The source for Rice sports news

Rice Baseball: Previewing the Rhode Island series

By

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.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

WBB: Owls hoping to build NCAA Tournament worthy resume

By

Rice women’s basketball is in the midst of an incredible run which the team hopes will end in an NCAA Tournament berth. How close are the Owls to the postseason?

March is nearing and Rice women’s basketball is looking for their dancing shoes. The squad has been one of the most dominant teams in the nation for the entirety of 2019. They’ll hope to capitalize on their storybook season with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The necessary preparations for a postseason run are being put in place.

The Streak

The circumstances are almost irrelevant — this team doesn’t care. All they do is win. The Rice women’s basketball team has won 20 of their last 21 games and has yet to suffer defeat in conference play. With just two road games remaining against 5-6 North Texas and 1-10 UTSA, the Owls have a real shot at winning out and reaching 25 wins before the conference tournament.

Rice has won 13 games in a row, the most consecutive victories in school history and the third longest active streak in the nation. Every win literally makes history. The Owls have won 11 straight conference games, reaching 20 wins early in February. For comparison, Rice won their 20th game on March 3 in 2018,  March 19 in 2017 and only reached 18 wins combined between the ’14-’15 and ’15-’16 seasons.

Bracketology

There’s no doubting the Owls’ impressive run will force the NCAA selection committee to look long and hard at all this team has accomplished this season. With five regular season games remaining, Rice is projected as an 11-seed in ESPN analyst Charlie Creme’s latest Bracketology. That seed line could creep higher if Rice continues to win, but a higher seed isn’t all that’s at stake right now.

Multiple CUSA teams have reached the field in the somewhat recent past. MTSU and Western Kentucky both made the field in 2014, the Blue Raiders first year in the conference. Multiple CUSA squads haven’t made the field together since the conference contract to 14 teams in 2015.

Conference USA has traditionally been a one-bid league. Win the conference tournament and you’re going dancing, regardless of how your season has faired up until that point. Lose the conference tournament, and more often than not, you’re out.

If Rice can win out, but falls in the conference tournament, they’ll still have a strong chance of making it in, which is another testament to the incredible job these ladies have done this season. Rice is closing in on lock status, but the Owls can’t truly be sure of their NCAA fates without cutting down the nets in Frisco.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football: Offensive coordinator Jerry Mack named Associate Head Coach

By

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.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Baseball: Breaking down the 2019 offensive lineup

By

Rice baseball expects to return to contention in Conference USA under the new direction of Matt Bragga. To get there the Owls’ will need to find consistent offensive production.

Although pitching is expected to take the forefront in the upcoming season, Rice baseball will bring a solid mix of offensive weapons to the plate in 2019. Matt Bragga, renowned as an offensive whisper during his time at Tennessee Tech, should be able to get the most out of the Owls’ bats.

Here’s how the main position players set up entering the spring:

C – Collins
1B – DiCaprio
2B – Edwards
SS – T. Cruz
3B – Corneaux
OF – Cox, Beaulaurier, Brewer, A. Cruz, Gneiting
DH – Duluc, Dunlap

The proven commodities

Braden Comeaux (.319/.429/.412) and Andrew Dunlap (.260/.368/.435) were two of the more reliable bats in the lineup last season and both guys return in 2019. Comeaux has the potential to lead Conference USA in hits after finishing fourth last year. Dunlap took a step back from a career-best season in 2017, but has the experience and situational awareness to be a big asset at the plate.

Catcher Justin Collins could be the most important piece, though. After showing flashes as a freshman he’s started to pick things up this offseason. During the fall exhibitions, he blasted a grand slam against Sam Houston and was near perfect Texas A&M, going 4-for-5 with a double. He’ll be asked to be a consistent run producer in the middle of the lineup in 2019.

Who else steps up?

It remains to be seen how Matt Bragga will deploy the rest of the lineup. There are an array of guys who could fill the outfield spots. Trei Cruz and Bradley Gneiting both had their moments and will be counted upon to be more or less everyday players again this season.

Dominic Cox and Dominic DiCaprio are both wildcards to watch. DiCaprio brings some pop, provided he can make enough consistent contact to earn a spot in the starting nine. The same goes for Cox who appeared in 50 games last season despite holding a .182 average.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Baseball: Breaking down the 2019 pitching staff

By

The spring is here and so is Rice baseball. The new era under Matt Bragga will begin with some familiar names led on the mound by Matt Canterino.

Matt Bragga’s first season as the head coach for Rice baseball will be underway very soon. The Owls are expected to be led by a strong presence on the mound. Here’s how the starting rotation and the bullpen project entering the 2019 season.

The Rotation

Friday: Matt Canterino (2018: 7-5, 3.06 ERA, 116K, 22BB)

There are few preseason awards which omitted the Owls’ ace. Canterino was named the CUSA Preseason Pitcher of the Year as well as an All-American by Baseball America and the National College Baseball Writer’s Association. D1 Baseball tabbed him as their CUSA Preseason Pitcher of the Year, too.

Saturday: Addison Moss (2018: 2-4, 2.43 ERA, 53K, 16BB)

Moss and Canterino could establish themselves as one of the best 1-2 punches in Conference USA. Moss didn’t earn the same preseason recognition as Canterino, but the junior hurler returns from a sophomore campaign in which he allowed 2.3 walks per nine innings and held the best ERA on the team.

Sunday and midweek starters:

Roel Garcia underwent Tommy John surgery this winter, opening the door wide open for the Sunday and midweek starting roles. Coach Bragga will have several options to choose from and we could see several guys get a shot before the rotation begins to solidify itself.

Bragga has tabbed Jackson Parthasarathy (3 starts, 6.28 ERA) and Evan Kravetz as the top two guys entering the season. Kendal Jeffries (5 starts in 2018, 4.06 ERA) and Missouri transfer Drake Greenwood could get a chance, too.

The Bullpen

This is where things get interesting. Rice should have a deep crop of arms for the staff to deploy in a variety of ways. Brandon Deskins and Zach Esquivel are both quality relief options with the latter two putting on impressive showings in the Owls’ final fall scrimmage against Texas A&M. The duo each have some tricky movement on their stuff which makes them tricky to hit provided they can stick it in the zone.

On the back end, Garrett Gayle has the arm to cement himself as the team’s primary closer this season. He posted a stunning 0.45 ERA in the Cape Cod league this summer and has topped 97 MPH on the gun. Gayle finished second on the team to Canterino in strikeouts last year.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts