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Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO cornerback Miles Mccord commits to Owls

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The 2019 Rice football recruiting class added another JUCO product to their secondary, augmenting the existing class with cornerback Miles Mccord.

The secondary was a problem area for Rice during the 2018 season. The safety play showed improvement with the additions of Prudy Calderon and consistent play of George Nyakwol. The 2019 class provided important reinforcement in the form of Hunter Henry, Kirk Lockhart and JUCO transfer Naeem Smith.

The corner position was more up in the air. That spurred additional attention after the bulk of the 2019 class has signed. Rice signed one true corner, Josh Landrum, in the first pass at the 2019 class. They added another with the addition of Duncanville’s Tre’shon Devones.

Even with those signings, there’s still room for more competition at the position. JUCO transfer Miles Mccord has jumped into the mix, committing to Rice after spending the 2018 season at Golden West College.

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting

Mccord appeared in eight games for Gold West College. The Rustlers rotated a lot of bodies in the defensive backfield while Mccord was there, keeping him fresh for the Owls in 2019. Even with somewhat limited playing time, McCord stood out with his top-end speed and ability to play the run and the pass well from the split out corner position. He’s an instinctive tackler with some burst and looks to possess the requisite speed to keep in stride with some of the faster receiving corps Rice will face.

Getting faster was a must at the corner position after their struggles with the deep ball in 2018. Way too many receivers got behind the defense. Mccord adds that speed and a raw, 6-foot, 161-pound frame with time to develop the rest of his game alongside a rebuilt secondary which suddenly features a host of options. He’ll be thrown into the mix immediately.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2019 Cornerback Tre’shon Devones commits to Owls

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The 2019 Rice Football recruiting class added one more finishing touch with the commitment of Duncanville cornerback Tre’shon Devones.

The vast majority of schools around the nation have long since moved past their 2019 recruiting classes. Rice is working tirelessly to ensure they have the best talent available to them in every capacity possible. The 2019 class was poised to be special, but it got even better with one last addition from the high school ranks.

The Owls have tucked another high-ceiling, game-changing defensive prospect into their 2019 recruiting class. Teammate of Rice signee De’Braylon Carroll at Texas high school powerhouse, Duncanville, Tre’shon Devones has made his pledge to Rice.

A 3-star cornerback recruit, Devones committed to Air Force in February but chose not to sign a Letter of Intent on National Signing Day. That left him the latitude to sign with another school, should he choose to do so.

After weighing his options, Devones has opted to do just that. He picked Rice over Air Force, as well as offers from Baylor, Iowa State, Syracuse and Washington State. His addition immediately bolsters a position of great need.

Rice Football, Rice Football RecruitingDevones is the second-highest rated commitment in the 2019 class, trailing only standout California WR/DB Jake Bailey. Were he a member of the 2020 class, which ranks No. 1 among all CUSA schools, he’d be the highest rated recruit to commit thus far. When those inside the walls at South Main talk about raising the level of talent in the program, players like Devones are who they’re talking about.

The 6-foot, 165 pound defensive back plays with aggression. He’s going to attack the ball in the air and isn’t afraid to come up from the secondary to make a play. Devones is athletic and good with his hands, making opposing quarterbacks pay for their misfires with his fast break.

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Rice Baseball: Bullpen holds as Owls top LaTech at CUSA Tournament

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Rice baseball shook off their bullpen struggles, topping Louisiana Tech 4-3 in a Conference USA Tournament elimination game.

As the old saying goes, lightning doesn’t strike twice. For Rice, the lightning came in the form of a walk-off loss to Marshall a week ago on Thursday. Then it happened again. And again. And yet another time, with the final strike coming off the bat of Southern Miss slugger Matt Wallner on Wednesday.

Rice had led all four of those games by two or more runs entering the eighth inning. Each time the bullpen coughed up the advantage and the bats failed to rise to the occasion.

More: CUSA Tournament Bracket, news and notes

The story started in a similar way against Louisiana Tech in Thursday’s Conference USA Baseball Tournament elimination game. Rice got things going with a two-run double off the bat of Cade Edwards in the first, giving starting pitcher Evan Kravetz some breathing room early on.

Next, both sides swapped single runs, Louisana Tech in the third and Rice in the fifth, to bring the score to 3-1 in favor of the Owls. Then coach Matt Bragga made a bold decision. Rather than turn to the same pitchers who had failed to deliver over the past week, he put the ball in the hand of Jackson Parthasarathy.

Rice’s typical Sunday starter wasn’t as sharp as usual out of the bullpen. Following Kravetz’s five-inning, one-run performance, Parthasarathy struggled through a 1.2 inning showing. He allowed two runs before Dalton Wood came to relieve him.

After watching countless relievers fail to shut the door, Wood delivered. The freshman reliever worked two and a third perfect innings, allowing no hits, striking out one and clinching the Owls first win in a week’s time.

Apparently lightning does strike twice, but its encores are limited to four dismissive blasts. For the first time in a week, Rice took the lead and held on. Now they’ll look to do it again on Friday.

