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Rice Baseball drops first Silver Glove matchup vs Houston

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Shaky defense soured a productive evening for the Rice baseball offense as the Owls fell to Houston in Game 1 of the Silver Glove Series.

The recent string of strange, painful games accumulated by Rice baseball this season continued on Tuesday night. Amidst a backdrop of errors and missed opportunities, Parker Smith delivered a strong performance, eventually be saddled with five runs, although only three were earned.

The drama began on what should have been a routine fly-ball hit to left fielder Jack Ben-Shoshan in the first inning. Instead of out number two, the ball bounced off his glove and put two runners in scoring position. Both would come in to score, spotting the visiting Cougars to a 2-0 lead.

Last Time Out : Takeaways from Rice Baseball 3-1 series loss to Harvard

Rice would leave the bases loaded in the second before loading them once more in the third inning, despite not tallying any hits. Aaron Smigelski would take care of that evasive base knock, delivering a two-run double to spot Rice to a 3-2 lead. That advantage would last mere minutes before Houston found the equalizer in the fourth when a would-be base stealer would score from second on a pair of errors.

Soon after, Rice found themselves trailing 5-3 and began to chip away. Rice scored would engineer runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, tying things up with Houston 6-6 after the Owls allowed another unearned run following another outfield mishap.

On the mound, Garrett Zaskoda was extremely effective after taking the reigns from Cooper Chandler in his first relief appearance of the season. Zaskoda tied a career-high with four strikeouts, giving the team a fighting chance in the middle innings which they’d hold until an RBI double scored the winning runs against Zaskoda’s replacement, Brandon Deskins, in the eighth.

What they’re saying | Fix the fielding

Head coach Jose Cruz Jr. was quick to praise the strong outings on the mound, giving nods to several individuals including Chandler, who essentially threw his midweek bullpen session in the game. The critical comments came when addressing the fielding woes. “I don’t know how you can possibly have five errors and win a game,” he said. “That’s just something that we’re going to have to fix. The amount of errors we’ve had in so many games is just unacceptable.”

Cruz Jr. went as far as to say he’d consider moving players to the bench if they couldn’t hold on to the baseball. At this point, everything is on the table as he and the rest of the coaching staff work to assemble the best starting lineup to win games.

“We had three errors in the outfield today and that’s crazy town. I mean, that doesn’t happen,” Cruz Jr. said. Indeed, it hasn’t happened for Rice baseball since an eight error game against Arizona in 2019, spread across a host of different position players.

What it means | Offense waking up?

Seven runs against anyone is a particularly important milestone for a team that’s struggled at the plate early this season. Tuesday was proof the Owls can get the bats going. Now they just need to do it consistently.

They might start working on a bust of Aaron Smigeliski to keep in the Rice baseball dugout. After pinch hits in his first two appearances of the season, Smigelski earned his spot in the regular lineup where he stayed until being hit by a pitch in the Sunday finale against Lamar. That injury kept him out of the lineup against Baylor and through the weekend series against Harvard.

He made his return to the order on Tuesday, walking in his first plate appearance to earn an eight-game on-base streak. He one-upped that accolade in his second plate appearance, blasting a double to the alley in right-center, turning a 2-1 Rice deficit into a 3-2 Rice lead. It was the Owls’ only hit of the first three innings, but it was the biggest. He also added a productive out to advance a runner in the seventh.

At a time when the bats around him were struggling, Smigelski made every trip to the plate count, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. In all seriousness, it’ll take more than a good couple of weeks to earn some tangible hardware. But in a season filled with lows for Rice baseball, Smigelski has been a bright light.

Jack Riedel also earned a mention. Despite not starting the game and coming in as a defensive replacement in the fourth inning he finished a triple short of the cycle, mashing his first career home run along the way.

ON DECK | Texas Tech

The extended Rice baseball homestand marches on this coming weekend with a three-game set against Texas Tech. First pitch for Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. The series will be the Owls’ final non-conference weekend slate before opening up conference play the following weekend against UAB.

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Rice Football to hire CJ Anderson as running backs coach

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All signs point to Rice football naming former Super Bowl 50 champion and All-Pro rusher CJ Anderson as its next running backs coach.

