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Rice Baseball: 2022 MLB Owls update – May 18

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The 2022 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.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon started to heat up at the plate this week, slashing .400/.478/.650 with a 1.128 OPS through six games. Three of his eight hits went for extra bases including this two-run dinger to put the Halos in front against the Rangers.

https://twitter.com/SotoP_23/status/1526950989365796865

Through May 18 Rendon is hitting .230 with 12 extra-base hits, 19 walks and 29 strikeouts. His OPS is .736 and he’s collected 21 RBI.

J.T. Chargois – Tampa Bay Rays

Chargois looks to be getting closer to making his return. He will reportedly start a minor-league rehab stint this week with the Durham Bulls, the first step in his return to the big league club.

Through May 18, Chargois has a 0.00 ERA with a 0.000 WHIP. He’s averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey’s string of strong outings continued this week. He hasn’t given up an earned run since May 1, allowing just one hit in seven innings since that outing. Duffey appeared in three games for the Twins this week, earning his first save on Monday against the Athletics.

Through May 18, Duffey has a 3.00 ERA with a 1.067 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge had a nine-day gap between appearances, finally getting back on the mound last Thursday against the White Sox. He worked one inning, striking out one and allowing one run while earning his third hold of the season.

Through May 18, Luetge has a 4.66 ERA with a 1.448 WHIP. He’s averaging 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Glenn Otto – Texas Rangers

Otto had his first truly bad day on the mound this season on Saturday against the Red Sox. He allowed eight hits and eight runs, in 5.0+ innings en route to his first loss. Otto is now 1-1 this season.

Through May 18, Otto has a 6.38 ERA with a 1.418 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2023 CB Jamarion Clark commits to Owls

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The first defensive pledge of the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class is in the books. Corner Jamarion Clark has committed to the Owls.

After a few weeks of relative quiet, things picked up quickly on the Rice football recruiting front in mid-May. The Owls handed out almost two dozen offers in a 24-hour period, representing roughly a quarter of their total offer count for the 2023 class. Among those offers was South Oak Cliff corner Jamarion Clark, who pulled the trigger almost immediately and committed to the Owls.

Clark had previously picked up offers from Arizona, Buffalo and Toledo last fall. He added offers from Tulsa, Northern Arizona, Alabama A&M and others this spring. He even picked up an offer from Bowling Green on Tuesday, the day he elected to shut things down and commit to Rice.

The addition of Clark marks the addition of the first defensive commitment in the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class. To this point, the Owls had received commitments from five offensive linemen as well as quarterback Chase Jenkins.

When Clark signs, he’ll be the first scholarship corner the Owls have added from the high school ranks since the 2021 class, which included Jojo Jean.

Premium: Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Clark’s film screams physicality and awareness. His ability to diagnose where the ball is going, react quickly and come downfield with aggression is exciting. Corners in this scheme are frequently asked to stand on an island and lock down their side of the field. Clark has the makings of someone that could be able to do just that, making his commitment a nice pickup for the Owls.

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Rice Baseball 2022: Owls rally past Houston in extras

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Rice Baseball rallied to take the lead against Houston in the 12th inning, holding on for a big win over their crosstown rivals on Tuesday.

Although the Silver Glover series had already been decided, Rice baseball entered their final midweek tilt against crosstown rival Houston with renewed focus. The Owls lost the first game to the Cougars 10-7, then dropped the second contest 8-2. That second contest kicked off a nine-game losing streak, which the Owls brought into the series finale at Schroeder Park on Tuesday night.

Last Time Out : MTSU thumps Rice baseball in Owls’ final home series

Houston struck first on an RBI single in the third inning off Rice starter Parker Smith. Rice answered quickly with a run of their own in the next half inning, driven in by this no-doubt blast from Connor Walsh:

Tied at one, both teams swapped two-run frames in the sixth inning, setting up a close contest as the fast-paced game careened into the later moments. Houston would take the lead in the bottom of the eighth, forcing the Owls into a do-or-die ninth inning where Wals, again, was the hero. He doubled, advanced to third on an error and scored on a balk to tie the game.

Garrett Zaskoda was tremendous in extras, pitching the tenth, eleventh and twelfth innings without allowing a run. Those zeroes allowed the offense, courtesy of a crucial two-out single by Jack Ben-Shoshan, to put Rice in front for the first time in the game before Zaskoda returned to close out the win.

What it means | Proof of life

It’s been a rough month for Rice baseball. Any thoughts that this team had turned the corner after a series win against Western Kentucky were quickly dashed by a string of games that were largely uncompetitive.

Win or lose, this team was supposed to show progress as the season moved onward. It hasn’t really felt like that’s been the case of late. That’s what made Tuesday’s somewhat inconsequential game so important.