Up Next | Winner of Marshall vs Southern Miss, 3:00 PM, Friday

Rice will meet their demons face to face on Friday where they’ll face the winner of the Marshall and Southern Miss game scheduled to take place later Thursday afternoon. Rice is 0-3 against Marshall this season and 2-2 against Southern Miss.

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Rice Baseball: Owls stunned by walk-off loss to Southern Miss in CUSA Tournament

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Matt Canterino’s gem was wasted. The Rice baseball bullpen caved again as the Owls fell to Southern Miss at the Conference USA Baseball Tournament.

The formula for Rice advancing in the Conference USA Baseball Tournament was simple: Pitch well and take advantage of opportunities at the plate. Matt Canterino answered the call. The bullpen did not as the Owls fell to 2-Seed Southern Miss 6-4 in 10 innings.

More: CUSA Tournament Bracket, news and notes

The staff ace, Canterino was every bit as special as the Owls needed him to be. He was sharp as ever through 7.1 innings, striking out nine, walking two and allowing one run on three hits. With the Southern Miss offense confounded, even a slight lead felt commanding.

To that point, the offense had been sturdy. Braden Comeaux reached based on each his first four plate appearances, coming in to score three times. Trei Cruz blasted a two-run dinger in the third. Rice led 4-0 at the seventh inning stretch.

Owls fall by walk-off for the fourth straight game

When Canterino left the game Rice fans held their breath. The bullpen was coming off their worst week of the season. It took guts for Bragga to pull Canterino when he got into the seventh inning jam. While it might have been ideal to ride Canterino as far as he could carry them, he’s already thrown 100 pitches. His availability the rest of the week would have been factored into Bragga’s decision to turn to the pen.

With Garrett Gayle on the mound, Rice coughed up the four run lead including three runs scored in the ninth inning. Rice needed one more out to advance. On multiple tries, they failed to get it. A walk-off home run by Southern Miss slugger Matt Wallner ended any hope of a late rally.

Rice isn’t going to advance without a few big outings from their bullpen. They came close Wendesday, but fell painfully short once again.

UP NEXT | Louisiana Tech – Thursday 9:00 am

Rice will play Louisiana Tech in the loser’s bracket. The Bulldogs dropped their first-round game to Marshall in 12 innings., the longest game (by time) in CUSA Tournament history. Rice swept Louisiana Tech at home earlier this season.

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Rice Baseball 2019: Previewing CUSA Tournament game vs Southern Miss

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Rice baseball takes on Southern Miss in the opening round of the Conference USA Baseball Tournament. Here’s how both teams match up.

A battle of CUSA heavyweight programs will reconvene in Biloxi. Rice and Southern Miss have won five of the last six Conference USA Baseball Tournament championships. Southern Miss won in 2018 with Rice winning the year prior.

The Owls have undergone plenty of changes since, most notably with the hiring of head coach Matt Bragga. If either program wants to return to the top they’ll need to get past the other this week.

How to watch and game info

Previous meetings

Rice and Southern Miss will meet for the fourth time in the 2019 season on Wednesday during the first round of the 2019 Conference USA Baseball Tournament. 7-Seed Rice will look to do what they’ve already accomplished twice this season, an upset of the Golden Eagles.

How Rice wins

Rice blew three late-inning leads in their final regular season series against Marshall. The sound of the Marshall bats pounding out three straight walk-off hits might still be ringing in the ears of the Rice bullpen, a low point for that group. If the Owls have it their way, they’ll be able to minimize the risk that bullpen might add in a survive-and-advance setting.

Staff ace Matt Canterino has been superb this season, but so also have fellow starters Evan Kravetz and Jackson Parthasarathy. The Owls’ trio of starting pitchers is the only set of starters who have each been named CUSA Pitcher of the Week this season. Canterino will presumably start against Southern Miss. If he’s throwing well, it’s going to be hard for coach Bragga to take him out a before the sixth or seventh inning at the earliest.

A complete game from Canterino or a strong start with a few well-executed innings by a select bullpen arm or two have proven to be enough to keep the Southern Miss bats at bay. That combination, plus a big hit or two from the likes of Trei Cruz, Bradley Gneiting or Andrew Dunlap are the recipe Rice needs to employ to move on.

How Southern Miss wins

Southern Miss is playing far from their best brand of baseball, going 3-6 in their last nine conference games. Even in defeat, though, the markings of an NCAA Tournament-worthy team have been apparent. Walker Powell is a top of the line starting pitcher who tossed nine innings in his most recent outing against UAB, striking out eight while allowing one earned run. He’ll go toe-to-toe with the Owls’ Canterino.

The lineup is where Southern Miss will hope to exploit their advantage. The Golden Eagles entering the CUSA Tournament with the third best batting average in CUSA and the second-most long balls on the season (54). Outside of an off weekend in Houston, the Southern Miss offense has tallied 21 runs or more in every conference series they’ve played this season — including the series losses.

Both teams can pitch and both teams can hit. But Southern Miss has proven more capable of stringing those hits together and producing runs consistently. They just haven’t done it against Rice. Which side blinks first?

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