Just days away from the start of spring practice, Rice football will have a new face to introduce among its coaching ranks. Former NFL running back CJ Anderson has announced he will be joining the Owls’ staff as the running backs coach.

Anderson spent last season as the head coach at Monte Vista High School in California where his team went 7-3. MVHS won its first seven games of the season after gaining winless during the previous spring season.

A Pro Bowl selection in 2014 and Super Bowl 50 champion, Anderson brings a weighty resume to the running backs room at South Main. He rushed for 1,007 yards in 2017 and also helped lead the Los Angeles rams to the NFC Championship game in 2018.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren has always preached having an NFL Curriculum. Bringing a player like Anderson who has done it at the highest level fits that bill.

More: Rice football adds 2023 game with UConn

Anderson will fill the final coaching spot vacated earlier this offseason by Robbie Picazo, who had served as the Owls’ running back coach for the past two seasons.

Picazo accepted a role as an offensive assistant with the Houston Texans under their new head coach Lovie Smith. Up until this point, he had been one of the longest-tenured Rice assistants, originally coming with Bloomgren from Stanford.

Rice begins spring practice on March 8.

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Rice Baseball: Struggles continue as Owls drop series to Harvard, 3-1

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Rice Baseball averted the sweep, but still turned in a rather poor outing against Harvard in the Owls’ second home series loss of the season.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 3-1

Perhaps someone just needs to whisper “It’s Sunday” into the Rice baseball dugout every day. Two of the Owls’ three wins this year have come in the final game of their weekend series with the other coming in a midweek tilt at Houston Baptist. Rice picked up its third win of the year this weekend, but it came with a tangible cost — three more painful losses. What did we learn from the 1-3 weekend and what’s next for Rice baseball?

1. Mayday, offense

It wasn’t until the shadows started to creep across the diamond at Reckling Park late Saturday afternoon that the Rice offense even began to consider showing up for the week. Rice was blanked 9-0 by Baylor on Wednesday. On Friday night, Harvard skunked the Owls 3-0. Then Rice failed to scratch across even a singular run through five innings on the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Even when accounting for the nine-run outburst on Sunday afternoon, Rice accumulated 12 runs in fives games this week dating back to the Baylor disaster. That’s an average of 2.4 runs per game. While there are days when a team can get away with that low of a run total, more often than not, you’re going to need more oomph to win college baseball game these days, you just are.

Last Time Out: Baylor blanks Owls in midweek tilt

Head coach Jose Cruz Jr. did what he could on Sunday to spark the sluggish unit. He flipped up the batting order and shuffled names around. That did help, but the bulk of the production still came from the core of Guy Garibay, Austin Bulman, Connor Walsh and Nathan Becker, four guys who were likely to be in the lineup in some capacity anyway.

Whether it’s improved approaches, better plate discipline or all of the above, the task in the batter’s box has reached critical levels of importance.

2. Starting pitching might be coming around

For the first weekend this year, Rice baseball had more decent outings from the bulk of their starting rotation. Cooper Chandler went 5.0 innings and allowed two earned runs with six strikeouts, by far his best outing of the season. On Saturday, Roel Garcia went four scoreless frames. More length would have been a bonus for both of them, but leaving the game midway through without putting the team in a large hole is a win for now.

Thomas Burbank was really the only starter who had a “bad” outing. His 3.0 inning, three-run performance will be colored by the double he surrendered on his final pitch which allowed two to score and staked Harvard to an early 3-0 lead. At that point in the series, Rice simply had to try someone else to attempt to salvage a split.

Lastly, Alex DeLeon earned the win on Sunday with four innings of two-run ball. He only struck out one batter but competed well, giving up one home run in an otherwise quality outing. That quartet was far from perfect, but none of them singlehandedly lost Rice games. That hasn’t been the case in previous weekends to date.

3. It’s going to be a long season

Rice baseball is 3-9 through their first 12 games. It’s true, starting off with No. 1 ranked Texas in Austin was a brutal welcoming to a new era at South Main, but the Owls have played the next nine games at Reckling Park. And if the likes of Lamar and Harvard can reprise the fabled murder’s row of the Yankee greats, how will this team respond to above-average teams. Like, Baylor, perhaps?

