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Conference USA Baseball: 2021 Regional Roundup

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Conference USA Baseball sent four teams to NCAA Regionals. Several made deep runs, but none were able to advance to the next round of postseason play.

Columbia Regional

Old Dominion hung in until the final out, literally. The Monarchs opened their postseason with wins over Jacksonville and South Carolina, earning themselves a spot in the winner’s bracket as the remaining teams fought for redemption. Virginia made it out of the fray and ambushed Old Dominion early in their first meeting, winning 8-3. That set up a winner-take-all contest which was delayed to Tuesday because of weather in the region.

The teams traded leads in the late innings in the finale. All six runs scored in regulation were scored from the sixth inning on. Try as they might, Old Dominion couldn’t push in the final run before the game was ended in the 10th with a walk off home run from the Hoos’ Devin Ortiz.

Ruston Regional

The only Conference USA school to host in its own ballpark, Louisiana Tech (1-2) did not get the result it wanted. The Bulldogs opened with an 18-2 rout against Rider, a game that they led 9-2 entering the eighth inning before doubling their run total that frame. NC State would get the best of them in the next game, though, silencing the Tech offense in an 8-3 win.

Forced to contend through the loser’s bracket, Louisiana Tech edged Alabama 10-8 but dropped a one-sided affair to NC State, this time falling 14-7.

Oxford Regional

Southern Miss (3-2) came extremely close to making it through the loser’s bracket in a loaded quarter in Oxford. The Golde Eagles were sent to the long road with an opening loss to Florida State and quickly rebounded with a 21-0 thrashing of Southeast Missouri State.

A Will McGillis home run lifted them past Florida State in a rematch, pitting them against regional host Ole Miss as the last two teams standing. Southern Miss won the first game 10-7 to force a winner-take-all finale. Ole Miss struck first in that one, taking a commanding 9-0 lead after two innings and holding on to eliminate Southern Miss.

Greenville Regional

Charlotte (1-2) got off to a hot start in their opening game against Maryland. After falling behind 1-0 in the second, the 49ers scored in each of the next six innings including a five-run fourth and a three-run sixth to outgun the Terps 13-10. A loss to eventual regional champion East Carolina in their second game sent them to the losers bracket, where they dropped a nail-biting 2-1 decision to Maryland and were eliminated.

Head coach Robert Woodward was somber, but thankful after the loss. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud to be affiliated with a baseball team than this one,” he said. “I’m so thankful for this group of players, coaching staff, support staff and administration for everything that everyone has put in to get us to this point. We certainly hate the outcome. Our players got our program to a place it hadn’t been in 10 years. Our guys absolutely laid it on the line from the first pitch against Morehead State to the last pitch here today against Maryland. I’m just so proud of these guys.”

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Rice Baseball 2021 Season Review: Lineup

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The offense played a lot of catch-up for Rice baseball in 2021, relying on a potent top of the lineup to carry the load.

The Rice bats produced a modest .271/.356/.410 slash line by the end of the regular season, finishing more or less in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories when compared to their Conference USA peers. Championed by a stellar season from Braden Comeaux, the bulk of the heavy lifting was done by a select few hitting near the top of the lineup week in and week out.

Cade Edwards

Games – 53 | AVG .288 | OBP .355 | SLG .485 | 2B – 8 | 3B – 2 | HR – 9 | BB – 18 | K – 52

Edwards led Rice with a .308 batting average last year and wasn’t too far off that pace this season. His 19 extra-base hits were the most on the team, making good use of his spot atop the order for the majority of the season. He was one of two players to start every game for Rice this spring, racking up an 8-game and a 9-game hitting streak during conference play.

Braden Comeaux

Games – 52 | AVG .346 | OBP .419 | SLG .408 | 2B – 7 | 3B – 1 | HR – 1 | BB – 16 | K – 21

Comeaux had his best statistical season of his career during the abbreviated 2020 campaign and did not slow down entering 2021. He led the team with an eye-popping .419 on-base percentage, combing a keen eye (16 walks), good plate discipline and a skillful bat to find ways to get on base. He and Edwards set the table for this offense, giving the players that followed in the lineup plenty of RBI opportunities.

Bradley Gneiting

Games – 53 | AVG .302 | OBP .369 | SLG .481 | 2B – 10 | 3B – 0 | HR – 8 | BB – 21 | K – 42

A versatile defender, Gneiting cemented himself further into everyday playing status in 2021 with his bat. He was fractions of a point behind Edwards for the team-lead in slugging percentage, racking up 10 doubles and eight home runs. With the power came an elevated strikeout total, but he made up for that with the most productive run-scoring bat in the order. His 37 RBI were by far the most on the team.

Austin Bulman

Games – 44 | AVG .270 | OBP .352 | SLG .468 | 2B – 7 | 3B – 0 | HR – 7 | BB – 19 | K – 27

Bulman slotted into the cleanup spot for most of the year, coming on strong in the final weeks of the regular season. He provided some pop (seven home runs and seven doubles) in the middle of the order that proved to be important. He improved across the board from last year’s shortened season, seeing almost a 70-point uptick in slugging percentage and more than a 30-point lift in on-base percentage.

Hal Hughes

Games – 52 | AVG .258 | OBP .330 | SLG .362 | 2B – 6 | 3B – 1 | HR – 3 | BB – 14 | K – 18

Hughes wasn’t brought in for his bat, but the LSU transfer handled himself well with the stick, proving to be a decent contact hitter in the middle to back end of the lineup. He came through with a few important home runs. And although it wasn’t a frequent occurrence, he had just three dingers all year, Rice did win all three games in which he left the yard.

Guy Garibay

Games – 48 | AVG .234 | OBP .331 | SLG .403 | 2B – 6 | 3B – 0 | HR – 6 | BB – 22 | K – 37

Garibay pulled double duty this year, seeing success on the mound and at the plate. He was a pretty streaky hitter with the bat in his hands, collecting waves in bunches with nine multi-hit games, including a couple of three-hit outings against Texas A&M and Charlotte. He’s has power and will build on his plate discipline as he gets more experience against live college pitching.

Multi-game starters

Will Karp | Games – 48 | AVG .271 | OBP .365 | SLG .326 | 2B – 3 | 3B – 1 | HR – 1 | BB – 18 | K – 22
Justin Long | Games – 44 | AVG .257 | OBP .396 | SLG .314 | 2B – 3 | 3B – 0 | HR – 1 | BB – 21 | K – 32
Connor Walsh | Games – 31 | AVG .231 | OBP .308 | SLG .433 | 2B – 5 | 3B – 2 | HR – 4 | BB – 11 | K – 35
Nathan Becker | Games – 36 | AVG .253 | OBP .314 | SLG .495 | 2B – 5 | 3B – 0 | HR – 6 | BB – 7 | K – 21
Justin Dunlap | Games – 35 | AVG .234 | OBP .344 | SLG .355 | 2B – 4 | 3B – 0 | HR – 3 | BB – 16 | K – 26

This next group cycled in and out of the lineup during most weekends. The four-game conference series required Rice to deploy a fair amount of depth. Will Karp and Justin Long tag teamed catching duties. Freshman Nathan Becker continued to build up confidence as the year progress. Each of those guys, along with Walsh and Dunlap who had down years at the plate, played important roles this season.

Reserves

Antonio Cruz | Games – 19 | AVG .259 | OBP .355 | SLG .407 | 2B – 3 | 3B – 1 | HR – 1 | BB – 7 | K – 21
Johnny Hoyle | Games – 19 | AVG .214 | OBP .353 | SLG .214 | 2B – 0 | 3B – 0 | HR – 0 | BB – 0 | K – 4
Ben Dukes | Games – 26 | AVG .161 | OBP .316 | SLG .161 | 2B – 0 | 3B – 0 | HR – 0 | BB – 7 | K – 8
Cullen Hannigan | Games – 6 | AVG .500 | OBP .500 | SLG .500 | 2B – 0 | 3B – 0 | HR – 0 | BB – 0 | K – 1

The bench got thin quickly after the first wave of key reserves. Had Ben Dukes found more success with his bat, he likely would have gotten more opportunities. Those may come in the future. Antonio Cruz was productive when called upon, but there just weren’t very many outfield at bats to go around this year.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – June 5

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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.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

It was a great week for Rendon who broke out of a minor slump with a three-hit, five-RBI outing against the Giants on Tuesday. He followed that up with another multi-hit, multi-RBI day on Saturday, raising his average from .213 to .230 in the span of four days.

Through June 5, Rendon is hitting .230 with nine extra-base hits, 15 walks and 24 strikeouts. His OPS is .646 and he’s collected 21 RBI.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

The Rangers entered Sunday on a 10-game losing streak. Holt had his turn at the mic following Wednesday’s loss:

Through June 5, Holt is hitting .234 with four extra-base hits, 11 walks and 20 strikeouts. His OPS is .662 and he’s collected 10 RBI.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey has been crisp of late, working five consecutive one-inning outings with out allowing a hit. He’s stuck out seven over that time. He faced the minimum twice this week, both times against the Royals, needing just 19 pitches to send the combined six batters he faced back to their dugouts.

