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Rice Baseball edges Tech, falls to TCU, A&M at Shriner’s Classic

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Rice Baseball won one of three games at the Shriner’s Classic, taking down Texas Tech for their first ranked win of the Jose Cruz Jr. era.

FRIDAY | Rice 3 – Texas Tech 2

Parker Smith further solidified his status as a bonafide Friday starter this weekend, tossing a fantastic outing against No. 24 Texas Tech at Minute Maid. Smith struck out a career-high eight batters in six innings, allowing just three hits, one walk and zero runs. His efforts were bolstered by a two-run home run from Connor Walsh in the fourth inning to give Rice the lead.

Matthew Linskey struggled to find his command in relief, allowing Texas Tech to tie the game on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly in the seventh. Jack Riedel answered in the bottom half of the inning with a solo shot of his own which would prove to be the game winner, lifting Rice baseball to its first win over a ranked opponent in the Jose Cruz Jr. era.

SATURDAY | Texas A&M 13 – Rice 1 (7 inn.)

Texas A&M scored three runs in the first. They scored five runs in the second, chasing starting pitcher Mauricio Rodriguez in the process. Ryland Urbanczyk replaced him and was greeted with a rousing Ball-5 chant from the maroon-clad crowd.

The Aggies finished that second inning with an 8-0 lead. Rice stranded the bases loaded in the top half of the third, then watched Texas A&M tack on three more runs in the bottom half of the inning and another two runs in the fourth. After nearly two hours of game time, Texas A&M led 13-0 and the fifth inning hadn’t yet begun. It was that kind of night for Rice baseball.

SUNDAY| TCU 7 – Rice 0

The dwindling offensive numbers hit their bottom in the Sunday finale against TCU hurler Cam Brown, who had the Owls’ number from the start. He struck out eight in seven innings, allowing just three hits and the TCU bats did the rest. The Horned Frogs scored three on a home run in the second inning and another on a solo shot in the third. A sacrifice fly in the fifth and a two-run double in the eighth rounded out the scoring, more than enough to overcome the Owls’ bagel.

Rice was held to four hits for the afternoon. Starting pitcher Tom Vincent was relieved after 2.1 innings. Matthew Linskey was the only Rice pitcher that did not get charged with a run, while Cristian Cienfuegos, JD McCracken and Blake Brogdon were not as fortunate.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

Rice baseball concluded a stretch of seven consecutive games away from Reckling Park with a three-game stint at the Shriner’s College Classic. The Owls picked up one win in the process. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Who’s next on the mound?

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ON DECK | vs UTRGV (Tues),  vs Texas A&M (Wed), vs Houston Christian (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Women’s Basketball caps off regular season with win at FIU

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Rice women’s basketball wrapped up a Sunshine state sweep on Saturday, defeating FIU two days after FAU to complete the regular season.

Rice women’s basketball finished off the regular season just like they started it — riding a lengthy winning streak. The Owls’ Saturday victory over FIU was the fifth consecutive win for Rice, which clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming Conference USA Conference Tournament in the process.

Early on it looked like reaching that fifth straight win would come easy for the Owls, who parlayed a strong start into a 45-30 halftime lead. It wouldn’t be quite that easy, though. FIU opened the third quarter on a 24-6 run, forcing five Rice turnovers in that stretch and turning what could have been a one-sided affair into a rock fight down the stretch.

Malia Fisher and India Bellamy fouled out. Destiny Jackson and Trinity Gooden did not play. Still, with the lineup shortened, Rice found a way. They weathered the FIU rally and answered with one of their own, pulling away late to prevent any opportunity for an FIU upset.

Final Box | Rice 96 – FIU 84

Key takeaway | Bye, bye, bye

Rice women’s basketball won’t be playing on Wednesday in Frisco. Their win on Saturday secured the Owls the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Conference Tournament. That entitles them to a first-round bye as they await the winner of the game between No. 6 seed UTSA and No. 11 seed UAB. It also cements a rather impressive Year 2 for head coach Lindsay Edmonds and her staff.

Edmonds went 14-13 (8-9) in her first season with Rice women’s basketball. She ends the 2022-2023 regular season 22-7 (13-7). That’s a sizable jump and has her program viewed as one of the favorites entering the conference tournament rather than the upstart underdog they were last season.

Up Next: Conference USA Tournament, Round 2

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Rice Football: Catching up on coaching changes

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Rice Football has made significant changes to its coaching staff prior to the 2023 season. The Owls are expected to name several new position coaches this spring.

With Rice football set to start spring practices on March 6, time is of the essence as the program undertakes one of its most significant coaching staff changeovers since head coach Mike Bloomgren was brought in prior to the 2018 season and revamped almost the entire staff. Bloomgren has made a significant amount of changes on the position coach front over the past few weeks. Here’s a rundown of the new faces and some notes on what’s still to come.

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Rice Baseball: Under the radar players? — February Patreon Q&A

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There are a lot of new names on the 2023 Rice baseball roster. Which ones are going to make the biggest impact on the diamond this year?

There was a lot of activity surrounding Rice baseball over the offseason. The playing surface and Reckling Park was redone and a compliment of new players was added to the team, several of which have received buzz during the fall and the leadup to the 2023 season. Which of those anticipated debuts will bring with it the biggest boom? We dig into that question in this month’s Patreon Q&A.

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BREAKING: Rice Football reschedules future game with LSU

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Breaking News: The Roost has learned that Rice Football and LSU have agreed to reschedule their upcoming game, which will now take place in 2029.

Originally scheduled to be played on September 7, 2024, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Rice football and LSU have rescheduled their upcoming contest. The game will now be played on September 29, 2029 instead, The Roost has learned.

The game in question was agreed upon in 2016 as part of a multi-game agreement, in which Rice was meant to host LSU at NRG Stadium in 2020 with a return game at LSU in 2024. The 2020 game was nixed because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The 2024 game has now been moved.

LSU and Rice last played in 2018, a game the Tigers won in Baton Rouge by a final score of 42-10. Before that, the two schools had not met on the gridiron since 1995. Prior to that, the teams had been almost every year from the 1930s until the early 1980s with LSU winning 11 of the last 12 contests.

The change gives Rice some flexibility in non-conference scheduling moving forward. With the exception of the 2023 schedule, which is already full with four games (at Texas, vs Houston, vs Texas Southern, vs UConn), Rice football doesn’t have more than two agreed-upon contests in any future season.

Rice now has two games remaining on its 2024 schedule, both at home. They’ll host Sam Houston on August 31, 2024 and host Army on October 5, 2024. In 2029, Rice now has two non-conference games scheduled. They’ll play the aforementioned game at LSU as well as a home game against Northwestern, set for September 8, 2029.

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