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Conference USA Baseball 2022: Midseason 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 Weekend Result Record Next Weekend
Charlotte at ODU (L, 2-1) 16-7 (4-2) at UTSA
FAU vs UTSA (W, 2-1) 16-9 (3-3) at Rice
FIU at LA Tech (L, 3-0) 9-15 (2-4) vs ODU
LA Tech vs FIU (W, 3-0) 18-6 (5-1) at USM
Marshall vs Rice (L, 2-1) 12-11-1 (2-4) at UAB
MTSU at UAB (W, 2-1) 10-13 (3-3) vs WKU
Old Dominion vs Char (W, 2-1) 18-4 (3-3) at FIU
Rice at Marsh (W, 2-1) 8-17 (3-3) vs FAU
Southern Miss at WKU (W, 3-0) 17-7 (5-1) vs LA Tech
UAB vs MTSU (L, 2-1) 15-7 (3-3) vs Marsh
UTSA at FAU (L, 2-1) 13-10 (2-4) vs Char
WKU vs USM (L, 3-0) 9-14 (1-5) at MTSU
Standings as of 3/27/2022

League Roundup

Heavyweight matchup looms

Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech were projected to finish first and second place, respectively, in the Conference USA Baseball Preseason Poll. Roughly halfway through the season and a few weeks into conference play, little has been done to dispel that notion. Each program boats a sterling 5-1 record in league play heading into what could be a pivotal matchup this coming weekend in Hattiesburg.

Louisiana Tech has won nine of its last ten games, including a midweek 12-inning victory over No. 21 LSU. Southern Miss has won seven of its last eight with its most recent marquee win coming against Alabama on March 15.

Is Rice baseball legit?

Things got off on the wrong foot for Rice baseball and new head coach Jose Cruz Jr. After a 3-14 start which includes sweeps by No. 1 Texas and No. 15 Texas Tech, Rice has gone 5-4 in their last nine games including their first series win of the season last time out against Marshall.

Can Rice rebound? The prominent in-state juggernauts no longer remain on the schedule and the Owls have seemingly found their offense after struggling early. This upcoming home series against Florida Atlantic should provide some clues.

The opposite of hot

On the opposite end of things,  Western Kentucky and FIU have entered the make-or-break portion of their midseason schedules. Both programs have lost eight of their last 10 games and sit far under .500 (FIU is 9-15. WKU is 9-14).

If they’re going to have any shot of making the Conference USA Baseball Tournament at the end of the regular season they can’t afford to fall much further behind. Without winning a weekend series soon, even a late-season run will be too little, too late.

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Rice baseball wins first C-USA series, 2-1 over Marshall

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Rice Baseball took their first weekend series of the season, winning the opening two games against Marshall on the Owls’ first C-USA road trip.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball wins series 2-1

A one-run defeat on Sunday must not be allowed to sully what was an impactful first Conference USA series win for Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr. and his team. The Owls held nothing back, pressing every button they could to ensure they didn’t fly back to Texas defeated.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball falls to Texas A&M in marathon game

The pair of wins gives Rice five victories in their last nine games. As modest as that may seem, playing .500 baseball following a 2-9 start represents a significant step-change in the trajectory of this program.  But first, a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Finding the few

As Cruz Jr. mentioned earlier this week, finding a core group of pitchers he could trust in key situations was one of the Owls’ most pressing priorities. The picture might not be crystal clear right now, but things look much better after this weekend than they have at any other point this year.

On Friday, Rice was able to use one reliever (David Shaw) in between a quality outing from starter Cooper Chandler and a shutdown performance from closer Matthew Linskey. Getting one inning from Parker Smith on Saturday wasn’t the plan, but nice relief outings from Roel Garcia, Tom Vincent and Garret Zaskoda turned things around for the Owls before the day was through.

Vincent and Shaw reprised their performances was good Sunday appearances as well. At a minimum, it appears Chandler, Smith, and Garcia are reliable starting options, with DeLeon quality depth and a viable Sunday guy. Shaw, Vincent, Zaskoda and Linskey have also done enough to be trusted. Rice will still need a few more guys to enter that important circle of trust, but the foundation has clearly been laid.

