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History made! Women’s basketball ranked in Top 25 for first time ever

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Rice women’s basketball has made history, achieving a ranking in the AP Top 25 basketball poll for the first time in school history.

Expectations were high entering the 2018-2019 Rice women’s basketball season, and for good reason. The Owls finished 23-10 the season prior and were returning key pieces on the floor like Erica Ogwumike, Nancy Mulkey, Nicole Iademarco and others. This was supposed to be the caliber of team which contended, not only for a Conference USA Championship, but a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Owls haven’t secured either of those aspirations quite yet, but for the first time in school history Rice women’s basketball has been ranked in the AP Top 25. Following a pair of runaway victories against FIU and FAU over the weekend the Owls jumped into the rankings, currently as the No. 25 team in the nation.

The achievement marks the start of what the Owls hope will be a banner season in program history. The only real question is why it took so long for the nation to take notice of the incredible run under way at South Main.

Rice hasn’t lost a game since December 18, currently in the midst of a 15-game winning streak, the longest in school history. The Owls have played two games decided by fewer than 10 points in that stretch, the most recent coming in early February against a tough Old Dominion team on the road.

Other than that, Rice has blown the doors off of just about every opponent they’ve faced. Every time it looked like they might have peaked, they won again, and again, and again. Now sitting at 22-3, they don’t look to be slowing down any time soon.

Congratulations to the ladies and to head coach Tina Langley. Earning this designation is a tremendous accomplishment. May the best be yet to come.

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Baseball: Matt Bragga era begins with series win vs Rhode Island

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Rice baseball opened the Matt Bragga era with a series win over visiting Rhode Island at Reckling Park, highlighted by a walk-off wild pitch for the Owls’ first win of the season.

The Matt Bragga era on South Main is officially underway. Hired away from Tennessee Tech, Bragga was introduced in June and has been hard at work ever since. Fall ball and spring workouts have given way to real baseball, starting with the Owls’ opening weekend against Rhode Island at Reckling Park.

Rice took the series two games to one. Here’s a rundown of each game a few closing thoughts from the weekend.

FRIDAY | Rhode Island 2, Rice 1 (10 innings)

The concerns around this team during the offseason largely focused on the offensive side of the ball. Those early worries proved accurate out of the gate with as the Owls failed to give their ace Matt Canterino much support on Friday night.

Canterino was superb, tossing 6.1 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine. The offense managed one run on a Trei Cruz RBI single, one of six hits on the night.

It was the defense that faltered in extra innings. Rice committed two errors in the 10th, the first of which allowed Rhode Island to score an unearned and eventual game-deciding run.

SATURDAY | Rice 7, Rhode Island 6 (13 innings)

A comfortable lead turned into a thrilling finish on Saturday, culminating in an extra-inning win, the first of the Matt Bragga era. Rice had built a 3-0 lead on a career night from starting pitcher Evan Kravetz, inserted after Addison Moss was a late scratch (wrist). Kravetz set a career high with 10 strikeouts through five innings, giving way to Dalton Wood in the sixth.

Rhode Island battled back, eventually tying the game in the top of the ninth inning, the second full inning worked by potential closer Garrett Gayle. The score would stay deadlocked at 5-5 entering extra until Rhode Island scratched across a run in the top of the 13th.

Trailing 6-5, Rice needed a spark. They got it from Dominic Cox. He was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch and came in to score on an errant throw to third on a Trei Cruz single. Cruz would come in to score the winning run minutes later on a passed ball, a fortunate break which capped off the five-hour contest.

SUNDAY | Rice 15, Rhode Island 3

There was no pitchers duel on Sunday. Rice matched their seven runs scored in 13 innings the game prior in the first three frames. Rhode Island starter Nick Robinson surrendered five extra-base hits, including the first two home runs of the weekend one by Trei Cruz, the other by Justin Collins.

Cruz launched a grand slam in the fifth inning, the highlight of a masterful performance at the plate. That long ball gave him eight RBI for the game, the most runs driven in by any Rice player since Anthony Rendon tallied eight RBI against Cal in 2010.