Through June 5, Duffey has a 4.22 ERA with a 1.359 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetege – New York Yankees

On Friday Luetege allowed his first earned run since April 16, a span of 14 straight appearances. That run came off an RBI double from Marwin Gonzalez after Luetege had entered the inning with a runner on base.

Through June 5, Luetege has a 2.54 ERA with a 0.918 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Seattle Mariners

Chargois rebounded from a blown save on Memorial Day against the A’s with two strong outings against the Angels this week. He earned his fourth hold of the season on Thursday and worked a scoreless frame with two strikeouts on Saturday.

Through June 5, Chargois has a 2.08 ERA with a 0.769 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Baseball 2021 Season Review: Bullpen

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The bullpen never quite came together for Rice baseball in the 2021 season. Strong, lengthy outings were the exception rather than the rule.

The Rice baseball pitching staff was a work in progress from the start of the 2021 season until its conclusion. There were days when the bullpen and starting rotation were in sync, but most weekends featured an assortment of good and bad from both units. This roundup will focus on the relievers.

Guy Garibay

2-2 Record | 5.28 ERA | 12 Appearances (1 Start) | 29 Innings | 16 K | 5 BB | .302 Batting Avg Against

Garibay was one of the most anticipated signees in the most recent recruiting class. A talented hitter and pitcher, the initial plans were to have him focus on his craft at the plate and use his arm on the mound sparingly, if at all. That changed quickly when he became one of the most dependable options. He finished on a high note, throwing a career long 7.2 innings allowing just three runs against Charlotte.

Dalton Wood

1-2 Record | 4.13 ERA | 14 Appearances  | 24 Innings | 25 K | 15 BB | .239 Batting Avg Against

Wood had the lowest ERA of any of the Owls’ relief corps. His start, including a streak of 11.1 innings of scoreless baseball, was better than his finish. He allowed one or more runs in five of his final seven appearances, only one of which lasted more than one inning. Overall, there was a lot to like from his season.

Micah Davis

0-1 Record | 6.75 ERA | 10 Appearances (2 Starts) | 10.2 Innings | 13 K | 13 BB | .200 Batting Avg Against

Davis had a rather curious season, moonlighting briefly as an opener, throwing an inning to start games before being lifted. Abnormal usage or not, he did well on the mound. His command was steady, piling up more than a strikeout per inning. The ERA ticked up higher because of a rough outing against Southern Miss, but Davis had a strong freshman campaign that should inspire confidence going forward.

Matthew Linskey

0-2 Record | 7.15 ERA | 10 Appearances (2 Starts) | 11.1 Innings | 12 K | 14 BB | .135 Batting Avg Against

Like Davis, one bad outing obscures what was an encouraging beginning for this young hurler. Linskey’s .135 batting average against was the best on the staff by a wide margin. Walks were his undoing, a self-inflicted consequence that should be able to be corrected as he progresses in his career. The stuff is there and when he found the zone, it was tremendously effective.

Drake Greenwood

0-1 Record | 8.82 ERA | 13 Appearances | 16.1 Innings | 22 K | 16 BB | .259 Batting Avg Against

Greenwood saw his role diminish as the season progressed, losing work to other relievers as he struggled with walked multiple batters and allowed multiple runs in each of his final five outings that lasted longer than one out. His best outing came earlier in the season, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings against Texas A&M with a season-best five strikeouts.

Reed Gallant

2-1 Record | 6.49 ERA | 11 Appearances (1 Start) | 26.1 Innings | 17 K | 16 BB | .277 Batting Avg Against

Gallant began the season in a long-relief role and faired reasonably well, earning a rare Monday win with five scoreless innings against Houston Baptist. Like others, he struggled to keep command and gave up big innings too often. Only a freshman, Gallant has room and time to build up consistency and become more dependable on the bump.

Alex DeLeon

2-0 Record | 5.96 ERA | 11 Appearances (2 Starts) | 22.2 Innings | 20 K | 10 BB | .310 Batting Avg Against

DeLeon fell out of favor following last year’s brief stint as a starter. He worked primarily in long relief this year, appearing in six conference games. He could typically be relied upon to get a few strikeouts, give up a few hits and battle as best he could through jams. Some of those firefights turned out better than others.

Garret Zaskoda

2-1 Record | 7.65 ERA | 10 Appearances (3 Starts) | 20 Innings | 18 K | 13 BB | .320 Batting Avg Against

Like Greenwood, Zaskoda saw his high point in the midweek game against Texas A&M. He threw 5.1 innings, allowing one his while walking four and striking out four. He kept the Aggies at bay but wasn’t able to replicate a performance of that caliber for the remainder of the season. When facing the better offenses in Conference USA, Zaskoda struggled, but so did much of the rest of the Rice bullpen.

