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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls rally to walk off Incarnate Word in extras

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Rice baseball came from behind to beat Incarnate Word on Tuesday night, courtesy of a walk-off home run from Braden Comeaux.

Weekend pitching woes followed Rice baseball into one of their rare midweek games of the 2021 season. Their opponent, Incarnate Word, came out swinging, piling on 10 runs in their first three innings. Trailing 10-3 midway through the third, Rice pitching had been shelled for 43 runs in its last 18 innings, rolling up to a collective ERA north of 20. The situation was dire.

Stunned, but not stumped, Rice slowly began the process of digging out of the chasm. The Owls scratched across two runs in the home half of the third, two more in the fourth and another pair in the fifth. By the time the sixth inning rolled around, a blowout had turned into a contested game.

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Rice went three-up, three-down in the seventh and stranded the basis loaded in the eighth. Trailing by three as they entered the ninth, the bats delivered. A double from Cade Edwards cut the deficit to one before Guy Garibay evened the score with a single up the middle.

Once trailing by seven runs, the Owls could sense the momentum had flipped. Rice put two men on in the 10th, setting the table for senior Braden Comeaux who came through. He walloped the ball over the left field fence, putting the exclamation point on the come-from-behind win.

What it means

The pitching staff is going to face a lot of scrutiny in the coming days, but there is something to be said for the quintet of Alex DeLeon, Dalton Wood, Guy Garibary, Micah Davis and Josh Larzabal who limited Incarnate Word to one run in their final six innings. They provided some much-needed good news on that front.

That said, if there were ever a must-win midweek game in April, this was probably it. In the thick of the toughest part of their schedule, snapping a losing streak in thrilling fashion was exactly what the doctor ordered.

ON DECK | Old Dominions

Rice baseball will hit the road this coming weekend to take on Old Dominion, ending a five-game homestand. This is the Owls’ second C-USA road series of the season. The Owls had previously played at Middle Tennessee in early April.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls dealt one-sided sweep by LA Tech

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For the third weekend in a row, Rice baseball dropped a conference series, this time coming at home against a red-hot, ranked Louisiana Tech club.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball loses series 4-0

1. Mental toughness is missing

Rice was locked into a pitcher’s duel on Friday night. Owls’ hurler Blake Brogdon was going toe-to-toe with C-USA Pitcher of the Year candidate Jonathan Fincher. But when Brogdon waivered in the sixth inning, the team behind him folded. Dalton Wood entered with two men in scoring position and no outs. He walked two, allowed a run on a passed ball and another run on a balk.

Rice blew a two-run lead in the final inning to start Saturday’s doubleheader. Then they were blasted 20-6 in the second leg. Things went from bad to worse quickly, and nobody was there to stop the bleeding. On Sunday Rice led 2-1, then when tied 2-2, allowed a crushing 4-run sixth inning.

Head coach Matt Bragga summed it up well in a recent conversation. “As a club, we’re not mentally tough enough.” If Rice wants to contend in Conference USA. That has to change. Losing close games is painful, but wilting when the spotlight shines brightest is doubly painful.

2. Come give Comeaux some help

Rice baseball had one player on the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference team, senior third baseman Braden Comeaux. Through the first half of the season, Comeaux has more than proven his inclusion among the leagues’ best was well deserved. He’s made some spectacular plays on the hot corner and continues to hit everyone he sees.

Comeaux was one of four Owls’ to get a hit off Fincher on Friday. He helped jump-start a four-run third inning on Saturday afternoon and had a multi-hit outing Saturday night. His relentless consistency has been the best part of the Rice offense all season.

3. Missing a dominant phase

What’s hurt Rice the most during this tough opening stretch to conference play is the lack of one dominant aspect of their game to fall back on. Rice has an average offense by most metrics. Their pitching is below average. The fielding has been slightly above average, but the Owls did commit five errors this weekend across the four games.

Teams like UTSA (a great offense) or Middle Tennessee (great pitching) have managed to hover around .500 in the league play. Rice doesn’t have to fix everything all at once to start winning more baseball games, but at least one phase needs to take a step-change if Rice wants to stay competitive down the stretch.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | LA Tech 6 – Rice 0

Blake Brogdon kept Louisiana Tech at bay for five innings, but the Rice bats never proved much of a threat on Friday night against Jonathan Fincher. When Louisiana Tech broke the tie in the sixth, the Bulldogs’ three-run outburst felt like a much more exorbitant deficit.

Another three-run inning for Louisiana Tech in the eighth pushed the game further out of reach. Rice managed just four hits and had multiple base runners in just two of the nine innings.

SATURDAY 1 | LA Tech 7 – Rice 6

The bats were more productive for Rice on Saturday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to take a 6-2 lead after five innings. Cade Edwards and Bradley Gneiting hit two-run home runs. Austin Bulman and Connor Walsh provided the other run-scoring hits.

As the offense worked, Rice starter Roel Garcia held Louisiana Tech at bay and left the seven-inning game in the sixth with the lead. It would not last. The combination of Garret Zaskoda and Guy Garibay could not hold the lead. Louisiana Tech would score five runs in the final two innings to win 7-6.

