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Baseball: Previewing the Oklahoma series

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Rice baseball looks to rebound from a pair of midweek losses with a second straight weekend series win. Next, the Owls take on UC Irvine at home.

Listen online // Watch Friday (CUSA TV) // Watch Saturday (CUSA TV) // Watch Sunday (CUSA TV)

11-2 Oklahoma will visit Rice as a part of a brief Texas road trip which got underway with a 7-2 loss to Dallas Baptist on Wednesday night. They’ll face the Owls for three this weekend before a Tuesday night game back in Norman against UT-Arlington.

Other than the midweek upset, Oklahoma’s only other loss came in the Tony Gwynn Classic, losing their game to Cal State Fullerton 8-6. Fullerton has been a fringe Top 25 team this season. Rice has lost to their fair share of ranked squads, but their most recent outings against ranked foes have gone well — wins over Baylor and TCU. Here’s how the Owls and Sooners stack up for their weekend series.

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday – 6:30 pm: Matt Canterino (0-2, 2.00) vs Cade Cavalli (2-0, 1.04)
Saturday – 2:00 pm: Evan Kravetz (1-1, 3.45) vs  Nathan Wiles (3-0, 1.35)
Sunday – 12:30 pm: Jackson Parthasarathy (2-1, 1.69) vs  Levi Prater (2-1, 1.62)

Oklahoma Pitching

Oklahoma pitching has been a bright spot for the team in 2019. Although most of the staff’s work has come against lesser competition, the starters and bullpen have responded in kind. None of the projected starting pitchers this weekend has an ERA worse than 1.62. The trio has combined for 14 walks total across 54 innings with 48 combined strikeouts.

The bullpen has been good, but not nearly as dominant. Ledgend Smith and Jason Ruffcorn have been some of the most reliable relief pieces for the Sooners. Smith has a perfect 0.00 ERA, allowing just three hits in 6.1 innings pitched this season. Ruffcorn, the team’s presumed closer, has three saves so far this year.

Ryan Madden, Wyatt Olds and Aaron Brooks have contributed here and there. All three will most likely make at least one appearance in the games over the weekend.

Oklahoma Hitting

With the pitching staff throwing as well as it has, there hasn’t been as much pressure thrust on the Oklahoma lineup. It’s been the most consistent producers who make this unit operate effectively. Brandon Zaragoza and Tyler Hardman are far and away two of the better hitters on the team, with both hitting better than .375 for the season.

Hardman leads the team in home runs (four), but is not immune from strikeout outing — he ranks second on the team with 13KS. The power has been distributed across the rest of the lineup, but look for Justin Mitchell and Conor McKenna to power through in difficult moments.

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Rice Baseball: Owls fall to Sam Houston in Wednesday shootout

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Rice baseball couldn’t hold off a disciplined Sam Houston offense, falling on a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning on Wednesday.

Runs were expected to come in bunches when Sam Houston came to town on Wednesday. The Bearkats did indeed bring their bats, striking first on a one out single in the first. Rice would quickly even the score in the second before the two squads exchanged 4-run innings in the third.

It took Sam Houston five hits to score their four runs. Rice only needed one, utilizing a sacrifice fly followed by a three-run blast from Andrew Dunlap to level the game. Dunlap would come up with another big hit in the next inning, capping off a four-run fourth inning with 2 RBI double down the left field line.

Leading 9-5, the Rice offense cooled down dramatically. Meanwhile, Sam Houston wasn’t done. The Bearkats struck for two runs in the sixth and two more in the eighth. The go-ahead run, which they scored in the final frame, came on a bases loaded walk to nine-hole hitter Diego Davila. That proved to be the deciding run as Rice would fall at home, 10-9.

Takeaways

1. The Owls have solved their 3-4-5 spots

Cleanup hitter Trei Cruz was promoted to the leadoff spot when the Owls’ offense sputtered out of the gate. He stayed consistent, leading the team in on base percentage and slugging percentage, but someone else was going to have to help drive in the runs.

Rice has found their answer in the trio of Braden Comeaux, Alex Collins and Andrew Dunlap. Those three were responsible for seven RBI against Sam Houston, coming through with big hits with runners on base. Comeaux didn’t have a hit on Wednesday, but he did reach base twice, scoring both times.

2. Work to be done behind the backstop

Sam Houston trimmed their deficit to one run in the eighth inning on a single to center field. Then, with two runners on base, two wild pitches allowed the base runners to advance, eventually scoring the game-tying run. Rice threw three wild pitches on Wednesday, bringing their total to 18 wild pitches over 14 games.

Justin Collins had a strong weekend behind the plate, but he’s been charged with five passed balls this year. The fielding errors are trending in the right direction and the connection from the mount to the plate needs some tuning up as well.

3. Midweek pitching remains a question mark

Addison Moss put together a strong outing on Tuesday against Houston, but it doesn’t seem likely he sticks in the midweek role for long. He’s going to challenge for a weekend spot, possible pushing someone else to an extended relief role or one of the midweek jobs.  That still leaves Rice in a quandary, especially on five-game weeks.

The combination of Drake Greenwood and Kel Bordwine have had their moments, but neither has taken the job for themselves, not yet. There are plenty of young arms in the pen waiting for their chance on the bump, too.

ON DECK | vs Oklahoma (Fri – Sun)

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Rice Baseball: Owls host Sam Houston in second midweek game

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Winners of three straight, Rice baseball took down Houston on Tuesday. The Owls will now turn their attention to Sam Houston State on Wednesday.

The Rice baseball team has been all over the map in 2019. From home sweeps to 20-point blowouts to back-t0-back upsets of Top 25 teams, these Owls have seen it all. After a Tuesday win over Houston, Rice returns home for a Wednesday tilt with Sam Houston State.