2. Sharing the success at the plate

Early on in the season, the vast majority of the offensive production seemed to be coming from the contingent in the middle of the order. That group was typically comprised of Guy Garibay, Austin Bulman and Aaron Smigelski. That core has grown to include the red-hot Nathan Becker in recent weeks, but it’s been the productivity from top to bottom of the lineup that has been the most encouraging.

Piere Gallo, who has hit in the bottom third of the lineup for most of the season, is fourth on the team with 15 RBI. He has 11 RBI in his last eight games. And he’d have more if he hit even a few spots higher. Johnny Hoyle had big hits this weekend. So did Connor Walsh. It’s starting to feel like someone new is contributing every other night and the offensive production is reflecting that.

3. Weekend win

For the first time this season, Rice baseball has won a weekend series. The ascent has been slow. Things started out rocky. But Rice does appear to be rounding into form at the right time. Errors are down (just four total on the weekend). Runs are trending up (Rice outscored Marshall 17 – 12) and the pitching is becoming more well-rounded and reliable. Opponents are putting up fewer crooked numbers.

Part of that is the break from playing teams like Texas and Texas Tech in three-game series. That certainly plays a factor. But just watching the team that took the field this weekend makes it abundantly clear that something has changed, they’ve grown. They’re gotten better. And that makes what comes next all the more intriguing.

More: Rice Baseball Midseason State of the Program

Cruz Jr. was intent not to “promise the moon” upon his arrival. A few good weekends of baseball should be cause for anyone to offer major course corrections when it comes to those expectations. But it’s clear that should Rice string a few more positive weekends together, they’ll officially be a competitive team that has the ability to go toe-to-toe with anyone in their conference.

If the Owls can do that, they’ll have done more than enough to earn a passing grade for Cruz Jr,’s first campaign. From there, the limits aren’t predetermined. This team still has the potential to be as good as it believes it can be.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Rice 7 – Marshall 2

Pierce Gallo put Rice baseball out in front in the top of the second inning with a solo shot down the right field line. Austin Bulman followed in the third with a home run of his own with the Owls tacking on one more to take a 3-0 lead. Marshall would tally two runs on solo shots of their own in the bottom of the third, but that would be all they were able to do against Rice pitching that afternoon.

Rice starter Cooper Chandler breezed through six innings, allowing just those two earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts. He gave way to David Shaw and eventually Matthew Linskey who stifled the Marshall bats while the Rice offense tacked on additional insurance runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth, winning by the final score of 7-2.

SATURDAY | Rice 6 – Marshall 5

Things started out poorly for Rice baseball in the middle game of the series. The Owls committed two errors in the first inning and fell behind 4-1. Starter Parker Smith would last just one inning as the Owls’ were hurled into comeback mode. Marshall added another run in the second, stretching their lead to 5-1 before Rice would mount a counteroffensive.

The Owls sent six men to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring three times, the final two runs coming from an RBI double from Austin Bulman. That put Rice back within reach, trailing 5-4. Roel Garcia delivered a masterful three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, keeping things tight before Guy Garibay and Nathan Becker could tack on RBIs in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively to give Rice a 6-5 win.

SUNDAY | Marshall 5 – Rice 4

Marshall scored first for the first time in the weekend, jumping out in front of Rice 3-0 as Alex DeLeon battled through 4.1 contested innings. He would leave after 4.1 innings, charged with four runs, the same total as the Owls’ hard scored in his defense. Rice scored all of their runs in the fourth and fifth innings, leveling the game at 4-4 before both teams went quiet for several at bats.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

It was Marshall that broke the quiet, delivering an RBI double against Thomas Burbank in the eighth to steal the game and avert the series sweep.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Wed), vs FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball: 2022 MLB Owls preseason roundup

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Rice baseball alums will take the diamond in the weeks to come as the 2022 season draws near. Here’s the latest on each of these MLB Owls.

Glen Otto – Texas Rangers

Otto was shipped from New York to Texas in a deadline deal between the Yankees and Rangers last season. He made his major league debut shortly after against the Astros, throwing five scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits.