No matter the record, head coach Jose Cruz Jr. indicated he hadn’t thrown in the towel just yet. When discussing the last few games after their weekend series with Middle Tennessee, Cruz Jr. was fairly frank. “I try to win every game I play,” he said. “I’m still expecting them to go out and give me high effort and get out there and try to win a ballgame.”

For the first time in more than two weeks, the Owls did it. On the road against a rival they came from behind, forced extra innings, pitched well enough to win and found the big hit when they needed it most. One good game won’t erase the weeks of disappointing play. But it is proof — however slight — that Rice baseball hasn’t quit just yet. There may still be hope here after all.

ON DECK | vs FIU (Thr-Sat)

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: Nevada transfer Alem Huseinović commits to Owls

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The Transfer Portal continues to help supplement the 2022 Rice Basketball recruiting class. Nevada transfer Alem Huseinović has committed to the Owls.

As soon as the final buzzer sounded and the offseason began, Rice basketball recruiting and roster management took center stage. #GreenLightU will always be on the lookout for talented shooting guards, clear

Huseinović spent the last two seasons with the Nevada Wolfpack where he appeared in 43 games. Last He averaged 8.3 minutes per game last season, scoring a season-high eight points against George Mason in November. That usage was up slightly from the 7.6 minutes per game he averaged as a true freshman the year before.

Prior to that, he played his high school ball in Arizona, but it was his international exploits that helped put him on the radar. Huseinović led the Bosnia national team to a championship game appearance in the U16 European Championships, an experience Huseinović called “something that I’ll never forget” adding that it helped him learn “how to play on big stages and learn how to play more mature at a young age.”

When he hit the Transfer Portal, Huseinović drew interest from teams across the country. His recruiting would boil down to Rice, Rider, UC Riverside, Southern Utah, NJIT and NAU. He picked the Owls primarily because of the culture and his fit in the scheme deployed by head coach Scott Pera.

Huseinović sees himself as “a guard who can shoot it and create for myself while making others around me better by creating for them”, all skills that would seem to make him a great fit for the Owls shooting-intensive style.

The second addition from the Transfer Portal during this cycle, Huseinović joins forward Seryee Lewis who announced his transfer from Kansas Stater earlier this spring. You can follow all offseason roster moves with our Rice basketball recruiting and roster tracker here.

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Conference USA Baseball 2022: Mid-May Roundup

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There’s been a lot going on in Conference USA Baseball. Here’s the latest from the teams on the diamond this week.

Team Last Weekend Record Up Next
Southern Miss vs ODU (L, 1-2) 36-13 (18-6) vs UTSA
UTSA vs Marshall (W, 2-1) 32-16 (16-8) at USM
FAU at LA Tech (W, 2-1) 30-19 (15-9) vs Charlotte
LA Tech vs FAU (L, 1-2) 33-17 (15-9) vs WKU
MTSU at FIU (W, 2-1) 26-20 (14-10) at Rice
Charlotte vs Rice (W, 3-0) 31-17 (14-10) at FAU
ODU at USM (W, 2-1) 31-15 (13-11) vs Marshall
UAB at WKU (L, 1-2) 27-19 (11-13) vs FIU
Marshall at UTSA (L, 1-2) 20-27-1 (9-15) at ODU
WKU vs UAB (W, 2-1) 17-30 (7-17) at LA Tech
Rice at Charlotte (L, 3-0) 13-36 (6-18) vs MTSU
FIU vs MTSU (L, 1-2) 14-30 (6-18) at UAB
Standings as of 5/12/2022

Conference Tournament Positioning

How it works

The tournament will consist of the top eight teams in regular season play based on winning percentage. Entering the final weekend only three teams (Southern Miss, UTSA and Louisiana Tech) have officially clinched spots in the tournament. (Even if the Bulldogs dropped their remaining games, they’d hold the tiebreaker over Marshall). No team has been eliminated, although several are hanging on by a thread.

The West

Southern Miss, UTSA and Louisiana Tech have distanced themselves fairly comfortably from the rest of the division. Louisiana Tech holds a six-game advantage over the current first-team out, Marshall.

The East

The race in East is much tighter with the gap between Florida Atlantic and Old Dominion (currently seeded No. 3 and No. 7) sitting at only two games. The next two weekends could see a fair amount of movement on the seeding line.

Spot 8

As it stands currently, UAB is the last team in. They have a two-game cushion over Marshall and the tiebreaker, which means they’re realistically in if they can split their remaining games against FIU and UTSA.  Things would get interesting if the Blazers struggle, opening the door for the teams on the outside to make a move, although Western Kentucky, Rice and FIU need to win out to have a chance.

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