This isn’t a call for anyone to throw in the towels, heaven’s no. But it is a sobering reminder that this young team is going to need to develop from the ground up. There’s a ton of talent standing on the grass at Reckling right now. Every piece just isn’t fully in sync with each other.

To his credit, Cruz Jr. didn’t place the bar as high as those outside the program might have initially demanded it. “I’m not going to promise the moon right now,” he said during the lead up to the season. “I will say we will be better than we were the last couple years.”

Rice was 2-14 in 2020 and 23-29-1 last season. This iteration of Rice baseball is already above the 2020 club. They’ve got a ways to go until they’re anywhere in the ballpark of .500. That’s probably okay, but it’s going to have to take some getting used to as they grow and develop in real time.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Harvard 3 – Rice 0

Harvard struck first with a leadoff double to set the table in the second inning. They followed it up with a manufactured run via a couple of singles in these second. Despite cobbling together just one hit through three innings, Rice still had an opportunity to answer with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third with no outs. Austin Bulman struck out and Guy Garibay lined out to right field to end the threat.

Neither team would score for the next six innings. Harvard pushed across an insurance run in the ninth courtesy of a Rice error. The Owls went quietly. Rice had three times as many strikeouts (15) as hits (5) for the day. Had it not been for quality outings on the mound from Chandler, Garret Zaskoda, David Shaw and DeLeon, there wouldn’t have been anything positive to take away from this game.

SATURDAY (AM) | Harvard 2 – Rice 1

The offense was equally disappointing in the first end of Saturday’s double header. The Owls sent the minimum to the plate five times in the seven-inning game and scored just one run. That came in the bottom half of the sixth inning which had just seen the Rice defense commit two errors, contributing to Harvard’s only two runs of the game.

Once more, the Rice pitching staff was fine. Garcia had a strong performance. Even though Brandon Deskins was charged with the games’ only two runs, neither was earned and he pitched relatively well. The defense just did not help him out.

SATURDAY (PM) | Harvard 6 – Rice 3

The back end of the doubleheader featured some of the Owls’ more disappointing outings on the mound from the weekend. Burbank was hit hard, giving up three extra-base hits in three innings. Mark Perkins recorded just as many outs as he handed out walks (two apiece) and Dalton Wood’s struggles with the strikeout continued. His three runs allowed in the fifth inning sunk any chance Rice had of mounting a comeback.

Rice got two runs back in the fifth via a fielder’s choice followed by a well-placed double by Bulman. A sac fly from Garibay would make it 6-3 in the seventh, but the hole was just too big to overcome.

SUNDAY | Rice 9 – Harvard 6

Three games’ worth (or more) of frustration boiled over on Sunday as Rice delivered a three-spot in the first inning, two more runs in the second and another in the third. Harvard would score twice against DeLeon, but the Rice bats did not slow down. Rice scored at least one run in five of the first six innings, staking the bullpen to a 9-2 lead and asking them for nine outs.

For the most part, Tom Vincent and Reed Gallant threw strikes. Each walked just one batter in more than one inning of work (2.0 for Vincent, 1.1 for Gallant). While each was credited with two runs, the cushion they were pitching with was sufficient to net Rice the win.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Houston (Tues)

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Rice Women’s Basketball rains down threes in rout of UTSA

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Rice Women’s Basketball utilized a barrage of three-point shots to post a dominant victory over UTSA in their final game of the regular season.

From the moment Maya Bokunewicz opened the scoring with a three-pointer it was abundantly clear Rice women’s basketball has not come down from their recent run from elevated play. Winners of five of their last six, the Owls came out firing in their season final against UTSA and showed continued composure when the Roadrunners were able to tie the game midway through the first quarter.

Rice wouldn’t run away with this game as they had in their previous outing against UTEP, but even when UTSA was able to trim the Owls’ margin, the Roadrunners never once took the lead. UTSA’s longest run of the first half was a 6-0 spurt which enabled them to tie the game. Every other burst was no better than a minor 3-0 streak in favor of the visitors.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball blasts UTEP in runaway win

Rice women’s basketball would break things wide open to start the second half. The Owls’ first five shots of the quarter were three-pointers. Four of them hit home, catapulting the home team to a commanding 19-point advantage. From that point on, Rice could have just played out the string. Instead, they poured it on.

