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Rice Basketball rally falls short, drops game to underdog UTSA

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Rice basketball picked a bad day to have a bad day, falling to the last team in the conference standings in front of the Owls’ home crowd on Thursday night.

UTSA has clung to the bottom of the Conference USA standings for the entirety of the season, but they’ve managed to give Rice basketball fits when the two have met on the court. Thursday night in Houston proved no expectation. UTSA shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half to a meager 27 percent for the Owls, who went into the break trailing by four to a team with one conference win.

The shooting slump lingered through the early portions of the second half. Rice was able to climb back within one point in the first five minutes but a later 10-2 UTSA run would put the road team up by 13 points with the clock ticking under 10 minutes to go. In need of a spark, Alem Huseinovic and Quincy Olivari strung together some three-pointers, bringing the game back within range in the final minutes.

That late run proved to be false hope. UTSA responded with a 10-2 run of their own, pushing the lead back to double digits and holding on for the upset. As hard as they tried, Rice just couldn’t break through.

Final Box | UTSA 84 – Rice 79

Key takeaway | Bad day to have a bad day

UTSA entered Thursday’s contest on an 11-game losing streak, the longest in school history. With postseason seeding on the line against a struggling squad, the worst team in Conference USA, Rice basketball couldn’t afford to come out flat. Yet that’s exactly what happened. The Owls were able to keep things close for a while, but once UTSA got hot late, the ruse was up.

This was supposed to be the easy game. Head coach Scott Pera was quick to acknowledge the Roadrunners. He said all the right things. But if Rice basketball really wanted to contend for a first round bye in the Conference USA Tournament, this seemed like a much more winnable game on paper.

“We gotta play better. We have to be better defensively. We have to be more ready to play in a better mind space. We can’t worry about all the other stuff,” Pera said, alluding to the standings. “You just got to play better to give ourselves a chance to win. If we don’t play. we’re not going to win and none of that will matter.”

Games aren’t played on paper. Rice basketball is acutely aware of that right now.

Up Next: vs WKU – Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7:00 p.m.

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Rice Women’s Basketball handed tough loss against UTSA

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Rice women’s basketball wasn’t ready to go away from home, falling to UTSA in one of their final road games of the regular season.

It would have been hard to draw up a more crushing start for Rice women’s basketball than the first half they played against UTSA on Thursday night. The Owls fell behind 18-1, then 29-9, shooting worse than 10 percent from the floor through much of the first quarter and only truly finding their stroke midway through the second stanza.

A 10-2 Rice run to end the half averted total disaster and gave the Owls a chance to regroup and try again. UTSA would keep things within that range for most of the third quarter before Rice gave one final push in the fourth and final frame.

Rice would get within five on a jumper from Destiny Jackson, but that was the point when they ran out of game. The Owls made two shots from the field in the final seven minutes, falling to UTSA by a final score of 66 to 53.

Final Box | UTSA 66 – Rice 53

Key takeaway | Austin essential in reemergence

Prior to Thursday night, Ashlee Austin hadn’t played in a basketball game since February 4. She’d been relegated to watching the past two contests by a coach’s decision. Rice won both games without her on the court, but it seemed improbable the Owls would rattle off an extended winning streak without the help of their leading scorer.

Austin came off the bench and led all Rice players in scoring with 14 points. She led all Rice players in rebounds with five and assists with three. Malia Fisher, a rock for this team since her arrival on campus, was limited to just five minutes. Someone else needed to step up. Austin did. It wasn’t enough tonight, but they’re going to need her down the stretch.

Up Next: at WKU – Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1:00 p.m.

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Rice Baseball 2023: Names to Know — Lineup

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Entering Year 2 under head coach Jose Cruz Jr the Rice baseball roster is starting to take shape. Here are a few names to know at the plate.

Rice baseball hit somewhat of a reset last season in the first year under Jose Cruz Jr that featured a significant amount of turnover in the lineup following the departure of several veteran players. With the exception of a few notable transfers and incoming freshmen, the 2023 roster should have more continuity than the previous year.

Moving On

The presence of Austin Bulman will be missed this year. He was a keystone in the lineup and in the infield. Among the other notable departing names are outfielders Antonio Cruz and Justin Dunlap as well as infielders Hal Hughes and Drew Woodcox. Those losses aren’t insignificant, but it’s worth noting the Owls bring back a significantly larger portion of their production than they’re losing. That wasn’t the case last year.

Coming Back

Rice baseball is set to return seven of their top nine hitters from the 2022 season, led at the top of the lineup by outfielder Guy Garibay Jr. Nathan Becker, who led all everyday Rice players with a .310 batting average, is back as well as is standout freshman Aaron Smigelski.

Jack Riedel, Pierce Gallo and Connor Walsh, all of whom played important roles in last year’s squad, return as well. That’s a strong core for Rice to build around on offense.

Added to the Mix

Catcher Manny Garza isn’t a new face — he actually led the team with a staggering 1.023 OPS last season — but was limited to 22 appearances because of injuries. Adding his bat and defense to the lineup for the long haul will provide a boost.

As for newcomers to the squad, be on the lookout for big contributions from grad transfer Drew Holderbach, a DIII transfer who slashed .356 / .436 / .516 over four years at Mariette College, won two DIII gold gloves at first base and led his team to a DIII World Series appearance.

