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2024 American Conference Baseball Tournament: Preview, schedule, how to watch

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The American Conference Baseball Tournament is set to begin in Clearwater, FL. Here’s how to watch and what to be looking for this week.

The final weekend of regular season play saw teams jockeying for position, but now the American Conference Baseball Tournament field is finally set. The top eight squads will square off with hopes of an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and their chance to play for a trip to the College World Series. The bottom two teams in the standings: Memphis and South Florida, will be watching from home with all six of the former C-USA additions reaching their inaugural AAC Tournament field.

All games will be streamed on ESPN+ with the exception of the tournament championship, available on ESPN News. The tournament runs from Tuesday, May 21 to Sunday, May 26. The full schedule and updated bracket are available on the American Conference Baseball Tournament website.

Assessing the field

The favorite | East Carolina has been the most complete team in this conference from start to finish. The only ranked squad, the Pirates are the clear frontrunners and boast the ability to beat teams with their arms and their bats.

The contender | UTSA didn’t finish far behind ECU in the conference standings and won the head-to-head series with the Pirates earlier this season. The Roadrunners are talented, albeit inconsistent. When they’re at their best they’re hard to beat.

The dark horse | A team with a couple of quality starters can make a run in tournament play. In this league, UAB gits the bill. Both Blazye Berry and Colin Daniel boast top five ERAs in the conference. If they start hot and make the winners bracket, UAB will have a shot.

The wild card | Tulane has the ability to bludgeon opponents with their bats. The Green Wave led the league with 80 hores and finished second in slugging percentage. If they can cut down on strikeouts and run into a few pitches, they have the tools to pull off an upset or two.

The bracket

The opening day of games will take place on Tuesday, May 21:

Game 1 – 9:00 AM | (5) UAB vs (4) Wichita State

Game 2 – approx. 12:30 PM | (1) ECU vs (8) Rice

Game 3 – 4:00 PM | (7) Charlotte vs (2) UTSA

Game 4 – approx. 7:30 PM | (6) FAU vs (3) Tulane

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Rice Baseball ends regular season with sweep by ECU

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Rice Baseball ended its regular season with a sweep at the hands of East Carolina and now must await its postseason fate as other teams finish play.

FRIDAY | ECU 8 – Rice 2

Parker Smith labored through eight innings on Friday night, more or less keeping the ECU offense at bay in six of those frames. The Pirates made him pay in those two decisive innings, though, putting up a four-spot in the fourth and a three-spot in the eighth.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball run-rules Texas Southern in midweek finale

Unfortunately for Smith, he didn’t get much help from the Rice bats. Rice scored once on a sac fly in the second and once again on a fielder’s choice in the seventh. Runs were hard to come by on a night when the offense totaled just four hits and did not draw any walks.

SATURDAY (AM) | ECU 15 – Rice 5 (8 innings)

A short day from JD McCracken led to a disastrous beginning of a Saturday doubleheader for Rice baseball. McCracken was pulled after a four-walk first inning in favor of Garrett Stratton, who faired even worse in the second inning, surrendering seven runs before being lifted himself for Mark Perkins. Despite chipping into the lead with a pair of runs of their own in the top half of the second, Rice entered the third inning trailing 11-2.

Another slow start for the bats was not enough to overcome the massive early deficit. Rice tallied five hits and five runs, three of which came on solo home runs by Kyte McDonald, Pierce Gallo and Trey Duffield. None of them were enough to prevent ECU from winning the game via a run-rule decision in the eighth.

SATURDAY (PM) | ECU 6 – Rice 4

East Carolina got out in front in the first inning with a two-run home run, putting the Owls behind the eight ball once again. This time, though, the bats woke up. Six consecutive hits and four runs later, Rice was in front. Max Johnson delivered the first RBI whack with a two-run double. Kyte McDonald added another RBI hit and then Treyton Rank drove in run number four.

More: Jose Cruz Jr. and the trajectory of Rice Baseball

ECU got one run back in the second, then Rice called on Davion Hickson to go the rest of the way. He held the Pirates to six hits in 4.1 innings of work, but five of those hits came consecutively in the sixth inning, allowing ECU to retake the lead, 6-4. They would hold on to win by that score.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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Rice Baseball 2024: MLB Owls Update – May 16

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The 2024 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.

Tyler Duffey – Kansas City Royals

Duffey has appeared in six games over the past month with the Royals, allowing three earned runs across those 4.2 innings pitched with one hold and one win over that span. He’s struck out more batters (five) than allowed hits (four) in that time.

Through May 16, Duffey has a 4.32 ERA with a 1.320 WHIP. He’s averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers has been a regular for the Marlins since being called up in late April. In the month of May he’s made three starts and appeared as a pinch hitter and/or defensive replacement in five other games. Even with limited plate appearances he’s managed to reach base safely or score in five of his last eight games.

Through May 16, Myers is hitting .273 with one extra-base hit, four walks and 10 strikeouts. His OPS is .748 and he’s collected five RBI.