On the mound, Jackson Parthasarathy moved quickly mowing down Rhode Island hitters left and right. He matched the strong starts from Canterino and Kravetz, going six innings while allowing one hit, no runs and striking out eight.

After the slow start, Sunday’s runaway win gave this team a nice boost of confidence headed into two important midweek games against Texas and Arizona.

TAKEAWAYS | Rice wins series 2-1

1. Rice pitching was as good as advertised

There will be much more threatening visiting lineups in Reckling Park this year. Rhode Island was a young, mostly unproven group from the northeast and Rice met them with an experienced group of hurlers. It should have been a dominant outing by the Rice pitching staff. For the most part, it was.

Through three games, Rice starters hold a season ERA of 0.00. The combination of Canterino, Kravetz and Parthasarathy allowed seven hits, two walks and zero runs while striking out 27 over 17.1 innings pitched.

It wasn’t just a good weekend for the rotation. Kendal Jeffries and Kel Bordwine were both strong out of the pen. Jeffries relieved Canterino on Friday night, throwing 3.2 innings with six strikeouts and four hits. Bordwine carried the Owls through three extra frames on Saturday. Despite being charged with the go-ahead run allowed by Zach Esquivel, he allowed three hits with two strikeouts, facing 13.

Bragga had high praise for his pitchers, saying “They’re giving our offense a chance to find our identity right now.” It took every bit of success from the Owls on the bump to match Rhode Island on Friday and Saturday. Sunday, the offense took over.

2. The offense is a work in progress, but there’s plenty to work with

Active baserunning, hit and runs, a squeeze play at home and the long ball were all part of the repertoire for the Rice offense on opening weekend. Bragga expects the offense to become more cohesive as the season progresses, but for now, he’s going to continue to experiment.

“I’m learning this team. I’m learning these guys and trying to figure out what’s best suited for us to score runs,” Bragga said. “We’ll do whatever it takes to get those runs in because are pitching staff is throwing really well.”

Cruz was the offensive MVP of the weekend, leading the team with eight hits, including two home runs and two triples on Saturday, and 10 RBI. Dominic DiCaprio and Cade Edwards had a pair of doubles. Bradley Geniting had six hits, scoring five times. Four Owls (Gneiting, T. Cruz, Collins, Edwards) leave opening weekend with a batting average better than .300.

3. The fielding must get better

The pitchers shined and the offense showed flashes, leaving the errors with the gloves the most glaring concern of the weekend.

Rice committed seven errors on the weekend. If they play clean baseball the series could very well have ended in a sweep. When the offense is firing on all cylinders they’ll have the wiggle room to work past the occasional fielding mistake. For now, it’s even more imperative the team tightens up their fielding.

Both of the first two games were decided by errors with the deciding runs coming for each squad via fielding miscues. Even with a sizable lead on Sunday, Rice couldn’t come up with a clean sheet.

ON DECK | vs Texas (Tues), vs Arizona (Wed), vs UC-Irvine (Fri.-Sun.)

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MBB: Loss to FAU drops Owls into elimination pod

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Rice basketball dropped their final game to FAU before pod play, setting up a series of elimination games before the conference tournament in Frisco.

An up and down season saw another dip in Florida on Saturday. Rice basketball suffered their second consecutive road loss, falling to FAU 60-41. The loss drops the Owls to 5-9 in conference play this season.

A new wrinkle to the schedule in 2019, the final slate of games will be decided in pod play based on conference record. Teams that finish first through fifth in the conference standings will be in the first pod. Sixth through tenth seeds will be in the second pod. The final four teams, Rice included, will play in the lowest pod.

The uppermost pods are meant to enhance the strength of schedule for the conference’s top teams. No matter how each teams fairs in pod play, they’ll all be guaranteed a spot in the conference tournament. The same isn’t true for the Owls’ pod.

The Conference USA tournament has 12 spots to assign from 14 teams. That means the four teams in the bottom pod are playing for the final two spots in Frisco. Rice will battle it out with Middle Tennessee, Charlotte and UTEP in a series of four games.

