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CUSA Baseball: Race for the top is closer than ever

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With two weeks remaining before the CUSA Baseball Tournament, Southern Miss and FAU are neck and neck at the top of the standings. Can anyone else come close?

Notable weekend results

1. Rice sees surge stopped by sweep (more)

In the midst of their longest winning streak of the year, Rice baseball had swept back to back CUSA series entering their road set with Western Kentucky. Within striking distance of the top teams, Rice fell flat, dropping all three contests to WKU. It’s now the Hilltoppers who hold sole possession of third place in the standings trailing Southern Miss and FAU.

2. FAU comes close to an emphatic sweep of Southern Miss

Southern Miss could have put the race for the No. 1 seed to bed with a series win over FAU. Instead of locking things down, the Eagles find themselves perilously close with the Owls, who took two of three over the weekend. The lone win for Southern Miss came in walk-off fashion, escaping with a ninth-inning single to break a 7-7 tie. The 1-seed is officially a two-team race.

3. Mother nature spoils Marshall/UTSA series

Both Marshall and UTSA are close to the cut line to make the conference tournament. Rough weather over the weekend forced the cancellation of the conclusion of the series, split 1-1. Marshall is 11-12. UTSA is 10-13. Both teams needed the chance at another win, so the lack of a rubber game is a particularly problematic ending from Huntington, WV.

Standings

Team CUSA Overall
1 Southern Miss 18-6 31-15
2 FAU 17-7 32-15
3 WKU 14-9-1 23-22-1
4 Louisiana Tech 13-11 29-19
5 Rice 12-12 21-27
6 Marshall 11-12 24-23
7 Old Dominion 11-13 29-18
8 UTSA 10-13 22-25
9 MTSU 10-14 17-30
10 Charlotte 9-14-1 18-27-1
11 FIU 9-15 20-27
12 UAB 8-16 22-26

 

Upcoming series of note

1. FAU at UTSA

FAU wants to make their final push for the No. 1 overall seed. UTSA is looking for enough wins to make the CUSA field. There will be a lot at stake in San Antonio next weekend.

2. Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech

Sitting at No. 3 and No. 4 in the conference standings the Hilltoppers and Bulldogs can push themselves into a secure position with a series win.

3. Old Dominion and Marshall

This might be an elimination series. The loser will enter the final weekend below .500 in conference play and could need some help to make the CUSA Tournament field.

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Rice Baseball: Sweep by WKU a headscratcher for Owls

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Rice baseball came back to earth over the weekend. The Owls saw their six-game CUSA win streak snapped by a sweep at the hands of Western Kentucky.

Rice swept each of their last two Conference USA series and was reasonably confident entering a three-game tilt with Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers were right in the middle of the pack along with the Owls, but had proven themselves to be beatable along the way. Not only was Rice unable to take the series, they weren’t able to win a game. Here’s a rundown of the tough weekend and three closing thoughts on the regrettable string of defeats.

FRIDAY (GAME 1) | WKU 6 – Rice 3

Things started out as good as Rice could have hoped for in the series opener. Matt Canterino was lights out on the mound, striking out 11 batters in seven innings. Western Kentucky was able to rough him up a bit in his final inning, but after allowing four straight hits, Canterino survived the scare and left the game in position to earn the win.

Counting the two runs given up by Canterino, Rice still held a 3-2 advantage. A pair of RBI singles, one by Trei Cruz in the first and another by Aaron Beaulaurier in the second plus a wild pitch had put Rice ahead early. Then they turned to the bullpen for six outs.

One error and three hits allowed Western Kentucky to break things open against Kendal Jeffries who had been the Owls’ most trustworthy bullpen arm. After leading for seven innings, Rice saw the result flipped in less than 30 minutes, losing 6-3.

FRIDAY (GAME 2) | WKU 9 – Rice 5

A similar story materialized in the second half of the Friday doubleheader. Evan Kravetz threw five innings, striking out nine and allowing three runs. He’d had better days, but his solid outing was not the Owls’ undoing. It was the bullpen, again. This time Blair Lewis took the loss.

Lewis relieved Kravetz and retired two of the first three batters he faced. An error, followed by a walk and a hit by pitch put the fate of the game in jeopardy. With the bases loaded, WKU slugger Jake Sanford strode to the plate an uncorked a grand slam over the right-field fence. Rice would never recover, dropping the series.

SUNDAY | WKU 6 – Rice 4

Unlike the prior two games, Rice did not strike first in the series finale. WKU scratched across runs in the first, second and third innings, taking a 4-1 lead into the middle innings. Jackson Parthasarathy wouldn’t make it out of the fifth inning, being relieved in favor of Garrett Gayle after surrendering four runs in the first three innings.

With Gayle on the mound, the Owls traded runs. Following an RBI in the fifth by WKU’s Stanford, Cade Edwards doubled and Dominic Cox hit a sac fly to cut the home team’s advantage to 5-3. The squads each tacked on a single run over the remainder of the contest, with Rice falling short for the fourth consecutive game.

TAKEAWAYS | WKU wins series 3-0

1. Who can Bragga trust in the pen?

As recently as a week ago, Kendal Jeffries, Garrett Gayle and Blair Lewis were the Owls’ most trustworthy relief options. All three of them had regrettably rough outings this week, and were responsible, at least to some degree, for Rice losses.

Rice doesn’t have the depth behind them to make a quick fix. Ben Schragger, Jackson Tyner and Ben Content have had their chances – none have been able to consistently get outs. With Addison Moss on the mend, Rice is out of options.

Kel Bordwine’s strong start against Houston on Wednesday will put him in contention for relief minutes in the coming weeks. He got the final two outs on Sunday. Dalton Wood could be a candidate after his outing this week, too. The fact that few answers have been found this late into the season is frustrating. It’s an ever-present reminder the depth on this team has some ways to go before it’s back to the standard this program has enjoyed over the past several decades.

2. It’s time to go home

With the meaningful exception of the Old Dominion series, Rice has not been a good team away from home. The Owls swept the Monarchs, but are 6-11  away from Reckling Park with one series win in 2019. That .353 winning percentage contrasts sharply with the Owls’ home record of 13-15, a .464 winning percentage.

Rice can finish better than .500 at home if they sweep Southern Miss in their final home series. That’s a tall task, but equally as challenging as sweeping Louisiana Tech at home, a feat they achieved earlier this season. Rice has won three home series, playing comprehensively better baseball in Houston than anywhere else. They don’t get to bring the same dirt with them to the postseason, so they’d best take advantage of their own field while they can.

3. This team is running out of time to get in rhythm

On paper, a series against Western Kentucky’s porous pitching staff was exactly what this offense needed. After settling in on a starting nine, the Rice offense was beginning to up their production at the plate. They were getting hits. They just needed to convert those into runs. Rice scored some runs against Western Kentucky, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a shaky bullpen.

The same roster that swept Louisiana Tech at home crumbled on the road against a team squarely in the middle of the pack. Now Rice finds themselves further down the standings than they’d like. The Owls are one bad weekend away from finding themselves on the outside of the conference tournament looking in.

Which team shows up at home against Southern Miss next weekend? The answer to that question might determine whether or not Rice is playing baseball deep into May. As thing stands, they’ll enter their last home series in fifth place.

ON DECK | at Lamar (Tues), vs Southern Miss (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball: Owls making the most of established starting lineup

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With only a few games remaining in the season, Rice baseball has settled in on a starting lineup, one which has brought much-needed consistency to the offense.

Head coach Matt Bragga flip-flopped the lineup on a nightly basis at the beginning of the season. He admitted then he’d rather stick with the same nine guys and not make as many adjustments, but lamented it wouldn’t happen until they were good enough as a team to solidify a starting nine. For him, the end goal will always be consistency. “I think consistency is good in whatever you’re doing, as long as it’s going well,” Bragga affirmed.

With the end of the regular season in view, Bragga’s squad has found those nine. The same position players have started every game of the Owls’ six-game winning streak and two of their three subsequent losses — Braden Comeaux, Bradley Gneiting, Trei Cruz, Andrew Dunlap, Cade Edwards, Justin Collins, Dominic Cox, Brandt Frazier and Aaron Beaulaurier. The lone exception was a Khevin Brewer start at designated hitter in the second half of Friday’s double header against WKU.

That core group, with a few pinch hitters scattered in, has paved the way for the Owls’ longest winning streak of the season. No longer is the weight of the offense resting on any one player’s shoulders. Every night someone different gets a big hit. It took a few months to get here, but the offense is beginning to feel balanced.

“There’s not a lot of options,” Bragga admitted, “so when you find a group of nine you’re very apt to stay with that nine.”

For the most part, that nine has got the job done. They’ve won six of their last nine games with the final game of the WKU series awaiting Sunday. Salvaging one more CUSA win would have a significant on the conference race. Bragga’s mindset remains clear. “We need to do better.” he said. That much is true. Now they have the right pieces in place to do it.

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Rice Baseball: Previewing the Western Kentucky series

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Rice baseball looks to keep their strong conference surge going with a road trip to Western Kentucky. Here’s how the Owls stack up with the Hilltoppers.