Reserves

Cristian Cienfuegos | 0-0 Record | 23.88 ERA | 8 Appearances | 8.2 Innings | 6 K | 12 BB | .390 Batting Avg Against
Dillon Janac | 0-0 Record | 12.27 ERA | 7 Appearances | 7.1 Innings | 5 K | 10 BB | .269 Batting Avg Against
Joshua Larzabal | 1-0 Record | 10.80 ERA | 6 Appearances | 8.1 Innings | 9 K | 5 BB | .436 Batting Avg Against
Johny Hoyle | 0-0 Record | 3.37 ERA | 3 Appearances | 2.2 Innings | 2 K | 6 BB | .200 Batting Avg Against
Jared Plank | 0-0 Record | 5.40 ERA | 3 Appearances | 3.1 Innings | 5 K | 1 BB | .308 Batting Avg Against
Will West | 0-0 Record | 9.00 ERA | 1 Appearance | 1.0 Innings | 2 K | 1 BB | .000 Batting Avg Against

The remainder of the bullpen was used sparingly, and proved to be more erratic than the first handful of relievers mentioned above. ERA isn’t a tell-all stat for players that primarily work an inning or two at a time, but the inflated marks tell the story fairly well here. The list of dependable options was short, and even those few didn’t deliver as often as Rice needed them to.

There is talent on this staff and it did flash at times. But there’s also a lof of work to do before the Rice baseball pitching staff is on par with what those around South Main have become accustomed to in past seasons.

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Rice Baseball 2021 Season Review: Starting pitching

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The Rice baseball starting rotation was a mixed bag in 2021. When things were good, they were really good, but the volatility was real.

The 2021 starting rotation wasn’t up to the high standards that Rice baseball has come to know. There were moments when each of these four primary starters turned heads, but Rice never truly had one weekend where each guy was throwing well. Here’s a rundown on how each guy faired in his role this season.

Mitchell Holcomb

6-5 Record | 6.53 ERA | 62.0 innings | 57 strikeouts | 17 walks | .320 batting average against

The Owls knew they would need reinforcements in the rotation prior to the season. That was one of the driving reasons Holcomb was brought in as a grad transfer. By most measures, his addition was a success.

Consistency wasn’t his forte, but he had enough high points to balance out the off days. He went seven innings while allowing one or fewer runs three times. On the other hand, he allowed six runs or more without making it out of the fourth inning on three occasions. In an ideal world, Holcomb would have been an ideal No. 3 or No. 4. Instead, he was the 1A to Garcia’s 1B at the top of the rotation.

Roel Garcia

1-5 Record | 5.87 ERA | 53.2 innings | 36 strikeouts | 16 walks | .311 batting average against

Almost two years removed from meaningful action, Garcia was eased into the 2021 season slowly. Unfortunately, he never built up the longevity the Owls’ bullpen would require. He completed six innings just once while watching his once sterling strikeout to walk ratio dwindle from 45-to-6 in 2018 to 36-to-14 this year.

For whatever reason, Garcia didn’t quite reach the heights he was capable of pre-injury. He was okay, but never quite elite, and never carrying the staff as the ace many hoped he would grow to be. That’s not to say he can’t still reach those expectations someday. But it wasn’t in the cards this season.

Blake Brogdon

3-5 Record | 5.07 ERA | 71.0 innings | 59 strikeouts | 21 walks | .317 batting average against

Perhaps more so than anyone else on the staff, Brogdon married consistency with production the best. Outside of an off day against a potent UTSA offense, he consistently went deep into games, worked through traffic and got big outs. His development over the last year has been extremely encouraging, giving reason to believe he has more growth left in the tank.

Brogdon was the only starter to throw more than 62 innings, averaging just under six innings per appearance, and that included three relief outings. He also gets the added distinction of being at his best as the season neared its end, giving the Owls a chance to win each of his final starts when they needed wins the most.

Brandon Deskins

3-4 Record | 3.88 ERA | 53.1 innings | 73 strikeouts | 29 walks | .213 batting average against

Deskins never really had the distance one would have liked to have seen out of a starter, but he excelled in a tandem role. He was frequently able to get throw a lineup once with minimal to no damage. Walks were an issue at times, but a high strikeout rate and timely pitching in big moments got him out of some of his own self-made troubles.

He certainly has the stuff to be a starter and develop the length aspect of his game over time. He’d also make a pretty fearsome reliever if he can master his command. Either way, Deskins will be a big piece of the Rice baseball pitching staff moving forward.

Others on the bump

Six other Owls had at least one start in 2021. Those starts spanned a couple of midweek games and a handful of stints as “openers” during conference play. Each of those pitchers saw at seven relief appearances, making the majority of their impact out of the pen rather than as starters.

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