More: Expectations rise for Rice Baseball, Cruz Jr. in Year 2

Max Johnson, who joins Rice from Indiana where he appeared in 11 games last year, has drawn some early positive reviews, too.

Rice also signed five freshman position players who are expected to be in action this season. Christian Salazar, Trey Duffield and Jacob Devenny could each contend for playing time in the outfield this season. Paul Smith is a catcher from just down the road at Episcopal. Ben Royo, who has impressed early, has a good shot to find some at bats.

** Photo Maria Lysakar **
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Rice Baseball 2023: Names to Know — Pitching

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Entering Year 2 under head coach Jose Cruz Jr the Rice baseball roster is starting to take shape. Here are a few names to know on the mound.

Rice baseball will look to significantly retool its pitching staff this season. In addition to the hiring of Parker Bangs, a new pitching coach, this offseason, the Owls will also turnover a sizable portion of their staff and likely introduce a host of players to new roles.

Moving On

From purely an innings-pitched perspective, Rice will have to replace its top five arms from last year’s team. Cooper Chandler, Alex DeLeon, Roel Garcia, Thomas Burbank and Brandon Deskins have moved on, leaving a vacuum of mound time to back fill. That quintet accounted for 251 of 485.2 innings pitched, representing more than 50 percent of the innings worked by the entire 2022 staff.

Coming Back

While they are losing a lot of innings, the cupboard isn’t completely bare. Closer Matthew Linskey, who led the team with a 3.00 ERA last season, returns to the squad and could be stretched out to take advantage of his talents for more than an inning or two per weekend. Also back is Parker Smith, who made a strong case to be higher in the weekend rotation at the end of last season and throughout summer ball.

Blake Brogdon, who has been a weekend rotation guy in prior seasons, is back for his fifth season at South Main. It’ll be interesting to watch how his role plays out as well as a guy like Micah Davis that flashed his talents last year but lacked consistent command. Tom Vincent, Reed Gallant, Cristian Cienfuegos and Garret Zaskoda return as potential bullpen options.

Added to the Mix

The list of newcomers who will be in the mix is long. Rice added Mauricio Rodriguez from the JUCO ranks as well as Krishna Raj (Charleston Southern, Tulane), Hayden Durke (Louisiana), JD McCracken (Tennessee) and Tyler Hamilton (Texas Tech) from the Transfer Portal. Additionally, they converted Justin Long from catcher to hurler, and word of his development has been very positive throughout the offseason.

More: Expectations rise for Rice Baseball, Cruz Jr. in Year 2

Past that, there’s a strong compliment of freshman arms that will get looks. Head coach Jose Cruz Jr. singled out Ryland Urbanczyk and Garrett Stratton as early standouts at the onset of preseason practices, which would likely make the front runners in that regard. The Owls also added Marco Fuentes, Jake Crews and Tanner Fox in their incoming freshman class.

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Rice Baseball: Anticipation, expectations rise for Owls in Year 2 with Jose Cruz Jr

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Rice baseball brings renewed vigor and elevated expectations into the 2023 season, the Owls’ second under head coach Jose Cruz Jr.

For a program with the storied history that Rice baseball has, it’s been a tough few years. And while the term “rebuilding” isn’t one the Owls would want to be associated with their brand, that’s essentially what last season was for this program.

New head coach Jose Cruz Jr. brought passion and a modern vantage point on the game of baseball. He reinvigorated the fan base and helped paved the way for a new playing surface at Reckling Park, which remains one of the most beautiful venues in the sport. There was a lot of good that happened during the 2022 season, but the actual results on the diamond were lacking.

“Last year, we didn’t win as many games as we wanted to,” junior outfielder Guy Garibay said. “We’re coming into this year with a bad taste in our mouth and we’re out to win.”

Rice baseball finished 17-39 in Cruz Jr.’s inaugural season at the helm and 9-21 in conference play. Two of their three series wins (over Marshall and over FIU) came on the road. Taking two of three at home against Western Kentucky was their best home series of the season.

Deadset on rising up from that slow start, the Owls embarked on a focused offseason with a clear directive. Rice hired a new pitching coach, Parker Bangs, and spent a significant amount of time and effort with their pitchers in the Pigpen Pitching Lab. They retooled their roster with key transfer additions and several talented incoming freshmen.

“We feel that as a staff we’ve challenged ourselves to be as prepared and as cutting-edge as we can possibly be when it comes to baseball,” Cruz Jr., said. “We’ve created a lot of things and a lot of support for our guys to succeed and we’re looking forward to seeing it happen on the field.”

Rice was picked to finish eighth in the 10-team league by conference head coaches this season. Newcomer Dallas Baptist got four first-place votes. The Owls did not receive any, nor were they honored with any individual players on the preseason all-conference team.

Cruz Jr. was undeterred. “We’re trying to win as many games as possible. We’re coming into every game thinking we’re going to win,” he said. “I don’t think outside of here expectations are very high but we have high expectations for what we can accomplish.”

Beyond general optimism, Cruz Jr. is confident because he’s tuned into the roster and recognizes the journey that his players have been on to get to this point. “Nobody is the same,” he recalled, comparing the growth he’s seen from his players from last year to this year. He was particularly adamant about the pitching progress, singling out guys like Parker Smith on the mound.

The Owls’ season gets underway on Friday, February 17 with the start of a three-game slate against Louisiana. The first pitch of the opener is set for 6:30 p.m.

** Photo: Maria Lysaker **
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