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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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Rice Basketball hangs on late to beat FIU

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Rice basketball hung around against FIU through the first half but caught fire late to claim an important road victory.

For nearly 30 minutes of action, there was hardly any separation on the court between Rice basketball and their Saturday night host, FIU. Even after Rice opened the game on an 8-0 run, FIU quickly gained its footing and brought the game back near level. From that point, the Owls and Panthers were locked in a close game, waiting for someone on either side to pull their team away.

The first crack appeared when Quincy Olivari and Cameron Sheffield made three-pointers on consecutive trips down the court to push the Rice lead to eight points. From there, Rice would slowly pull away, stretching their lead to double-digits. FIU would get back within one score late, but Rice made their free throws and got a clutch steal from Sheffield to seal the game.

Rice knocked down 14 threes in drove on their way to the big road win, but they also took advantage of a notable edge on the boards, outrebounding FIU 37-26 with 11 offensive rebounds in the process.

Final Box | Rice 85 – FIU 78

Key takeaway |  Gritting out a road win

Rice basketball has six games left in the regular season. Four of those are scheduled to be played at Tudor Fieldhouse. Playing at home doesn’t lessen the strength of a tough opponent, but it undeniably matters in college basketball. The Owls are 10-4 at home this season and 6-5 on the road. It’s also significant considering where Rice is in the standings.

By virtue of their victory over FIU, Rice is fifth in Conference USA. That’s right on the line where the Owls need to be if they’re going to secure a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. Holding steady right where they are right now might be good enough, even if they don’t get any herculean efforts down the stretch.

Rice is a half-game behind Middle Tennesee, who currently sits one spot ahead of Rice in the standings. The Blue Raiders hold the tiebreaker, but a strong push down the stretch might still hold some upward mobility for the Owls. Regardless of what happens in the next three weeks, beating FIU on Saturday enables these hypotheticals to continue.

Up Next: vs UTSA – Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7:00 p.m.

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Bellamy, Fisher lead Rice Women’s Basketball past FIU at home

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Rice women’s basketball completed a weekend sweep of Florida schools, besting FIU at home on Saturday.

Still without leading scorer Ashlee Austin on the court, Rice women’s basketball didn’t have much trouble notching their second straight home victory. After a low-scoring opening quarter, Rice heated up quickly with a 24-outburst in the second frame, taking an eight-point lead into halftime.

India Bellamy and Malia Fisher were instrumental in helping Rice build their initial lead and then extending it to as many as 15 points in the second half. FIU would cut the margin back down to five points at the midpoint of the fourth quarter, but a layup from Bellamy and a three from Fisher pushed the Rice advantage quickly back to double-digits and helped secure the victory.

Rice has now won back-to-back games and sits at fourth in the conference standings with six games remaining in the regular season.

Final Box | Rice 67 – FIU 58

Key takeaway | Bellamy block party

Bellamy finished one point shy of tying a career-high in points, but it was her defense that was perhaps even more significant on Saturday afternoon. She led the team in defensive rebounds (five) and finished with four blocked shots, that’s a lot. For reference, Rice has only exceeded that total as a team on three occasions this year (they had five total against Sam Houston, WKU and their prior game against FIU).

“I’m really proud of India, her efforts are through the roof, the way that she has just been grinding, and even in those four-point games and five-point games, she was still impacting our team,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “But obviously the offensive side of the ball, we really need it right now and she’s doing a great job at stepping up where the team needs her the most.”

Up Next: at UTSA – Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7:00 p.m.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 139 – Rice Football 2023 Signing Day and Roster Evals

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National Signing Day is in the books and the 2023 Rice football is starting to take shape. We break it all down in this week’s show.

Three new players were announced on National Singing Day, bringing the 2023 Rice Football class to 27 official additions with a few more coming down the road. With the class more or less finished, we take a look at the group and evaluate the roster entering the spring, taking things position by position.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 139.

Episode Notes

Housekeeping

  • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
  • Thank you to Bob Schlager and Chris Warren, our newest Booster Tier patrons.
  • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better.
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2023 Rice Football National Signing Day and Roster Recap

  • CB coach Gerard Wilcher accepts head coaching job at Morehouse College
  • Reviewing the three new additions plus one additional commitment
    • OL Lavell Dumont
    • P/K Reese Keeney
    • LS Wyatt Freeman
    • WR Matt Sykes
  • Evaluating the roster as a whole. Which position groups are we the most confident in? Which groups have the most question marks entering the spring?

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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Rice Women’s Basketball runs away from FAU late

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Rice women’s basketball took care of business at home, downing FAU in runaway fashion at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Just past the midpoint of conference play, Rice women’s basketball needed to find a way to take care of home court against a 5-8 FAU squad on Thursday night. It was the road Owls who delivered the first blow, though, jumping out to an 8-0 run before Rice was able to find the scoreboard.

Rice battled back quickly, finishing the first quarter on a 22-6 run and held serve in the second frame, taking a two-point lead into the half. It was the third quarter when Rice made its’ move, slowly building up from a 36-36 tie to an 11-point lead as the fourth quarter began. Then the hometown team really started to pour it on.

The Owls emptied the benches, turning a modest double-digit lead into a 20-plus-point shellacking. 12 different Rice players saw action, including minutes for Haylee Swayzee, Ashlyn Zhang and Fatou Samb, the three of which had combined to play 88 total minutes this season. It was officially cleanup time in the most dominant conference win for Rice women’s basketball this season

“It was amazing, it was fun. It makes basketball fun when you get to see the people you’re with 24/7 go in the games and play,” forward India Bellamy said. “It was also relaxing not to be stressed out.”

Final Box | Rice 85 – FAU 64

Key takeaway | Starting lineup shakeup

Rice women’s basketball has largely maintained the same starting five throughout the season. Once Maya Bokunewicz went down in the second game of the season it’s been Ashlee Austin, Katelyn Crosthwait, Malia Fisher, Destiny Jackson and Trinity Gooden taking the court as the first five night in and night out. That’s not how the Owls lined up on Thursday night.

Crosthwait wasn’t in the starting lineup and entered the game in the second quarter. Austin did not play at all. When asked for clarification on those decisions, head coach Lindsay Edmonds called it a “family matter” that she wanted to keep inside the locker room.

“I said it was going to be about what people showed me in practice. That was where the mixups kinda came from,” Edmonds said, referring to a challenge she gave the team last week. She added Austin is not injured and her availability going forward would depend on “what’s shown on the court.”

Being without their leading scorer didn’t seem to phase the Owls on the court, though. Rice scored 85 points, their highest against a conference opponent this season, getting big contributions off the bench from India Belammay and Jazzy Owens-Barnett.

Up Next: vs FIU – Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1:00 p.m.

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