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Rice Baseball surges past Texas Southern

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A close game in the early innings tilted heavily in favor of Rice Baseball late as the Owls scored eight in the final four innings to beat Texas Southern.

Reed Gallant set the tone for Rice baseball on Wednesday night, battling through 4.1 innings before a two-run RBI single forced him from the game. His ability to navigate through eight hits while allowing just two runs was instrumental to the Owls’ chances. Case in point, by the time he turned the ball over to Garret Stratton, his teammate had already built a four-run cushion.

Those four early runs came in two pairs, each via two-out hits in successive innings. Landon West got things started by scooping a double to shallow left center field that just slipped under the glove of a diving outfielder to plate two in the third. Blaine Brown followed with a single through the left side of the infield in the fourth, stretching the Owls’ advantage from 2-0 to 4-0.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball takes one from FAU in David Pierce’s first series

After knocking Gallant out in the fifth and getting two runs back, Texas Southern nearly leveled the score in the sixth, loading the bases and scoring once off Von Baker, who loaded the bases with one out. The defense came to his rescue with Max Johnson rifling a grounder to Aric Anderson at home to turn an inning-ending 5-2 double play to preserve the Owls’ lead. That was one of several superb defensive moments from Rice.

A double from Cole Green and a groundout from Trey Duffield put Rice back in front by four and that’s as close as Texas Southern would get for the rest of the night. The Owls scored three in the sixth and five in the seventh, turning a close game into a much-needed, one-sided home win.

What They’re Saying

What it means | Off the mat

The overall record isn’t going to look pretty this season, but that’s to be expected after Rice baseball bottomed out at 2-16, making a coaching change in the process. However, Rice is 4-4 over their last eight, their first stretch of .500 baseball since winning two of three in their initial homestand of the season, with wins over Sam Houston and USC.

David Pierce was hired to quell the storm and make this team respectable again. But even though eyes have, understandably, already begun to peek ahead at next season, his impact on this current roster cannot be understated. Those around the program have commented on the team’s renewed energy and passion and the results are starting to speak for themselves.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Pierce is now officially 2-3 as the Owls’ manager. That’s in a week’s worth of baseball with a team he didn’t build and is only now beginning to understand. Nevertheless, it’s better than where the Owls have been and if this recent stretch is any indication, it means Rice baseball will be competitive this season after all. Given how rocky the start of the year was, that’s a win in itself.

ON DECK | vs ECU x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball clipped by Lamar in narrow defeat

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Rice Baseball drops one-run game against Lamar despite a continued resurgence on the mound.

Runs were at a premium on Tuesday evening in Beaumont, TX as Rice baseball battled Lamar in a razor-close game for nine innings. Jackson Blank drew the start and went four innings, limiting the Cardinals to just four hits while striking out five.

The Owls fell behind in the second when Lamar tagged Jackson Blank with a two-out, two-RBI double to pull ahead. That margin would hold for some time before Rice got one run back via a two-out triple from Trey Duffield, which drove in Cole Green to cut the Owls’ deficit in half.

More: Rice baseball hires David Pierce as head coach

Rice had some big swings in this one, but the Duffield triple was the only one put to good use. The Owls were unable to capitalize on earlier doubles from Blaine Brown and Michael Zito.

The Rice pitching kept them within striking distance, but Rice went down quickly in the eighth and once again in the ninth, dropping the midweek bout by a final score of 2-1.

What it means | In Arms We Trust

The advance of the Owls’ pitching since Jose Cruz was relieved of his duties roughly two weeks ago has been a sight to behold. Rice pitching allowed 9.31 runs per game across those first 16 contests, serving as batting practice for the vast majority of their foes and posing little threat to anyone on the mound, regardless of the caliber of opponent.

Since Parker Bangs became the interim and, presumably, was given similar latitudes to manage the staff by new head coach David Pierce, the pitching staff hasn’t just gotten better, it’s improved by leaps and bounds.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Rice allowed 9.31 runs per game through their first 16 games. In nine games since, including Tuesday against Lamar, Rice has allowed 4.22 runs per game, a 50 percent reduction. Rice hasn’t allowed double-figures once over that span. They did so six games in a row during their prolonged losing streak.

The bats haven’t seen the same degree of resurgence. Until they do, Rice baseball will have to rely on their arms, something that seems more plausible now than it did a few weeks previously.

ON DECK | vs Texas Southern (Wed), vs ECU x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 2: Unpacking the offense, QBs

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Two weeks of 2025 Rice Football spring practices are in the books. Here’s what we’ve learned about the offense and quarterbacks so far.

The new look Rice football offense has taken some getting used to, but the explosiveness with which they play and the vast array of weapons at their disposal has made for an exciting spring so far. Just a few practices into the spring, the scheme is starting to take shape as everyone learns on the go and gets their first live reps on the field.