Injured List

J.T. Chargois – Miami Marlins

Chargois was moved to the 60-day injured list on Sunday after initially beginning the season on the 15-day injured list. He won’t be eligible to return until late May at the earliest and hasn’t pitched in the minors since April 26 in a rehab stint.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon is expected to miss a lengthy amount of time after suffering a partial tear in his left hamstring in late April. There is no timetable for his return as of yet, a frustrating development after a red-hot end of the month prior to suffering the injury.

Through May 2, Rendon is hitting .267 with three extra-base hits, six walks and 15 strikeouts. His OPS is .632 and he’s collected three RBI.

Glenn Otto – San Diego Padres

Prior to the beginning of the season, Otto was placed on the 15-Day Injured List on March 19 with a right teres major strain.

Knocking on the Door

The following Owls began the season in AAA:

  • Matt Canterino – St Paul Saints (Twins)
  • Tyler Duffey – Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) *promoted
  • Jon Duplantier – Syracuse Mets (Mets)
  • Tristan Gray – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins)
  • Evan Kravetz – Louisville Bats (Reds)
  • Lucas Luetge – Worcester Red Sox (Red Sox)
  • Dane Myers – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) *promoted
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Rice Baseball rolls to run-rule win over Texas Southern

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Rice baseball wrapped up its final midweek game of the regular season, scoring 16 unanswered runs and run-ruling Texas Southern at Reckling Park.

The situation looked dire for Rice baseball in the early goings of its final game at Reckling Park this season. Owls’ starter Karl Ralamb allowed Texas Southern to load the bases without any hits in the first inning. He was lifted quickly in favor of Mauricio Rodriguez, but a wild pitch an a couple of RBI singles allowed the visiting Tigers to take a 4-0 lead in the opening frame.

After going quietly in the first, Rice chipped into the lead with a pair of solo home runs in the second inning, one each for Jack Riedel — who’s tenth blast at home this year is one-shy of the 11 home homers hit by Anthony Rendon in 2010 — and Pierce Gallo.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball takes battle of the Owls over Florida Atlantic

If that was signs of the dam leaking, it broke open completely the following inning. Rice sent 13 batters to the plate in the third inning, scoring eight runs. Aric Anderson began the scoring run with a leadoff home run and would pick up another RBI later in the inning with a bases-loaded walk.

Ben Dukes drove in a run in the fifth before Gallo’s second home run of the day jumpstarted a 5-run sixth inning that officially put the game out of reach. Texas Southern would get one run in the top of the seventh inning, breaking through after Mark Perkins twirled three innings of no-hit ball to earn the win. The game would be called after the top of the seventh inning with Rice baseball earning the run-rule victory.

What it means | Locked In

Rice baseball just authored perhaps its most impressive midweek game this season. In the grand scheme of things, the additional non-conference win doesn’t do much to bolster the Owls’ record nor resume, but it could serve as a notable signal that this team is as locked in as they can get going into what has become the most crucial series of the season.

If Rice wins the series this weekend at East Carolina they’re extremely likely to punch their ticket to the conference tournament. ECU, while still the top team in the league standings, has lost five games in a row and looks mortal for one of the first times all season. Rice played its best baseball today. ECU hasn’t had that sort of rhythm in a few weeks. The Owls are heating up at the right time. All that’s left to do is to capitalize on that momentum.

ON DECK | at ECU (Thr-Sat)

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: F Jimmy Oladokun Jr. commits to Owls

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A guard-heavy 2024 Rice basketball recruiting class has picked up a building block with some size. San Diego forward Jimmy Oladokun has committed to the Owls.

Good news continues to arrive on the Rice basketball recruiting front. Head coach Rob Lanier and his staff continue to remake the Owls’ roster from scratch, combining returning players and portal pickups to build a unit ready to hit the court this coming fall. Their newest addition should add some size and power to the roster. Former San Diego forward Jimmy Oladokun has committed to the Owls.

Oladokun hails from Los Angeles, CA and was a three-star recruit coming out of high school before the 2023-2024 season, picking San Diego over New Mexico at the time.

He spent his this past season with the Toreros, appearing in 31 games with 13 starts. He averaged 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest, playing 15.7 minutes per game. A game one starter, Oladokun went back and forth from the bench during the season,  finishing his time with the Toreros with some of his best games. He scored 20 at Loyola Marymount in February just after putting up 13 points against Saint Mary’s,

The running total of new additions to the Rice basketball roster grows to nine with Oladokun’s addition. He’s just the third guard the staff has added from the portal, though, and his 6-foot-9, 220-pound frame promises to help him become an impactful part of the Owls frontcourt.

More: Rice Basketball Roster Tracker

Oladokun has the potential to be an impact post player for the Owls as he continues to mature and grow his game, but he’ll be coming to South Main with bonafide D1 experience and plenty of athleticism. This a great pickup for the Owls, who are making a bet on a promising young player with ball skills and potential.

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