He finished his debut season with a 9.26 ERA and a 1.714 WHIP. He struck out 28 batters across 23.1 innings, averaging 10.8 punchouts per nine innings. Early reports indicate h could be in the mix for one of the Rangers’ spots in the starting rotation this year.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Hip surgery stole the majority of Anthony Rendon’s 2021 season. He appeared in 58 games before being shut down, the fewest outings (in any full 162-game season) of his professional career. Prior to the injury. Rendon was hitting .240 with a .712 OPS. He had 34 RBI in between stints on and off the injured list.

Rendon spoke with the media at the beginning of camp, addressing what it was like dealing with injury and looking forward to the season:

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey frequently worked as a set-up man in the seventh and eighth innings last season, setting a career-high in appearances with 64 outings while compiling a 3.18 ERA with a career-best three saves. He’s set to hit free agency following the 2022 season and could use a bounce-back campaign after seeing his strikeouts rates and walk rates go the wrong direction last year.

In the meantime, Duffey is enjoying the clubhouse this spring. “It seems like every day this week there’s been new faces overnight that have showed up and they’re all good ones,” he told Twins reporter Do-Hyoung Park. “It’s an exciting time. It’s one of the more memorable springs I can remember being here.”

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Pitching in the majors for the first time since 2015, Luetge enjoyed an incredible resurgence last season. He made one start and 56 additional appearances as a reliever, ending the season with a 2.74 ERA and 78 strikeouts compared to just 15 walks.

Luetge is set to return to the Yankees bullpen once again this season where he’ll slide into his role as a middle reliever with the flexibility to go multiple innings when needed.

J.T. Chargois – Tampa Bay Rays

After spending the 2020 season overseas playing in Japan, Chargois made his way back to the MLB last year. He spent the first half of the 2021 season with the Mariners before being traded to the Rays at the deadline.

Chargois boasted a 1.90 ERA after he was moved, and struck out a total of 53 battlers in 53.2 innings across both organizations. He’s expected to be a quality option in the Rays dugout once again this season.

Jon Duplantier – Los Angeles Dodgers (m)

Selected by the Dodgers from the Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 Draft in December, Duplantier was a non-roster invite to big league spring training this month.

Duplantier made four major league appearances in 2021, finishing the year with an 0-3 record and a 13.15 ERA. He struck out 12 batters and allowed 19 hits before an injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season in July.

Brock Holt – Atlanta Braves (m)

Signed to a minor-league deal this week, Holt will get a shot with the defending World Series champs. After beginning his major league career a seven-season in Boston with the Red Sox, Holt has played for the Brewers, Nationals and Rangers over the course of the last two seasons.

Holt manned third base for the Rangers in 2021, making 57 starts and appearing in 76 games. He hit .209 on the season with 23 RBI and 16 extra-base hits.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 107 – Rice Football spring practice and JP Heath

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Rice Football returned to the field for spring practices this week. We react to the latest news and meander through Rice Athletics with JP Heath.

The second week of Rice football spring practice offers plenty to discuss, as well as does some unfortunate transfer news that broke shortly after our last podcast. Carter and Matthew dive into that before stepping back to welcome the first guest of the spring, Rice Owls Voice JP Heath.

Finally free from pulling double-duty between Rice basketball and Rice baseball, JP joins us to discuss the end of the men’s basketball season and share some early reactions from the beginning of the Jose Cruz Jr. era at Reckling Park.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 107.

Episode Notes

  • Housekeeping
    • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
    • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes updates from spring practices and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better.
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  • 2022 Rice Football Spring Camp
  • JP Heath joins the show
    • Making sense of an injury-plagued men’s basketball season
    • Early thoughts on Rice baseball in the Jose Cruz Jr. era
    • JP’s memorable broadcasting moments at Rice and elsewhere

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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Rice Baseball 2022: Midseason State of the Program

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Rice Baseball is more than a month into the 2022 season. Here’s where the program stands and what’s next for the Owls on the diamond this spring.

With one week of conference play already in the books and roughly 40 percent of the season complete, we’re finally starting to discover just what kind of team Rice baseball is becoming. The Owls own a 6-16 record but have won three of their last six and have played much better baseball as of late.

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Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr. says the team is “still creating a bit of a culture of what’s expected,” but remains encouraged by the progress he’s seen so far. In this midseason State of the Program, we’ll look at the highs, lows and everything in-between as we attempt to explain where Rice baseball is right now — and more importantly — where it might be going.

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