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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – May 8

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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 was just beginning to get going with eight RBI in his first seven games back from going on the injury list in mid-April. Unfortunately, he fouled a ball off his leg resulting in a knee contusion that rendered him “day-to-day” prior to returning to the injured list on May 6.

Through May 8, Rendon is hitting .276 with five extra-base hits, seven walks and 11 strikeouts. His OPS is .814.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey converted holds in back-to-back appearances this week, throwing 1.1 innings scoreless innings across a pair of two-out outings. His strikeout of Adolis García in the eighth inning on Tuesday was his 198th strikeout at Target Field, moving him up to sixth all-time in park history.

It was smooth sailing until Saturday when the Tigers ambushed him for four runs in 0.2 IP, doubling his season-long ERA which had sat at 2.53 entering the weekend.

Through May 8, Duffey has a 5.56 ERA with a 1.765 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Holt was placed on the injured list on Wednesday, retroactive to May 3 after suffering a right hamstring strain. Like Rendon, this is his second time to miss games this season with an injury.

Through May 1, Holt has 11 hits in 44 at bats, a .250 average. He’s walked eight times, struck out 11 times and collected five RBI.

Lucas Luetege – New York Yankees

Luetege continues an impressive season. Over the past eight appearances, he’s allowed no runs, four hits and struck out seven in nine innings. He picked up his second win of the season this week.

Through May 8, Luetege has a 3.26 ERA with a 1.034 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Previewing the UAB series

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Rice baseball hits the road for their final Conference USA series away from home this coming weekend where they’ll take on the UAB Blazers.

Must-win territory has arrived for Rice baseball. The Owls have completed six Conference USA series so far and have yet to record any series wins. They have a split with UTSA under their belts and single ranked wins over Old Dominion and Southern Miss. But the win total still needs to come up by a good margin in the final two weekends.

Rice has a better total record than UAB. This would be a good weekend to keep that distinction in place, and hopefully, to grow the gap.

Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m. / ~4:00 p.m. | Sunday 12:30 p.m.
Venue: Young Memorial Field
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (18-26-1) dropped a weekend series against Southern Miss at Reckling Park. The Owls blanked the Golden Eagles 6-0 in the opener but could not keep their ranked foes at bay for the final three games.

UAB (15-30) split a four-game series with UTSA last weekend, mirroring an outcome Rice had earlier in the season. Like Rice, UAB has yet to win a conference series outright.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Mitchell Holcomb (5-4, 6.71)
Saturday 1 | Roel Garcia (1-4, 5.76 ERA)
Saturday 2 | Blake Brogdon (2-5, 5.95)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (2-4, 3.92)

UAB Pitching

Riley Davis is the man to watch on the mound for UAB. He’s seventh in Conference USA in ERA (2.95) and is tied for first in the league with three complete games. Collin Taylor will be the first man out of the bullpen, second on the team in appearances and second in ERA (3.38). Brady Greene is another effective bullpen piece the Owls might see more than once.

UAB Hitting

The Blazers ranked dead last in conference play with a .231 batting average. They don’t score a lot of runs, don’t hit for power and don’t get on base well. Chandler Simpson (.317/.359/.366)has been the most consistent producer in the lineup, followed by Colton Schultz (.289/.381/388) and Zack Davis (.288/.331/.451) but after that, things drop off precipitously.

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Rice Soccer: Owls fall to Virginia in Sweet 16

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Rice soccer fell to No. 13 Virginia on Wednesday night, ending their postseason run in the Sweet 16.

A remarkable NCAA Tournament run came to an end for Rice soccer late on Wednesday night. A weather delay in a previous game pushed back what would become the Owls’ final game of their season, a 2-0 loss to No. 13 Virginia in the Sweet 16.

Rice was on the defensive from the start against Virginia, holding the Cavaliers scoreless through the first 35 minutes of play before Diana Ordonez broke through with a penalty kick in the 36th minute. She would add a second goal in the 67th minute and a third in the 81st minute, completing a hat trick with minutes to spare in regulation.

Virginia led Rice in shots 16-2, shots on goal 6-1 and corners 8-0. Most importantly, they edged Rice in scoring 3-0. For as strong as the Rice back line had been all season, it wasn’t able to outlast the onslaught from their ACC foes this time around. Virginia became the fifth ACC squad to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals with the victory.

The Roost Podcast: Rice Football and C-USA Offseason Mailbag

The end of the season is bittersweet, but the heights this program was able to reach still deserve recognition. Rice became the first Conference USA program to reach the Sweet 16 since 2011 when UCF took down North Carolina, advancing to the quarter finals.

Rice soccer will finish its 2021 season with a final record of 14-3-1, tying a school record for wins set in 2004 (and matched in 2014). Their streak of 11 consecutive matches without a loss (10-0-1) also came to an end.

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Rice Tennis: Owls send women’s team, men’s doubles to NCAAs

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Rice Tennis will be well represented in the NCAAs. The women’s team and the men’s doubles are headed to their respective postseason tournaments.

It’s been a busy spring at South Main as several different sports make started, finished or are just beginning their own postseason runs. Women’s basketball won the WNIT and introduced their next head coach a few weeks later. Soccer has advanced to the Sweet 16 and hopes to go further on Wednesday night. Next up, Rice Tennis is one of the final teams to advance to the NCAAs with both the women and men seeing some form of representation.

Rice Women’s Tennis Team

After falling to FIU in the Conference USA Tournament semifinal, the Owls earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament where they’ll face Michigan on Friday at 10 a.m. Should they advance past Wolverines, they’ll face the winner of the matchup between Boston and No. 12 LSU. The Tigers beat Owls in Baton Rouge earlier this season.

The matches will be available for streaming on LSU Sports net.

Rice Men’s Doubles

Although the team did no qualify, the duo of Conrad Russell and Sumit Sarkar did clinch an automatic berth in the NCAA Men’s Doubles Championship. That event will be played following the conclusion of the team championship.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2022 class flyover entering the summer

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The 2022 Rice Football recruiting class is approaching May with one commitment secured. Here’s the 10,000-foot view of the class so far.

The summer is near and the 2022 Rice football recruiting class is progressing, mostly behind the scenes. Rice has one commitment so far and only a handful of offers. Here’s a quick update on what the Owls have been up to over the last few weeks and the outlook for what their plans could be as the summer nears.

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