SATURDAY 2 | Louisiana Tech 20 – Rice 6

After coming painfully close on Saturday afternoon the Owls were never within striking distance from a doubleheader split later that same day. Louisiana Tech scored eight runs in the second inning of Rice starter Mitchell Holcomb, who recorded just four outs. By the time Rice scored its first run in the fourth, they had already trailed 12-0.

Rice used five pitchers. All but Jared Plank allowed three or more runs. Plank’s outing was actually one of the best of the weekend by any Rice pitcher, throwing one scoreless inning with just one hit allowed. It wouldn’t be enough to slow the Louisiana Tech onslaught, though.

SUNDAY | Louisiana Tech 13 – Rice 4

Rice showed some initial resistance in the series finale. With Brandon Deskins on the mound, Rice fell behind 1-0 in the fourth inning. The bats responded immediately, manufacturing the tying run with a sacrifice fly and the go-ahead run on an RBI single. The Owls stole four bases in the inning.

The lead would prove to be short-lived. Deskins got into some trouble in the fifth with two walks of his own plus an error in the infield. Louisiana Tech would strike for two runs in that inning, piling on four more in the sixth and six more in the final two innings.

ON DECK | Incarnate Word (Tues), Old Dominion (Fri-Sun, four games).

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – April 10

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The 2021 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 from this week.

Jon Duplantier was active with the Arizona Diamondbacks this spring, making two spring training appearances as he works to recover from an elbow injury that limited him last season. He’s currently with the D-Backs Triple-A affiliated in Reno

Here are updates on the four former Rice baseball alums currently active.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon picked up where he left off last season, continuing to hit the baseball at a high rate. He’s had at least one hit in seven of his first eight games this season, including his first home run of the season in a road loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday, April 10. He entered Sunday with a six-game hitting streak.

Through April 10, Rendon is hitting .290 with one extra-base hits, five walks and seven strikeouts. His OPS is .765.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey has been solid out of the pen for the Twins so far this season. He’s made four appearances and has yet to allow a run. He did not allow a hit in either of his two most recent outings. The Twins have lost three of the four games he’s appeared in even though Duffey has yet to pitch when the team was trailing this season.

Through April 10, Duffey has a 0.00 ERA with a 1.636 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

A longtime member of the Red Sox, Holt has been on the move since leaving Boston following the 2020 season. After signing with the Milwaukee Brewers and then the Washington Nationals last year, he inked a deal with the Texas Rangers for the 2021 season. Holt appeared in four games with the Rangers this year before a hamstring strain landed him on the 10-day injured list.

Through April 10, Holt has three hits in 12 at bats, good for a .250 average. He’s walked five times, struck out twice and collected two RBI.

Lucas Luetege – New York Yankees

One of the more encouraging stories to follow over the last few months was the rise of former Rice hurler Lucas Luetge who broke into the Opening Day bullpen with the Yankees after a five-year hiatus from the big leagues.

Luetege was all smiles when his manager delivered the news. Next he assured the fans the moment would not be too big for him. “I’ve been doing this for a while. I’ve been successful,” he said. I’ve just had a little time off between the big leagues.” He’s already appeared in three games sporting the pin stripes so far this spring.

Through April 10, Luetge has a 7.20 ERA with a 1.400 WHIP. He’s averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2022 DL Davion Carter commits to Owls

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The first commitment of the 2022 Rice football recruiting class in the books. Defensive lineman Davion Carter has committed to the Owls.

It’s been a relatively quiet spring on South Main, at least as far as the 2022 Rice football recruiting class was concerned. But even without a commitment through the end of March, the Owls were hard at work behind the scenes, having already offered several priority targets. Now one of those targets has become the first commitment.

Mesquite defensive lineman Davion Carter has committed to the Owls. His addition marks the second year in a row Rice has landed secured a commitment from their first defensive offer, following in the footsteps of linebacker DJ Arkansas.

Like Arkansas, Carter will form a strong foundation for what Rice hopes to be another highly regarded class. 247 Sports currently ranks Carter as the No. 12 highest-rated commitment in Rice history. Carter picked Rice over offers from Baylor, Houston, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Marshall and others. He’ll be the first of many to come in the 2022 class.

Rice has started to get used to having the tandem of Elijah Garcia and De’Braylon Carroll in the middle of the field. Carter looks to be the next man up in the lineage and someone that can make a difference quickly. It’s hard to win against him inside, making it fairly easy to see why the Owls were drawn to him from the start.

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Carter is a force to be reckoned with in the interior of the defensive line. He has the power to blow his man back and disrupt passing lanes. At the same time, he possesses enough quickness and vision to chase down ballcarriers while they’re still in the backfield. Getting someone of his ability in the defensive trenches is huge win for the 2022 class.

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Rice Football 2021 Spring Ball Review: Defense

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The Rice football spring practices are complete. What did we learn about the defense and where does it stand entering the summer?

There wasn’t much mystery with the Rice football defense entering spring practices. The Owls finished the 2020 regular season ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense and returned the vast majority of their starters and depth. Beyond filling an open spot at linebacker, spring was about tidying up loose ends and building depth. From the line to the secondary, here’s where each position group ended up.

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