, including 2014 first-round selection Markeisha Gatling.

Rice could have gone in several different directions with this hire. They opted to follow a course charted previously by Karlgaard prior to the 2015 season when he hired now-former head coach Tina Langley, scooping her away from an extremely successful Maryland program while she was an assistant.

There’s no surefire way to guarantee following a similar method will work in successive hires, but there are no doubting Edmonds credentials as she arrives.

Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard had this to say about Edmonds’ arrival: “Lindsay Edmonds stood out among a very talented pool in our coaching search,” Karlgaard said. “She has the experience and track record we are looking for to continue the recent success of our program and build upon it. Everywhere Lindsay has coached, she has won. Her student-athletes have excelled in the classroom and in the community. I’m excited for her to lead the next chapter of Rice women’s basketball.”

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Rice Baseball 2021: Previewing the second UTSA series

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Rice baseball gets a rematch this weekend in their second series against UTSA. What has changed for both programs over the past month?

One of the oddities of the 2021 Rice Baseball schedule is the multiple rematches scattered throughout conference play. The Owls and Roadrunners opened up their C-USA schedules against each other in Houston in late March. Now they’ll head to San Antonio to play another suite of four games.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 2:00 p.m. / 5:00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Roadrunner Field
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (15-21-1) salvaged a single win against Old Dominion on the road, bouncing back from two one-sided losses to present more a more formidable match in the final two games. Now the Owls have to prove the team they’re ready to play more like the team that showed up Saturday night and not the one that was tossed about on Friday and Saturday morning.

UTSA (15-15) had a tough weekend as well, taking the series finale on the road against Charlotte to post a 1-3 weekend. Prior to that, UTSA took three of four from Middle Tennessee at home. UTSA is 6-6 at home this season.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Roel Garcia (1-2, 5.45)
Saturday 1 | Blake Brogdon (2-5, 5.29)
Saturday 2 | Mitchell Holcomb (4-4, 7.20)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (1-4, 4.84)

UTSA Pitching

It’s been a series of patchwork performances from the UTSA pitching staff in recent weeks. We’re probably not going to see many of the Roadrunners’ arms go too deep into games —  eight different UTSA pitchers have made multiple starts.  — instead expect to see the opening man give way to a series of arms out of the bullpen.

UTSA Hitting

The bats are the most prominent asset of this UTSA team. As a team, the Roadrunners are hitting .290, fourth-best in Conference USA and a decent margin above Rice (.264) which ranks fifth. Depth has been a key differentiator. Griffin Paxton leads the way with a hefty .354 average, but he’s supported by players like Nick Thornquist and Joshua Lamb, both of which are hitting .333 or better with 12+ extra base hits.

The Roadrunners hit for a good amount of power and don’t strike out too often. Their 225 strikeouts are the fewest in C-USA.

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