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Rice Football 2024 Spring Practice Notebook 6: Wideout Roundup

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Wide receiver has been an interesting position to follow in Rice football spring practice. What have we learned from the relatively young room?

It’s been a spring of change for the Rice football wide receivers. Bobby Kennedy is the Owls’ only new position coach, taking over in the room for Mike Kershaw, who departed in the winter. Also on the way out is standout Luke McCaffrey, a likely NFL Draft selection in a few weeks. Where does that leave the rest of the room? In the midst of change lies an opportunity several have used to their advantage.

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Fresh eyes

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Rice Baseball wastes early lead vs Incarnate Word

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Rice Baseball got an early lead but was unable to hold it, falling to Incarnate Word in an afternoon tilt to avoid incoming rain.

Through three innings, everything was going right for Rice baseball. Jackson Blank had faced the minimum. The offense put up a four-spot in the third, mashing through a sacrifice bunt with a pair of two-run scoring doubles. Staked to a 4-0 advantage at home, the Owls were as well positioned as they could have imagined entering the fourth. Then things started to fall apart.

It was then that Blank allowed a two-out home run, allowing Incarnate Word to cut their deficit in half. Tyler Hamilton entered soon afterward and allowed the tying runs on back-to-back singles before being charged with the go-ahead runs an inning later.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball swept by Memphis

Incarnate Word would blow the game wide open in the eighth, overcoming consecutive strikeouts to start the inning with three consecutive extra-base hits, lengthening their advantage to 11-5 against Mauricio Rodriguez. The Owls would fall by that score, extending their current losing streak to nine games in a row.

What it means | Midweek Blues

Parker Smith and JD McCracken don’t pitch during midweek games. Top reliever Davion Hickson might make an appearance, but can’t be overexerted if Rice wants to have him available to work extended innings during the weekend.

That’s not to say the bullpen is irredeemable — the non-Hickson pieces were nothing short of phenomenal this past weekend against  Memphis — but it’s needed near-perfect performances from secondary and tertiary options with regularity. That’s not a reasonable ask.

High-leverage relievers don’t grow on trees and ever so often, even the better arms are going to get burned. Rice hasn’t scored more than five runs since March 22. Like it or not, a struggling offense and the back end of the bullpen are going to result in midweek losses like this.

ON DECK | vs Texas A&M CC, vs UAB (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball falls flat in sweep by Memphis

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Rice Baseball out-hit Memphis but was swept in its three-game set at Reckling Park this weekend, falling to 9-23 on the season.

FRIDAY | Memphis 4 – Rice 3 (15 inn.)

Parker Smith delivered one of his best starts of the season, guiding Rice baseball through 7.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Only one of those runs came on a ball that left the infield. “He looked in control,” head coach Jose Cruz Jr. said. “He froze a lot of guys.” Despite the strong start, Smith would exit the game trailing 3-2 in need of some help to avoid being saddled with the loss.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball drops Silver Glove Series to Houston

Eric Correa provided the support he needed, lifting a double off the left field wall in the bottom of the ninth and coming around to score on a sacrifice fly hit to right field by Tobias Motely. That evened the score at 3-3 and sent the game to extras. Davion Hickson delivered six scoreless from there, but the Rice offense was silent. Memphis scored the go-ahead run off Tyler Hamilton in the 15th to win it, 4-3.

SATURDAY | Memphis 5 – Rice 4

The Rice bats were at their best to open the game Saturday afternoon, putting up a three-spot in the first inning on a series of four consecutive two-out hits with Nathan Becker, Ben Dukes and Tobias Motley each registering an RBI. That advantage evaporated quickly, though, as Rice starter JD McCracken loaded the bases with no outs in the subsequent frame, allowing three runs to score before escaping the inning.

An RBI double from Treyton Rank in the second put the Owls in front for a while until McCracken loaded the bases with no one out once again in the fifth. He was lifted for Robert Fernandez, who limited the damage to two runs, but that proved to be enough. Rice offered no more scores of their own, falling 5-4.

SUNDAY | Memphis 2 – Rice 1

Memphis got on the board first in the series finale, getting two across in the second inning against Tucker Alch, who otherwise delivered a great outing. Those two hits allowed in that frame were the only ones he allowed that afternoon, delivering 5.2 innings of quality work before ceding to the bullpen.

The offense, once again, did not hold up its end of the bargain. Rice scratched across its lone run in the third inning by way of a Treyton Rank sacrifice fly. Despite opportunities to tie or even win in the eighth and ninth, Rice squandered every subsequent opportunity, scoring just one run in defeat.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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1. Davion delivers

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ON DECK | vs Incarnate Word (Tues), vs TAMU-CC (Wed), vs UAB (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball 2024: MLB Owls Update – Apr 3

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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.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon marks the only Rice baseball alum to notch an Opening Day start this season. This marked his fifth season with the Los Angeles Angels and his 12th season in the big leagues. He debuted in 2013 with the Washington Nationals. Through April 2, Rendon has yet to collect a hit, but has walked once, struck out five times and scored once.

Injured List

J.T. Chargois – Miami Marlins

Chargois was placed on the 15-Day Injured List retroactive to March 25 with neck spasms.

Glenn Otto – San Diego Padres

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 are starting the season in AAA:

  • Matt Canterino – St Paul Saints (Twins)
  • Tyler Duffey – Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals)
  • 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)
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Houston completes sweep of Rice Baseball, Takes 2024 Silver Glove

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Rice Baseball kept it close, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Houston as the Cougars swept the 2024 Silver Glove Series.

Houston struck first at Schroeder Park on Wednesday night, taking a 1-0 lead over Rice baseball in the first inning in the final game of the Silver Glove Series. The Cougars had already secured the series win but were hunting for a sweep. It wouldn’t come easy, though.

Rice quickly responded. Ben Dukes evened the score in the second inning and Manny Garza put the Owls in front, grounding out in the third inning but getting the go-ahead run across in the process.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball swept by Wichita State

A solo home run from the Cougars leveled the score in the fourth, but as the game passed the midway point, the Rice pitching tandem of Tucker Alch and Ryland Urbancyzk had managed to wade through traffic on the base paths and keep the visitors in the game.

Robert Fernandez was less fortunate, he gave up a pair of runs in the fifth and was charged with the loss after Rice was unable to complete a rally from the 4-2 deficit. They got one back in the sixth on an RBI single from Tobias Motley, but that would be all.

What it means | Stacking sweeps

If you count the midweek trio of games against Houston as a series, Rice has now been swept in two of their last three series, also falling in straight games against Wichita State this past weekend. Add sweeps at the hands of Notre Dame and Stanford and Rice baseball has been swept in four of eight three or four game series this season. They have two series wins in eight tries.

It’s baseball. Winning every game was never going to happen. Even the best teams can’t achieve that. But avoiding sweeps should be the norm, regardless of the opponent, and that’s something Rice hasn’t done this season. There’s no better time to right the ship than the present with a crucial conference tilt against Memphis looming net.

ON DECK | vs Memphis (Fri-Sun)

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