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Rice Football 2021 Spring Ball Review: Offense

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

The Rice football defense was more or less a known commodity entering the spring. The offense had more question marks. Some of those were answered — running back, wide receiver — while others remain unsettled.

We’ll tackle quarterbacks in a separate post. That battle was and will continue to be crucial to the Owls’ long-term prospects on this side of the ball. First, we’ll look at their playmakers and the guys protecting them in the trenches.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls dealt one-sided sweep by LA Tech

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For the third weekend in a row, Rice baseball dropped a conference series, this time coming at home against a red-hot, ranked Louisiana Tech club.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball loses series 4-0

1. Mental toughness is missing

Rice was locked into a pitcher’s duel on Friday night. Owls’ hurler Blake Brogdon was going toe-to-toe with C-USA Pitcher of the Year candidate Jonathan Fincher. But when Brogdon waivered in the sixth inning, the team behind him folded. Dalton Wood entered with two men in scoring position and no outs. He walked two, allowed a run on a passed ball and another run on a balk.

Rice blew a two-run lead in the final inning to start Saturday’s doubleheader. Then they were blasted 20-6 in the second leg. Things went from bad to worse quickly, and nobody was there to stop the bleeding. On Sunday Rice led 2-1, then when tied 2-2, allowed a crushing 4-run sixth inning.

Head coach Matt Bragga summed it up well in a recent conversation. “As a club, we’re not mentally tough enough.” If Rice wants to contend in Conference USA. That has to change. Losing close games is painful, but wilting when the spotlight shines brightest is doubly painful.

2. Come give Comeaux some help

Rice baseball had one player on the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference team, senior third baseman Braden Comeaux. Through the first half of the season, Comeaux has more than proven his inclusion among the leagues’ best was well deserved. He’s made some spectacular plays on the hot corner and continues to hit everyone he sees.

Comeaux was one of four Owls’ to get a hit off Fincher on Friday. He helped jump-start a four-run third inning on Saturday afternoon and had a multi-hit outing Saturday night. His relentless consistency has been the best part of the Rice offense all season.

3. Missing a dominant phase

What’s hurt Rice the most during this tough opening stretch to conference play is the lack of one dominant aspect of their game to fall back on. Rice has an average offense by most metrics. Their pitching is below average. The fielding has been slightly above average, but the Owls did commit five errors this weekend across the four games.

Teams like UTSA (a great offense) or Middle Tennessee (great pitching) have managed to hover around .500 in the league play. Rice doesn’t have to fix everything all at once to start winning more baseball games, but at least one phase needs to take a step-change if Rice wants to stay competitive down the stretch.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | LA Tech 6 – Rice 0

Blake Brogdon kept Louisiana Tech at bay for five innings, but the Rice bats never proved much of a threat on Friday night against Jonathan Fincher. When Louisiana Tech broke the tie in the sixth, the Bulldogs’ three-run outburst felt like a much more exorbitant deficit.

Another three-run inning for Louisiana Tech in the eighth pushed the game further out of reach. Rice managed just four hits and had multiple base runners in just two of the nine innings.

SATURDAY 1 | LA Tech 7 – Rice 6

The bats were more productive for Rice on Saturday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to take a 6-2 lead after five innings. Cade Edwards and Bradley Gneiting hit two-run home runs. Austin Bulman and Connor Walsh provided the other run-scoring hits.

As the offense worked, Rice starter Roel Garcia held Louisiana Tech at bay and left the seven-inning game in the sixth with the lead. It would not last. The combination of Garret Zaskoda and Guy Garibay could not hold the lead. Louisiana Tech would score five runs in the final two innings to win 7-6.

SATURDAY 2 | Louisiana Tech 20 – Rice 6

After coming painfully close on Saturday afternoon the Owls were never within striking distance from a doubleheader split later that same day. Louisiana Tech scored eight runs in the second inning of Rice starter Mitchell Holcomb, who recorded just four outs. By the time Rice scored its first run in the fourth, they had already trailed 12-0.

Rice used five pitchers. All but Jared Plank allowed three or more runs. Plank’s outing was actually one of the best of the weekend by any Rice pitcher, throwing one scoreless inning with just one hit allowed. It wouldn’t be enough to slow the Louisiana Tech onslaught, though.

SUNDAY | Louisiana Tech 13 – Rice 4

Rice showed some initial resistance in the series finale. With Brandon Deskins on the mound, Rice fell behind 1-0 in the fourth inning. The bats responded immediately, manufacturing the tying run with a sacrifice fly and the go-ahead run on an RBI single. The Owls stole four bases in the inning.

The lead would prove to be short-lived. Deskins got into some trouble in the fifth with two walks of his own plus an error in the infield. Louisiana Tech would strike for two runs in that inning, piling on four more in the sixth and six more in the final two innings.

ON DECK | Incarnate Word (Tues), Old Dominion (Fri-Sun, four games).

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – April 10

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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.

Jon Duplantier was active with the Arizona Diamondbacks this spring, making two spring training appearances as he works to recover from an elbow injury that limited him last season. He’s currently with the D-Backs Triple-A affiliated in Reno

Here are updates on the four former Rice baseball alums currently active.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon picked up where he left off last season, continuing to hit the baseball at a high rate. He’s had at least one hit in seven of his first eight games this season, including his first home run of the season in a road loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday, April 10. He entered Sunday with a six-game hitting streak.

Through April 10, Rendon is hitting .290 with one extra-base hits, five walks and seven strikeouts. His OPS is .765.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey has been solid out of the pen for the Twins so far this season. He’s made four appearances and has yet to allow a run. He did not allow a hit in either of his two most recent outings. The Twins have lost three of the four games he’s appeared in even though Duffey has yet to pitch when the team was trailing this season.

Through April 10, Duffey has a 0.00 ERA with a 1.636 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

A longtime member of the Red Sox, Holt has been on the move since leaving Boston following the 2020 season. After signing with the Milwaukee Brewers and then the Washington Nationals last year, he inked a deal with the Texas Rangers for the 2021 season. Holt appeared in four games with the Rangers this year before a hamstring strain landed him on the 10-day injured list.

Through April 10, Holt has three hits in 12 at bats, good for a .250 average. He’s walked five times, struck out twice and collected two RBI.

Lucas Luetege – New York Yankees

One of the more encouraging stories to follow over the last few months was the rise of former Rice hurler Lucas Luetge who broke into the Opening Day bullpen with the Yankees after a five-year hiatus from the big leagues.

Luetege was all smiles when his manager delivered the news. Next he assured the fans the moment would not be too big for him. “I’ve been doing this for a while. I’ve been successful,” he said. I’ve just had a little time off between the big leagues.” He’s already appeared in three games sporting the pin stripes so far this spring.

Through April 10, Luetge has a 7.20 ERA with a 1.400 WHIP. He’s averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

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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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