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Rice Baseball shows growth in sweep of Houston Christian

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Rice Baseball improved to 8-8 on the season, taking all three games against Houston Christian, some in thrilling fashion.

FRIDAY | Rice 5 – HCU 1

Parker Smith held Houston Christian to one run in five innings on Friday night, putting Rice baseball in a prime position for a series-opening win. Matthew Linskey took the baton and delivered what was probably his best outing of the year, tossing four scoreless frames with five strikeouts to earn his first save.

With those two hurlers keeping the Owls’ opponent at bay — HCU scored just one run in nine innings — the Rice offense was handed an easier assignment. In the second, Paul Smith drove in the first run via a sacrifice fly in the second to put Rice in front. In the third, Drew Holderbach tripled to drive in what would become the game-winner, stole home a few moments later then added another insurance run with an RBI single in the fifth.

SATURDAY | Rice 14 – HCU 12

If Friday was for the pitchers, Saturday was for the bats. Rice delivered the first crooked number, taking a 7-2 lead after three innings, but HCU would continue to chip away. The Huskies big break came in the top of the seventh with a three-run home run to left field giving the visitors a 10-7 lead. It would not be enough.

The HCU pitching imploded an inning later. Rice batters walked five times in the inning and were hit by pitches twice. Rice collected one hit, a single by infielder Ben Royo, but scored seven runs to take a 14-7 lead. HCU would give Rice a scare in the ninth, but couldn’t overcome the deficit, allowing Rice to secure the series win.

SUNDAY| Rice 7 – HCU 6

Rice starter Mark Perkins worked around a hit batter in the first inning before running into trouble with the back half of the lineup in the second. Houston Christian took a 2-0 lead following a pair of doubles in the inning, then doubled their advantage to 4-0 on a two-run homer from their nine-hole hitter.

JD McCracken who keep the Huskies off the board for the next several frames as everyone awaited the awakening of the Rice offense, which came via a six-run bottom of the sixth, highlighted a trip of two RBI singles to put Rice in front. HCU would tie the game in the seventh with a home run off Krishna Raj before Rice went ahead for good in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Converted outfielder Jack Ben-Shoshan got the win on the mound.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

Rice baseball notched a series sweep, taking all three games against Houston Christian, led by former Rice great Lance Berkman. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Are we putting labels on things or not?

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ON DECK | at Baylor (Tues),  at UAB (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Football 2023 Spring Practice Notebook 1: Coaching Shuffle

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Rice Football has three new assistants with more on the way. Here’s the latest on the new faces and how they’ll fit at South Main.

After an eventful offseason, Rice football began its spring practices on Monday. Unlike some prior springs, there were a host of new faces on the field, including transfer quarterback JT Daniels and three new position coaches, who have since been formally appointed by the school.

I caught up with head coach Mike Bloomgren and each of the three new coaches to get their early impressions on the South Main and understand what they expect to bring to the Owls.

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Making Waves

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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 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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