Rice has defeated Charlotte and Middle Tennessee already this season. The Owls dropped a road contest to UTEP on a controversial call for which the conference issued an apology.

The team has had some bad outings over the course of the last two months, but the majority of their games have come down to the final minutes. If they play to their potential, Rice can finish in the top two of their pod and qualify for the conference tournament. Another series of games like Saturday, though, and the Owls will see their season end sooner than they’d like.

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Rice Baseball: Previewing the Rhode Island series

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Who’s ready for a weekend at Reckling Park? Rice baseball returns on Friday with a three-game series against the visiting Rhode Island Rams.

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

For baseball fans, there are few words sweeter than opening day. Rice gets to experience that return to the diamond on Friday, Feb. 15 through Feb. 17 as the Owls kick off a long homestand to begin the Matt Bragga Era at South Main. Here’s what to expect from their first opponent: Rhode Island.

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday: Matt Canterino vs Tyler Wilson
Saturday: Addison Moss vs Vitaly Jangols
Sunday: Jackson Parthasarathy vs Nick Robinson

Rhode Island Pitching

Tyler Wilson is the Rams’ ace and as such, crucial to the road team’s hopes of a series win. Last season the senior lefty had a 3.59 ERA and averaged 8.63 K/9, a top 10 mark in the A10 conference.

Wilson is a proven commodity among a pitching staff that will be extremely green. Vitaly Jangols started eight games last season, tallying 31 strikeouts and 10 walks with a 4.75 ERA. Righty Nick Robinson (14 appearances, 5.30 ERA) and lefty Jake Walker (11 appearances, 7.99 ERA) both have some starting experience and could challenge for a spot in the rotation early on this season.

Senior Mark Silvestri (18 appearances, 5.48 ERA) will anchor the Rams’ bullpen and could be in line to take over the closer role from last year’s anchor Nick Johnson.

Rhode Island Hitting

Rhode Island loses a lot of experience pitching and will turn to relatively untested arms. The same won’t be true of their lineup. Jackson Coutts was a revelation for the Rams’ offense in 2018. He led the team in batting average and RBI as a true freshman. Also returning are Sonny Ulliana and Greg Cavaliere, the only other Rams with a slugging percentage of .350 or better.

Nobody on the lineup is particularly threatening from a power standpoint. Rhode Island totaled just 11 home runs all of last season and tended to strike out, a lot. Senior Lawerence Hill led the team with 50 whiffs, somewhat offset by a team-high 23 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.

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Rice Football: Offensive coordinator Jerry Mack named Associate Head Coach

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A staffing announcement out of South Main. Current offensive coordinator Jerry Mack has been named Rice football Associate Head Coach.

The title of Associate Head Coach was vacated during the offseason when Pete Lembo departed Rice for Memphis to work on Mike Norvell’s staff as the special teams coach. That left some reconfiguring to do for Mike Bloomgren for the first time since he built his staff upon his arrival at South Main.

The first beneficiary of the change is Jerry Mack. The former head coach at North Carolina Central, Mack took over the Owls’ offense last season. He will retain his role as offensive coordinator alongside being named the Associate Head Coach.

For Mack and the offense, 2018 was a year of adjustments. The Owls experienced their fair share of growing pains as they transitioned to a more physical, run-dominant offense. Mack guided the offense through multiple quarterback injuries and a fluctuating offensive line.

Rice averaged 318.4 yards per game, finishing seventh in Conference USA with 143.6 yards per game on the ground. Both of those numbers are expected to improve next season with a fortified offensive line, which will include three graduate transfers, and a more stable quarterback situation.

The team ended on a high note, defeating Old Dominion in the final game of the regular season. They registered 275 rushing yards against the Monarchs, the most of any conference game that season.

Mack’s promotion does not involve special teams responsibilities. As previously reported, the candidate pool has been narrowed to two names with interviews forthcoming, held off until after National Signing Day. The decision on how that coaching spot will be filled is expected to be made in the coming weeks.

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