The sizable lead grew even larger until the Owls’ advantage nearly doubled up the Roadrunners. The advantage grew to be as large as 39-points, further reinforcing Rice was playing their best basketball of the season on the cusp of postseason play.

Player Spotlight | Ashlee Austin

Winning games with a “team effort” might be a cliche as old as the sport itself, but it frequently rings true with Rice women’s basketball. The Owls spread out their scoring as they typically do, but it’s hard to ignore the consistent production of Ashlee Austin, no matter how effective her teammates have been. Saturday’s win over UTSA marked her tenth consecutive outing of double-digit points and her seventh 20+ point game. She finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.

Stat Corner | Going deep

The three-point shot has been part of the Owls’ offensive attack this season, although to a lesser degree than the Rice men. On Saturday, the women lit up the scoreboard with some long-distance shots of their own. Rice women’s basketball hit 14 three-pointers, crushing their previous season-high (10 at Middle Tennessee, Jan. 7.).

Bokunewicz led the charge, converting seven of the Owls’ 14 triples on her own, tying a school record.

Final Box | Rice 86 – UTSA 48

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball clinched a first-round bye in the Conference USA Tournament with their win over UTEP on Thursday. As Saturday’s games wrap up they’ll have a better understanding of where they’ll fall in the final seeding. Regardless, their first game of the Conference USA Tournament will be played on Wednesday, March 9.

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Rice Basketball runs out of threes in narrow road loss at UTEP

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Rice Basketball ran out of three-pointers in the final moments, falling to UTEP on the road despite a sizable second-half lead.

Max Fiedler and Chris Mullins got Rice basketball off to as good of a start as could have been asked for in their Thursday night road tilt with the UTEP Miners. The senior duo put up the first five points of the game, staking the visiting Owls to an early 5-0 lead. It wouldn’t last.

No sooner had the Owls exhaled from the quick run than UTEP had the lead, and then some. The Miners reeled off a 13-0 run of their own, quickly turning what had been an auspicious start for Rice into a full-scale battle. UTEP’s lead would grow to as many as 12 points before Rice started to chip away in earnest. Mullins laid one in to start a run, which would balloon to a 13-2 Rice streak resulting in a halftime tie.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball rallies past Southern Miss on Senior Day

Rice leveled the game with a smattering of offensive sets and firm defense. In the second half, their spark came from deep. Carl Pierre seemingly couldn’t miss from long range, pulling Rice along with him as he rained down three after three. He helped the Owls open up an 11-point lead which might have been safe had it not been for a furious assault in the paint from the Miners.

UTEP would pull things back to even, setting up a thrilling final few minutes. Pierre would put Rice in front with a pair of free throws with 58 seconds to play. UTEP crept back in front with three free throw makes in their next two possessions, sending the ball back to Rice for what could have been the game-tying shot, but it would not fall.

Mullins and Pierre each had a chance at the equalizing three, as would Fiedler from half court, but none of them could put it in. On a night of so many threes, Rice fell one three short.

Player Spotlight | Carl Pierre

On paper, the addition of Pierre from the Transfer Portal seemed like a nice win for the Owls. At a minimum, the veteran three-point shooter would give Rice another weapon on the outside. The best-case scenario? Rice basketball might be living it right now.

Pierre set the program record for three-pointers in a season with his outburst against UTEP. He and Travis Evee collectively became the Rice duo with the most total triples between them in a single campaign. Rice was already an offensive centered around good three-point shooting when Pierre arrived. He’s taken it to another level.

Stat Corner | Three-falling

On his way to his record-setting performance, Pierre knocked down six threes. It was the fourth time this season he’s made that many triples in a game. He’s made at least one three-pointer in all but two games this season. His shooting stroke has been crucial to the Owls’ offensive rhythm.

Final Box | UTEP 70 – Rice 67

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball has one final road tilt in the regular season. They finish the regular season on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 2:00 p.m. in San Antonio against UTSA. From there, it’s onto the Conference USA Tournament, the opening rounds of which tip-off on Mar. 8.

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