Listen online // Watch Friday (CUSA TV)

Winners of six straight conference games, Rice is playing their best baseball as the calendar turns to May. Next up the Owls hit the road for a three-game stretch with Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are 4-4 over their last eight games and sit a half game back of Rice (12-9) in conference play with an 11-9-1 record. Both teams need the series win dearly with just a few weeks of conference play remaining before postseason play begins. Here’s what to expect from WKU:

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday – 3:00 pm: Matt Canterino (6-4, 2.69) vs Reece Calvert (1-2, 5.03)
Friday – 6:30 pm: Evan Kravetz (4-2, 3.69)  vs Troy Newell (2-3, 6.95)
Sunday – 1:00 pm: Jackson Parthasarathy (3-6, 4.42) vs Joe Filosa (1-0, 5.64)

WKU Pitching

The Hilltoppers sport a 6.53 ERA, the worst among all pitching staffs in Conference USA. They’ve been collectively weak from top to bottom. All three hurlers in their weekend rotation have ERAs or 5.00 or worse, so do all but two of the pitchers on their roster who have appeared in at least one game this season.

Relievers Bailey Sutton (3.86 ERA) and Jeff Ciocco (4.86) are the Hilltoppers’ best options out of the pen but both of those pitchers wear a WHIP of 1.540 or worse. Opposing hitters are hitting .300 against WKU with 56 home runs. There isn’t anyone on the mound who will give Rice hitters a real scare over the weekend.

WKU Hitting

What Western Kentucky might lack on the bump they make up for in the batter’s box and it all starts with centerfielder Jake Sanford. His .859 slugging percentage leads the nation and he ranks inside the top 25 with a .500 on base percentage and a .412 batting average. He’s the heart and soul of the Hilltoppers’ lineup.

Sanford’s supporting cast is dangerous, too. Right fielder Jack Wilson owns a more human-like .427 slugging percentage and is second on the team with 49 hits with 13 doubles. Matt Phipps and Jackson Swinney have 10 doubles apiece. From top to bottom this team is going to make the Rice pitching staff work.

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Rice Baseball: Owls crumble late as Houston evens Silver Glove Series

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Rice baseball took an early lead, but couldn’t hold on dropping the second game of the Silver Glove Series to Houston on Wednesday night.

A hot start from the Rice bats wouldn’t be enough to secure their second win over Houston this season and clinch the Silver Glove Series.

Things started off on the right track. Bradley Gneiting got things going with a double to left center. He was quickly driven in by Trei Cruz to give Rice the 1-0 lead. Next, Andrew Dunlap was hit by the pitch for a team-leading 17th time, setting up Cade Edwards for an RBI single to extend the Rice lead to 2-0.

Houston would tie the game up in the seventh with a two-out double down the right field line. The score remained 2-2 entering extra innings before disaster struck in the 10th. Jackson Tyner loaded the bases and Ben Schragger allowed three runs on two walks and a hit batsman. Two more relievers would try their hand, but the game was quickly out of hand. Rice was shut out in the home half of the inning, dropping the game by a final score of 8-2.

1. Defense moving from deficit to asset

Sloppy play in the field was a significant contributing factor to the Owls rough start to the season. Rice wasn’t able to string together two error-free games together until March 22 and March 23, two games into conference play. They haven’t been perfect in the field since then, but the Owls had 11 multi-error games before that juncture and have reached that mark six times since.

Not only are they not making mistakes, but players across the diamond are also stepping up to make big plays. Gneiting made a nifty save on the track in right field in the fourth and Brandt Frazier snagged a missile sent his direction in the fifth. Rice committed no errors in 10 innings.

2. Bordwine’s best

The chances of broaching the weekend rotation this season are slim to none, but Rice is going to need all the arms they can find if they want to make a run through the CUSA Tournament and vie for NCAA Tournament slot. Using midweek games like Wednesday’s clash with the Cougars to identify those extra weapons is a must. Bordwine rose to the occasion and could write his name into lineup cards more often moving forward.

Bordwine tied a career-long set earlier this season against Prairie View A&M with five innings pitched. He allowed one hit, struck out one and walked two. He might not be as dominant as some of the other arms Rice can turn to in a pinch, but having one more reliable option is always a good thing.

3. Failing to clinch the Silver Glove Series now is a missed opportunity

When Rice was in their heyday, the Silver Glove seldom left South Main. Rice won the series every season from 2001 to 2013. As far as baseball was concerned, the Owls ruled the city of Houston. A win on Wednesday would have given the Owls a 3-3 split with the Cougars over the last six seasons. Instead, they’ll get one more chance in the rubber game of the series, held later this season at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.

Winning rivalry games is an important step in restoring the program to its historic roots. Rice has already accrued wins over in-state powers TCU and Baylor. Those are proof of a strong foundation being built by Bragga during his first campaign at Rice. There’s still more to be done.

ON DECK | at Western Kentucky (Fri-Sun)

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