The source for Rice sports news

Rice Baseball 2025 Season Review: Starting Pitching

By

The Rice baseball starting rotation kept the Owls afloat, grinding through ups and downs and giving the team a chance more often than not.

The pitching staff went through many shifts and changes as David Pierce took over for Jose Cruz Jr. as the ice baseball head coach midseason. Pitching coach Parker Bangs did his best to piece things together, ultimately settling on a few different variations for the weekend rotation as the year progressed.

More: Rice Baseball embarks on crucial offseason

For the purposes of this discussion, the two pitchers who were mainstays in the weekend rotation, with three others seeing a meaningful run as starters that warranted inclusion in this discussion. Here’s a rundown of how those starters fared this season.

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?

** Photo credit: Maria Lysaker **

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – May 28

By

The 2025 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are making the most of their time in The Show. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers has been on the injured list since May 12 after suffering an oblique injury, but his big league return might be coming soon. Myers began a rehab assignment with the Marlins’ AAA affiliate in Jacksonville on Tuesday, going 1-for-4 with an RBI in his debut. If all goes well, he will be on track to return to the Marlins soon.

Through May 28, Myers is hitting .337 with six extra-base hits, five walks and 21 strikeouts. His OPS is .857 and he’s collected 14 RBI.

Injured List

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon is slated to miss a significant amount of time following him surgery this spring. The bad news is another bump in an injury-plagued stint with the Angels; Rendon missed a chunk of last season with an oblique strain.

Matt Canterino – Twins AAA

Canterino was thought to have a real chance to crack the big league roster at some point this season, converting himself to a reliver this offseason in hopes of limiting the stress on his arm and preserving his health. Unfortunately, he’s set to miss a third consecutive season, undergoing shoulder surgery in early March. The Twins since released him and signed him to a minor league contract while he rehabs.

Knocking on the Door

The following Owls began the season in AAA:

  • Tristan Gray – Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
  • Evan Kravetz – Louisville Bats (Reds)
  • Glenn Otto – Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros)
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball: 2025 MiLB May Update

By

While several Rice Baseball alums are producing at the highest level, others are working their way up the ladder. Here’s the latest on the MiLB Owls.

Triple-A

Tristan Gray (White Sox) is off to a strong start to the season, slashing .278/.338/.500 through his first 37 games, all of which would represent his highest marks as a professional at any level. That should help make his case for a promotion at some point this year.

Evan Kravetz (Reds) was moved the development list in mid-May after an up-and-down beginning to his 2025 season. He holds a 9.39 ERA in 7.2 innings of work, primarily as an opener. He’s struck out eight while allowing opposing batters to hit .395 against him, a mark well above his career norms.

More on Rice Baseball: Latest from the MLB Owls

Glenn Otto (Astros) signed with the Astros this past offseason but has yet to appear in any competitions for the organization across any level. He’s been on the injured list with the Space Cowboys since March.

Matt Canterino (Twins) was released and subsequently resigned by the Twins to a minor league contract after injuries forced him to miss the entirety of the 2025 season. He remains on the full-season injured list.

Roel Garcia (Rays) was promoted to AA this week after making nine appearances at the AA level this season, striking out 16 batters in 15.2 innings of work.

Double-A

Trei Cruz (Tigers) has truly found his groove in his fifth season as a minor leaguer and could be on the cusp of another promotion soon if he keeps up his 2025 pace. His .849 OPS is the highest of his career and through 39 games, the sample size is starting to grow.

Single-A

Hayden Durke (Diamondbacks) has been red-hot to begin the year, sporting a jaw-dropping 0.89 ERA through 15 games with five saves in five opportunities. He’s struck out 36 batters in just 20.1 innings of work.

Justin Long (Braves) has impressed in his early work this season, earning a 1.42 ERA in six appearances, all in relief. He’s allowed just four hits in 6.2 innings.

Rookie

Parker Smith (Astros) made his first professional appearance last week, pitching 1.2 innings in his debut, allowing two hits and one run while striking out two and walking one.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

AAC Baseball sends UTSA, ECU to NCAA Tournament

By

AAC Baseball will have two representatives in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, regular season champ UTSA and tournament champ East Carolina.

East Carolina

For the fourth time in program history, East Carolina won the AAC Tournament Championship, taking down Tulane in the championship game. The Green Wave had won the last two tournament titles. ECU won the season before that in 2022, as well as in 2015 and 2018.

The Pirates had a relatively down season by their standards in league play, finishing 13-14 in the regular season before making their run through the field in Clearwater. They went undefeated during the tournament, beating Charlotte, South Florida (twice) and Tulane.

The Pirates will be the No. 3 seed in the Conway regional. Joining them there will be their first opponent, No. 2 Seed Florida, as well as No. 4 Seed Fairfield and host, No. 1 Seed Coastal Carolina.

This is ECU’s 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past 26 seasons. ECU went 1-2 against Coastal Carolina in the regular season and did not play Florida or Fairfield.

The Conway Regional is paired with the Auburn Regional, home of No. 4 National Seed, Auburn.

UTSA

The Roadrunners won the regular season championship, proving enough along the way to earn an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. This is UTSA’s first regional appearance via an at-large selection with their previous two appearances as conference tournament champions.

UTSA is the No. 2 Seed in the Austin Regional, home of host Texas, the No. 2 national seed in the tournament. Also in the region are No. 3 Seed Kansas State, whom the Roadrunners will face in their opening game, and No. 4 Seed Houston Christian.

UTSA has met two of its regional members on the diamond already this year. The Roadrunners beat Texas 8-7, in Austin, and defeated Houston Christian, 12-1.

The Austin Regional is paired with the Los Angeles Regional, home of No. 15 National Seed, UCLA.

NCAA Tournament Bracket

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Athletics Roundup: May Subscriber Q&A

By

Rice Football transfers, Rice baseball offseason and updates on The Roost Podcast make up this month’s edition of our subscriber Q&A.

The whirlwind of Rice Athletic events hasn’t slowed down with as the academic calendar comes to a close. Rice football is adding transfers and Rice baseball is beginning a very important offseason. This month’s Q&A focuses on those two areas as well as providing a quick update on plans for The Roost Podcast this summer.

Questions were edited briefly for clarity. Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

Q: Any sleepers on the new transfer signings?

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts