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Baseball: Two grand slams rocket Owls past Prairie View A&M

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Rice baseball jumped out to a sizable lead letting out their offensive frustrations with a lopsided home win over Prairie View A&M.

Rodrigo Duluc stood on the steps of the dugout with his teammates all season, not once stepping foot in the batter’s box until Wednesday’s game against Prairie View A&M. He looked on as the team dropped midweek contests to Arizona and Texas. He was watching when UC Irvine swept Rice at home, allowing the home team to score just nine runs over the course of the weekend.

Then, finally, after patiently waiting for his turn, Duluc took his place at the plate and let it rip. With the bases loaded two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Duluc deposited a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall. The Grand Slam broke a 13-inning scoreless streak, jumpstarting an offense in desperate need of a spark.

Staked to an early 4-0 lead, Rice would pour on at least one run over the first five innings. The Owls stretched their advantage to 10-2, and although Prairie View was able to creep back with a three-run sixth inning. It wasn’t enough to cause any serious concern, but Rice would put all hopes of a Prairie View A&M comeback to bed in the seventh.

Rice scored 13 runs on 14 hits, coming one batter shy of hitting around, twice. The mashed three home runs within the inning. The final score of 25-5 marked the most runs scored by Rice since a 26-17 victory over UAB in 2017.

Takeaways

1. The offense definitely exists

Rice hit .091 with runners in scoring position over the weekend, converting two opportunities in the span of three games. On Wednesday, Rice not only surpassed their weekend run total, but they also picked up 12 hits with runners in scoring position 20 tries.

In addition to Duluc’s coming out party, Bradley Gneiting and Andrew Dunlap had career-high five-hit games. Trei Cruz had his second grand slam of the season.

Justin Collins, Cade Edwards, Braden Comeaux each had multi-hit games. Prairie View is far from the caliber of pitching staffs the Owls have faced to this point and have on the docket this coming weekend. But, Rice should have scored in bunches against this squad, and they rose to the occasion — and then some. If Wednesday night isn’t proof they’re capable of packing a punch at the plate this season, what not much else will.

2. Kel Bordwine bounces back

Almost two weeks prior, the first win of the Matt Bragga era was made possible by a strong relief outing by Kel Bordwine. He threw the first three extra innings on the Saturday game against Rhode Island, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out two. Although he was charged with the go-ahead run, it was Zach Esquivel who allowed the runner to circle the bases.

His next outing wasn’t nearly as encouraging. Arizona knocked him out of his prior Wednesday start after he allowed six hits and three runs in the first three innings. Which Bordwine is the real deal? A five-hit, no earned run performance through five against Prairie View is a vote in favor of the season-opening version.

3. A complete team win is what this team needed

For whatever the reason, Rice hasn’t really gotten the offense, defense and pitching in sync this season. The Owls are still searching for their first error-free game of 2019, but the rotation and the lineup have each had bursts. Bordwine started the Owls off on the right foot on the mound and the offense was electric. The relief corps had a hiccup before settling down late in the game. The defense, again, wasn’t perfect. And Rice won by 20.

Winning big with some built-in mistakes is a step in the right direction. If Rice wants to contend with the heavyweights of the sport, they’ll need to start combining all phases in the same game. This was definitely a step in the right direction.

ON DECK | vs Texas State (Fri), vs Baylor (Sat), vs TCU (Sun)

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Baseball: Owls seek pick-me-up win vs Prairie View A&M

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After suffering their first weekend sweep at home since 1993, Rice baseball looks to rebound against Prairie View A&M at Reckling Park.

It’s been a tough start for Rice baseball, but Prairie View A&M hasn’t come out of the gates full speed either. Winners of one of their first six games, the Panthers need this one as much as the Owls. After their midweek bout with Rice, Prairie View A&M starts conference play against fellow SWAC opponent Arkansas-Pine Bluff over the weekend.

When and Where

Pitching matchups

Drake Greenwood and Kel Bordwine got midweek starts for Rice last Tuesday and Wednesday night, respectively. Neither lasted more than three innings before giving way to a slew of arms out of the bullpen. Unless the starter comes out locked in, it’s highly probably a variety of pitchers see action on Wednesday. At some point we could see Evan Kravetz, who started the last two Saturday games, return to a bullpen role, freeing up someone else to pitch Tuesdays.

Brian Williams started Prairie View A&M’s only midweek game of the season to this point against Texas A&M. The Navarro Junior College product tossed 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three.

Names to know from the plate

Prairie View A&M relies on a core of four players at the plate, Alex Martinez, Daniel Lingua, Dalton Horner and Demarie Smith. 14 different players have appeared in at least half of the Panthers’ games this season, but only that quadrant have played in all six of their contests.

Smith has gotten off to a slow start from the plate, hitting .222, but the rest of the group has been on a tear. Martinez is slashing .400/.444/.680 with a 1.124 OPS. Lingua’s line sits at .381/.500/.571. Horner rounds out the group with a .364/.440/.545 clip.

It’s a mixed bag beyond that core, but in general, this is a team that hits for average (.248) without a ton of power. The heart of their order doesn’t strike out much, but the dropoff from the top is noticeable. If their pitching can hold up, the offense has proven they can score some runs.

ON DECK | vs Prairie View A&M (Wed), vs Texas State (Fri), vs Baylor (Sat), vs TCU (Sun)

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Rice Baseball: Complete 2019 Walk up song playlist

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Walk up songs are a creative niche which doesn’t exist to the same degree in any other sport. Here are the walk up songs for each Rice baseball player in 2019.

A few quick notes. Johnny Hoyle is the only player on the staff with a separate walk up song on the mound and at the plate. Awesome God by R Swift, the walk up song of choice for outfielder Dominic Cox, was not available for free streaming on Spotify. Listen to it here. Evan Kravetz and Brandt Frazier each chose The Stroke by Billy Squire

Get the full playlist on Spotify

Aaron Beaulaurier – Midnight in Montgomery by Alan Jackson

Kel Bordwine – Hot Blood by Kaleo

Khevin Brewer – Sittin’ On The Dock by Otis

Blake Brogdon – Wherever I May Roam by Metallica

Caleb Burgess – Come and Get Your Love by Redbone

Matt Canterino – Amazing by Kanye West

Justin Collins – Your Love by The Outfield

Braden Comeaux – Houston, We got a Problem by Luke Combs

Benjamin Content – Joker and the Thief by Wolfmother

Dominic Cox – Awesome God by R Swift

Trei Cruz – Sicko Mode by Travis Scott

Antonio Cruz – Nonstop by Drake

Brandon Deskins – Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

Dominic DiCaprio – Biggest Alley Oop by Quavo

Rodrigo Duluc – Peligrosa by J Bavin

Andrew Dunlap – Stranglehold by Ted Nugent

Justin Dunlap – Telephone Calls by A$AP Rocky

Cade Edwards – Carousel by Travis Scott

Zach Esquivel – By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Brandt Frazier – The Stroke by Billy Squire

Roel Garcia – Gasolina by Daddy Yankee

Garrett Gayle – Reign in Blood by Slayer

Bradley Gneiting – Hakuna Matata by Jason Weaver

Drake Greenwood – Eminence Front by The Who

Johnny Hoyle (Batting) – Moonlight by XXXTENACION

Johnny Hoyle (Pitching) – Breed by Nirvana

Kendall Jeffries – Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen

Evan Kravetz – The Stroke by Billy Squire

Joshua Larzabal – Butterfly Effect by Travis Scott

Blair Lewis – Homeboy by Eric Church

Addison Moss – Hells Bells by AC/DC

Jackson Parthasarathy – Touch Me by The Doors

A.C. Plum – What’s Up Danger by Blackway & Black Caviar

Daniel Russell – Shining Star by Earth, Wind and Fire

Ben Schragger – Welcome to the Show by Cody Johnson

Nick Silber – No Sleep Til Brooklyn by Beastie Boys

Jackson Tyner – Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood

Dalton Wood – Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns and Roses

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Baseball: Coach Matt Bragga undeterred by his toughest test yet

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Rice baseball had a rough start to the 2019 season, but head coach Matt Bragga is keeping the faith this team and this program can be something special.

It’s been a long time since 2003 for Rice baseball. The Owls would return to Omaha three times following their first College World Series title that remarkable season, most recently in 2008. But then things started to slow down at South Main. It came time to find the next leader who would carry what had become a mainstay program in college baseball back to the promised land.

That’s why Matt Bragga was hired. He was hired to bring another championship back to Houston.

And that’s why the first two weeks of the 2019 season have stung so much.

“It’s just not good enough. That’s a good team, but we shot ourselves in the foot multiple times over the course of the weekend as we did on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Bragga said following a three-game sweep at Reckling Park at the hands of UC Irvine. “We’re just not a good enough baseball team right now, and that’s my job as a coach to try to make us better and get as much out of these guys as we possibly can.”