The Bearkats are 6-3 on the season with a sweep against Louisiana and competitive losses to Virginia Tech and Mississippi State. Three of those six wins came in walk off fashion. They also took a 10-3 lead over TCU before the midweek game was ruled a no contest because of fog. Here’s how to catch their game at Reckling Park against the Owls.

When and Where

Pitching matchups

Addison moss toed the bump on Tuesday, opening the door for Drake Greenwood to start on Wednesday. Expect Kel Bordwine and Garrett Gayle to see some relief action, depending on how the game plays out.

Dalton Brown and Seth Ballow have split the midweek starts for the Bearkats. Brown pitched the abbreviated game against TCU while Ballow faced the teeth of a terrifying Texas lineup. Ballow made it four innings, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out five. He’s most likely the guy Rice sees on Wednesday.

Names to know from the plate

Sam Houston packs a much more potent lineup than Rice saw on Tuesday against Houston. Jordan Cannon (.389/.560/.389), Gavin Johnson (.385/.414/.615) and Colton Cowser (.371/.439/.657) make the offense go. Clayton Harp and Hunter Hearn bring some power, tied for the team-lead with three home runs apiece. No player on their roster has double-digit strikeouts.

ON DECK | vs Sam Houston  (Wed), vs Oklahoma (Fri – Sun)

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Baseball: Owls down Houston for first win of Silver Glove series

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Rice baseball handed their cross-town rivals their fifth consecutive loss, edging Houston in the first game of the annual Silver Glove Series.

The good times kept rolling for Rice baseball, who earned their third consecutive win over a Texas team on Tuesday. In a game bumped forward a few hours because of weather concern, Rice handed rival Houston a 5-3 defeat in front of their own fans.

Trei Cruz opened up the scoring in the second with a two-run double down the left field line. Bradley Gneiting followed, driving in Cruz to stretch the advantage to 3-0. Houston battled back, scoring a pair of runs in the third one of which was unearned by way of an infield error. Up 3-2 in the seventh, Rice tacked on two more runs on a single from Andrew Dunlap followed by a groundout by Dominic DiCaprio.

Houston would get one run back in the eighth, but was only ultimately able to manage two hits and one run on the bullpen combination of Jackson Tyner and Kendal Jeffries. It was Jeffries who earned the save, his second on the season.

Takeaways

1. Defending the city

The Silver Glove series has gone back and forth between Rice and Houston over the last several years. The same team hasn’t won the series in consecutive seasons since 2014 and 2015 (Houston), but that came on the heels of the Owls dominating the Cougars for the better part of two decades.

Winning the first of three doesn’t guarantee Rice the series, the Owls won the opener in 2018 before dropping the final two contests. But it does give this team an added boost of momentum in a game that meant a lot for players in both dugouts.

2. Streaking

Victories over Baylor, TCU and Houston mark the longest winning streak of the season for Rice. Dating back to last Tuesday, the Owls have won four of their last five. The same team that was swept at Reckling Park against UC Irvine seems to have vanished overnight.

The 2019 Rice season has been a tale of two parts. A win over Sam Houston on Wednesday would bring the team back to .500 on the year. If they can keep things going with a strong weekend against Oklahoma the Owls’ rough start will be officially in the rearview mirror.

3. Addison Moss looks A-OK

Evan Kravetz has made the sudden disappearance of Moss from the weekend rotation seem somewhat of a non-event, but there’s a reason he and Matt Canterino were billed as a 1-2 punch this offseason. Since returning to the mound, Moss has looked sharp. Tuesday was his first start of the year, and it went it off without a hitch.

Moss threw five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and three hits and striking out one. The outing was his longest of the year thus far, ending in his first win. Coach Bragga will soon have a hard decision to make. What do you do when you have four weekend starters and three games to pitch them? How things play out will be interesting, but having an extra bullet in the chamber is good for this team in the long run.

ON DECK | vs Sam Houston  (Wed), vs Oklahoma (Fri – Sun)

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Baseball: Owls visit Houston for first road contest of 2019

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After taking two of three in the Shriner’s College Classic, Rice baseball hits the road for a short trip within the city to play Houston on Tuesday.

Two games does not a season make, but the significance of the Owls’ most recent pair of victories cannot be understated. Head coach Matt Bragga said the team dug deep after the Friday lost and finally began “playing with a sense of urgency” — and it showed.

Now they’ll look to continue their two-game winning streak with a victory over rival Houston, who went winless at Minute Maid Park over the weekend. The start time has been moved forward to account for the expected cold weather.

When and Where

Pitching matchups

Drake Greenwood and Kel Bordwine have taken some of the Owls’ midweek starts to this point. Bragga also mentioned Addison Moss could see action on Tuesday or Wednesday. His most recent outing came on Friday against Texas State where he threw two scoreless innings.

Houston has only had one midweek game to this point, a 13-5 extra-innings loss to McNeese State. They had a contest last week against Lamar postponed. Clay Aguilar got the start against McNeese, going three innings, striking out six while allowing four hits. He saw relief duty on Saturday in Houston’s loss to Texas State.  More than likely Rice will see a handful of arms for a few innings at a time.

Names to know from the plate

The Houston offense has been somewhat uninspiring so far this season. The Cougars are hitting .219, but the bulk of their offensive prowess rests on the bats of .333-hitter Jared Triolo, .282-hitter Joe Davis and .265 hitter Kobe Davis. They strike out a lot, 94Ks collectively this season, and don’t have much depth. This isn’t a lineup that’s going to score in droves.

ON DECK | vs Sam Houston  (Wed), vs Oklahoma (Fri – Sun)

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