This update dives deep into that offense, taking stock of the quarterback competition thus far and digging into the details of how plays are called, what the scheme will look like from week to week and more.

A true competition at quarterback

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“Why Wait?” David Pierce dives in as Rice Baseball coach right now

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Rice baseball welcomed a familiar face back to South Main this week as they named former Owls’ assistant David Pierce their next head coach.

There wasn’t an empty seat in the Brian Patterson Center as the clock ticked toward noon on Wednesday, March 19. It was spring break on campus, the middle of the lunch hour for fans and alumni and the press conference had been scheduled with barely 24 hours’ notice, but none of that seemed to matter as a host of Owls’ faithful gathered to welcome their new head baseball coach.

Less than a week from the dismissal of Jose Cruz Jr as the Owls’ baseball coach, David Pierce was introduced as his successor, set to take over the team immediately, starting with practice scheduled just hours after his introductory remarks.

If the unconventional, whirlwind week bothered him, Pierce didn’t show it. “It’s Rice,” he remarked. “We didn’t have a lot of hesitation. It was a pretty easy decision for us.”

As Athletic Director Tommy McClelland had alluded just moments before in his comments, that Rice would look into Pierce as a potential candidate shouldn’t have surprised anyone. However, McClelland acknowledged he had two driving motivations when it came to his search. How could he make the most out of the rest of this current baseball season and how could he best position Rice baseball going forward?

“The answer to both of those questions happened to be the same person, David Pierce,” McClelland said.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

It was Pierce who first suggested the process move at this rapid pace, prompting McClelland to ponder his first question again. McClelland noted Pierce’s insistence and passion stood out to him and helped drive those conversations.

“He brought up the idea and that concept that it should happen sooner rather than later. Why not start now?” he said. “Why wait til the end of the season when I can jump in the boat with the players and the staff now and get to rowing with them.”

And just like that, Pierce was on the road from San Marcos to South Main set to inherit a head coaching position in media res. Pierce began the year as an assistant at Texas State, having made a promise to his wife that he wasn’t going to chase a job this year. That if the stars aligned and a situation fell into place, they’d know. Months later, he was on the road to Houston.

He shook familiar hands, donned a cap with the famous Old English R embroidered on top, excited to start work and, in his words, “win now.”

“What I really want from the players is to really start with a clean slate,” he said. “There’s goals in front of us that we can attain now if we truly believe that and we’re truly willing to put in the work for that. You never know.”

A week ago, many would have considered it impossible to hire an accomplished coach who had almost a decade of experience at the institution and even more postseason success since he left. But here we are. And here is David Pierce, ready to take on the challenge and get Rice baseball back to where it once was.

“College baseball is much better when Rice University is playing in the postseason,” he said.

The above-capacity crowd at the Patterson Center hung on every word. Pierce was hired to get Rice back to the postseason. The first stop, though? Boca Raton for conference play in three days time.

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Rice Baseball drops 4-2 decision to Incarnate Word

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Rice Baseball came up two runs short, falling to Incarnate Word in a midweek bout, their final game managed by interim skipper Parker Bangs.

The final game under the management of Rice baseball interim head coach Parker Bangs got off to an inauspicious start with the visiting Incarnate Word Cardinals scoring two in the first off freshman opener Blaine Brown. Jack Ben-Shoshan entered and prevented further damage, giving the Owls a chance to get back in the game, which they did an inning later.

A groundout from Treyton Rank scored one before Max Johnson singled to right field, leveling the score at two runs, apiece. Things would were quickly for both teams in the third before Incarnate Word got Jackson Blank for for the go-ahead run in the fourth and added one more insurance run off Von Baker in the seventh.

More: Rice baseball hires David Pierce as head coach

Rice would have their chances, getting runners to second and third with one out in the seventh but failing to score. A leadoff walk in the ninth was spoiled by a double-play, followed by back-to-back singles. But even though Rice tallied 10 hits, they were limited to just the two runs, falling by a final score of 4-2.

What it means | Bring on the David Pierce era

Parker Bangs ends his time as skipper with a 2-3 record across four games. That’s not too shabby considering the 2-14 team he inherited and the whirlwind of stress and emotions that have surrounded the program this week. It’s what comes next that is most important, though, more specifically, who comes next.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

On Wednesday, former Rice baseball assistant David Pierce will be introduced as the Owls’ next head coach and get to work immediately. He’ll fly with the team to Boca Raton and coach the Owls for the first time on Friday night against FAU.

To say this season has been unusual would be an understatement, but both Pierce and these players hope their second act is one worth remembering. We’ll all find out whether or not that’s for the better soon enough.

ON DECK | vs Florida Atlantic x3 (Fri-Sun)

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