More: Takeaways from Rice baseball’s home series loss to UC Irvine

In many respects, his summary is spot on. This is not a good enough baseball team right now.

On the mound, Rice pitchers are falling behind into less-than-favorable counts. They’re not being aggressive. At the plate the hitters are swinging at bad pitches, taking poor approaches with two strikes and failing to make adjustments at the plate over the course of a series. The defense, which has now accumulated 24 errors in eight games, needs to make more plays.

That list comes straight from the head man himself. Bragga meticulously spelled out the litany of issues following the third loss of the weekend to a UC Irvine team ranked in the Top 25 of some national polls. He summed it up with an all-encompassing decree, “we have to play better baseball.”

Rice baseball
Head Coach Matt Bragga introduced by AD Joe Karlgaard.

Perhaps he could take a page out of Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren’s book. Bloomgren came to South Main with a similar mandate: restore a winning tradition at Rice. What Bloomgren found out, and Bragga is currently experiencing, is the challenge of taking a program which had fallen on hard times back to relevancy is hard.

Following the football program’s loss to previously winless UTEP, Bloomgren remarked, somewhat in dismay, “I never thought I would be associated with a team that has had this little success.”

It’s hard to determine if that was the lowest low point of a challenging season on the gridiron, but there’s no denying the team Bloomgren’s unit finished the year on a high note, defeating Old Dominion in emphatic fashion. The inkings of a turnaround are finally present, but it took time. There are no shortcuts.

Hard, but not impossible

Bragga calls himself a straight shooter. He didn’t beat around the bush after his team fell to 2-6 on the season. “There’s more of a challenge [at Rice] than I probably envisioned,” he admitted. “But that’s okay. That’s why you coach, for challenges, and trying to overcome those challenges.”

Whether Bragga underestimated the challenge or not, his task hasn’t changed. His attitude remains unwavering. “I have belief in these guys,” he said confidently,” I think this could still be a really good team and I’m certainly not going to give up on them after eight games.” With at least 48 more to play in the 2019 season, Bragga will have plenty more opportunities to make that dream become a reality. Those aspirations will continue on to 2020 and beyond, too.

I have belief in these guys. I think this could still be a really good team and I’m certainly not going to give up on them after eight games.Matt Bragga

Baseball is hard. It’s a game built on failure and rooted in daily mental battles with oneself. There’s no doubt Rice baseball got punched in the mouth at the start of the 2019 season, but there’s also no reason to write off a strategic investment made by both the administration and by Bragga after two rough weeks, not yet.

Hope remains

As he walked off the field toward his office in the inner workings of Reckling Park, Bragga made one barely audible comment which resonated back out toward the field to scattered players and media standing on the dugout steps. “We’ll get it. I promise you, we’ll get it.”

Yes, it’s back to the drawing board for coach Bragga and the 2019 Rice baseball team. But this coach is a long way from throwing in the towel, and that’s why he’s here. Bragga was hired for more than two weeks of baseball. His legacy at Rice is only just beginning. Let’s allow him to play it out.

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Rice Baseball: All phases sputter as UC Irvine sweeps Owls at home

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Shaky pitching, fielding and offense resulted in Rice baseball being swept by UC Irvine, the first series sweep against the Owls under Matt Bragga.

There’s no doubt the Rice baseball team is experiencing some growing pains as the team adjusts to life under new head coach Matt Bragga. Getting the pitching, fielding and hitting in sync has been an issue for the squad through the first two weeks of non-conference play. The results on the field reflect the disjointed start as the Owls fell short in their weekend series against UC Irvine, dropping their overall record to 2-6.

UC Irvine edged Rice in the series three games to none. Here’s a rundown of the series with three final thoughts from the weekend.

FRIDAY | UC Irvine 11, Rice 5

Entering the weekend, Rice pitching had allowed two home runs all season. Owls’ ace Matt Canterino surpassed that mark in five innings, allowing three home runs, two UC Irvine second baseman Brendan Brooks. Even though they fell behind early, Rice battled back. In the home half of the fifth inning after Canterino was pulled, Rice squeezed the deficit back to one run.

Relief pitcher Jackson Tyner was instrumental in the Owls’ comeback bid. In 2.1 innings he stuck out five, walking one and allowing no hits. His secondary stuff had plenty of movement, keeping opposing hitters off balance for the duration of his outing.

Able to push a few more runs across throughout the game, Rice trailed 6-5 from the sixth inning to the ninth. With three outs separating Rice from a comeback bid, UC Irvine exploded for five runs. Instead of trying to mount a comeback from a one-run deficit, Rice found themselves trailing 11-5 in the final half inning. The Owls would give it a shot, but come up empty.

SATURDAY | UC Irvine 7, Rice 0

It wasn’t an offensive assault which forced the Owls to play behind on Saturday, it was a few big hits surrendered by some of their most reliable arms. TWo long balls, both surrendered by Rice starter Evan Kravetz, spotted UC Irvine to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

The three-run lead would prove to be enough. Rice had a season-low four hits scattered across nine innings. Back-to-back inning-ending double plays, one in the third and the other in the fourth further dampened any comeback attempt. By the time the ninth inning rolled around, it was a 7-0 lead for the road team. That result would hold final as Rice was retired in order for the third time that day.

SUNDAY | UC Irvine 11, Rice 4

Things started off quiet at the plate for Rice on Sunday. UC Irvine scratched two runs in the first two innings on two hits against Jackson Parthasarathy. The dam broke in the sixth with UC Irving scoring five runs to open up a 9-0 lead over the home team.

Facing a significant deficit, the Rice bats woke up. Trei Cruz opened the inning with a home run to right center, his third of the season. A cavalcade of hits followed, vanquishing reliever Michael Frias from the inning after two outs. Rice would score four runs on five hits, cutting the deficit to 9-4.

Rice had another opportunity in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. A double play and a strikeout ended the frame, thus snuffing out the chance to put another crooked number on the board. From there,  UC Irvine tacked on two more runs

TAKEAWAYS | UC Irvine wins series 3-0

1. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Errors, errors and more errors. The Owls fielding mishaps have haunted them throughout the young season. With the series against UC Irvine in the books, Rice has committed 24 errors over eight games, a pace of three errors per game.

There’s something to be said for early season jitters, of which Rice is no stranger. Rice committed 14 errors over their first eight games of last season (1.75 per game), going 3-5 over that span. Over the course of the 59-game season that rate fell to 1.22 errors per game — not stellar, but proof that a bad two weeks of baseball isn’t a season-ending curse.

The same goes for troubles at the plate. Rice has been charged with 11 wild pitches on the young season.

The 2019 squad has plenty of baseball still to play, but something needs to change in the midst of a busy several weeks. The Owls will play nine games in 12 days starting with a midweek contest against Prairie View A&M. There won’t be much practice time to speak of, making the need for a mental adjustment from several members of the team absolutely critical.

2. Situational hitting

In addition to the fielding concerns, Rice needs to work on their production at the plate in pivotal moments. Rice had 22 official at bats with at least one runner in scoring position against UC Irvine. They had two hits, both of which came on Sunday. It’s almost unthinkable Rice could find themselves with 11 such opportunities with their ace on the mound on a Friday night, score five runs and still lose, but it happened.

Trei Cruz is hitting .600 this season with runners in scoring position. That’s an incredible pace that leads the team by a significant margin. Bradley Gneiting is second-best in those situations hitting .333 and Brandt Frazier sports a .286 clip.

No other regular player is hitting better than .250. In fact, most are hitting well below .200 including Braden Comeaux (.083), Dominic DiCaprio (.167) and Antonio Cruz (.167). It’s early in the season, so those sample sizes are drastically too small to draw any meaningful conclusions from, but there’s no doubting the numbers are alarming.

3. Bright spots at the plate and on the mound

Trei Cruz was incredible during opening weekend, but it was readily apparent the Owls would need some other faces to step up at the plate to make this offense productive. Cruz didn’t have any 9-RBI games this weekend, affording plenty of opportunities for someone else to step up and spur on the Rice offense.

Comeaux had his best stretch of games this season, surpassing his four hits over the first five games with five base knocks in the three-game series with UC Irvine. Antonio Cruz hit his first collegiate home run. The rest of the offense was sparse, resulting in just nine runs scored by Rice over the weekend.

On the mound, Jackson Tyner stole the show. A two-sport athlete who played quarterback with the Rice football team in the fall, Tyner was dynamic out of the pen. He entered the game Friday night in relief of Canterino and shut UC Irvine down through 2.1 innings pitched, striking out five of the 10 batters he faced.

Brandon Deskins worked a scoreless inning in relief, as did Ben Schragger. Addison Moss made his season debut, throwing 1.2 innings while allowing two hits, two walks and striking out two on Sunday. His three runs allowed were all unearned by way of two fielding errors by Trei Cruz at shortstop.

ON DECK | vs Prairie View A&M (Wed), vs Texas State (Fri), vs Baylor (Sat), vs TCU (Sun)

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