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Strong starting pitching not enough as Rice baseball was swept at LA Tech

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Rice Baseball was swept for the second-straight weekend, this time falling in three straight games to Louisiana Tech on the road.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 3-0

The decent down the standings continued this weekend for Rice baseball, who dropped another three-game series in conference play to reach a 3-9 conference record. The Owls have showed flashes, but weren’t able to combine the arms and the bats in the same way they did in a midweek blowout of Houston Baptist.

It was a tough result, with some good and bad mixed in. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Counting on Cooper Chandler

Cooper Chandler got off to a rocky start with Rice baseball. He walked away from his first two starts with a 10.80 ERA, failing to get out of the fourth inning. Despite the poor numbers, head coach Jose Cruz Jr. was adamant Chandler was going to the Owls’ Friday night guy. Cruz Jr. said Chandler was “competing well” and “unlucky”, trusting his veteran hurler to stick it out and turn things around.

Half a season later, Chandler has cut his ERA in half, trimming it to 5.36. Perhaps even more impressive, he’s posted a quality start (six innings pitched with three of fewer runs allowed) in three of his last four appearances. The front runner of a team that has been desperately searching for consistency on the mound, Chandler has been a beacon of that in recent weeks.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball pummels HBU in midweek blowout

Since the Lamar game on Feb. 25, Chandler has allowed more than three runs in an outing just once. He’s posted more strikeouts than innings pitched in five of his six starts over that span. He’s been great. And Rice baseball is better for it. Hat tip to coach, he definitely got this one right.

2. Big hits can’t mask lineup struggles

As a team, Rice baseball holds a .254 combined batting average. That’s the 11th best in Conference USA, better than bottom-dwelling FIU by just seven points. The Owls rank in the bottom half of the league in doubles, home runs and RBI. They’re 11th in slugging percentage and ninth in on-base percentage. They’ve consistently drawn walks at a high clip, but the rest of the numbers are sobering.

And that’s why Rice puts up threes and ones in the run column against teams like Louisiana Tech. Rice had at least four hits combined from the top four spots in the order in every game this series. The bottom five hitters never combined for more than four base knocks in a game.

The lineup has skewed top-heavy this season, but it was abundantly clear this weekend when four players — Jack Riedel, Austin Bulman, Aaron Smigelski and Pierce Gallo — accounted for every RBI of the series. That’s not a winning formula and the numbers bear that out.

3. Hanging Tough

Louisiana Tech was one of the tougher opponents on the Rice baseball schedule this season. Being swept by the bulldogs, who are now 9-3 in conference play and 16-4 at home this year with two midweek wins over a ranked LSU squad, wasn’t a shocking development. From what we’ve seen on the field from both teams so far, Louisiana Tech is the better baseball team right now. But for most of the weekend, the gap didn’t see as big as it might have on paper.

The Owls’ largest deficit on the weekend came in a 9-3 lost on Saturday which was a 5-3 game after six innings. Two of the final four runs were unearned.  Rice dropped the other two games by two runs apiece, maintaining close contests thanks to three strong outings by their starters — possibly the first time they’ve gotten such a performance in unison in conference play this season.

Being swept isn’t fun, but being thumped is worse. Rice baseball wasn’t thumped this weekend. Now it’s time to get the arms and the bats working together.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | LA Tech 5 – Rice 3

A first-inning home run put Rice in a 3-0 hole early, setting the stage for what became a pitcher’s duel between the Owls’ Cooper Chandler and Louisiana Tech’s Cade Gibson, who would leave the game after six holding to that very same 3-0 advantage. That’s when Rice responded with a three-spot in the seventh inning sparked by a two-run home run from Jack Riedel and followed by a RBI double from Aaron Smigelski.

The deadlock would last for one more inning before Louisiana Tech used another long ball, this one a two-run variety, to put themselves ahead for good. Rice was shut out in the ninth, falling 5-3 in the opening game.

SATURDAY | LA Tech 9 – Rice 3

Rice baseball got on the board first in the middle game with another home run from Riedel. Austin Bulman tacked on another run via a double to give Rice a 3-0 edge in the fifth, but that’s where the Rice pitching staff would show its first true signs of weakness on the weekend.

Garret Zaskoda entered in relief of Alex DeLeon and surrendered three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, allowing three of the five batters he faced to get hits. The 3-0 lead became a 4-3 deficit, which would lengthen for the remainder of the game, with Louisiana Tech scoring at least one run in each subsequent frame, winning 9-3.

SUNDAY | LA Tech 3 – Rice 1

Sunday’s are typically high-scoring affairs exhibiting strained bullpens and plenty of pent-up energy. That wasn’t the case at all in this series finale, which featured four total runs, scored in three innings, leaving plenty of white noise in between. Louisiana Tech scored three of Rice starter Thomas Burbank who matched a career-high five innings, set earlier in the week against Houston Baptist.

Unused up to that point, closer Matthew Linskey was handed the ball for the final three innings, tossing a career-high eight strikeouts in another dominant performance. Unfortunately for the Owls, it would be too little, too late.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

Rice would manage just one run on the day, scored on an RBI ground out from Pierce Gallo in the ninth inning. That left the tying run at the plate with just one out, but strikeouts from Smigeliski and Nathan Becker quelled any hopes of a comeback and finalized the series sweep.

ON DECK | Rice baseball at Sam Houston (Tues), vs UTSA (Fri-Sun)

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Rice baseball swept at home, drops battle of Owls to FAU

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In a battle of Owls, Rice Baseball was swept at home by Florida Atlantic over the weekend, outscored by their visitors 24-10 in the three-game series.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 3-0

A hot start early on in conference play has seemingly cooled off for Rice baseball, who dropped their fifth consecutive contest on Sunday as a three-game series against FAU resulted in a sweep. Going winless at your own ballpark is never fun, and Rice will have plenty to work on as they prepare for a tough road trip to Ruston, LA next weekend. But first, a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Scoring output stumbles

The Rice bats haven’t been the problem in recent weeks. Even when they weren’t exploding for double-digit outputs, they still seemed to consistently reach six or seven runs, giving their pitching staff support and giving the team a chance in almost every game. Against FAU, Rice scored just 10 runs in three games.

FAU is in the bottom third of the conference in team ERA, and although they’ve pitched fairly well of late, this probably wasn’t the most dominant set of hurlers Rice baseball will see this season. They managed to do a number against the Owls.

Last Time Out: Ninth inning rally comes up short for Rice baseball vs TAMUCC

Perhaps this was just an off weekend, but it was telling that Rice baseball head coach Cruz Jr. opted to empty the benches on Sunday and put Jack Ben-Shoshan and Cullen Hannigan in the starting lineup for the first time in a long while.

He tried to shake things up and provide this lineup a spark. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. As the pitching staff struggles. the bats will continue to be relied upon to win Rice games. When they’re quiet, it’s going to make for long days at the ballpark.

2. Defense is picking up

It wasn’t that long ago where it seemed like Rice was due a three-error or four-error game every weekend. Keeping track of the baseball wasn’t something this team did well, that is, until the switch was flipped in late March and they became a stronger fielding team.

“I think our infield is starting to look really good defensively,” Cruz Jr. said, making note of the return of Hal Hughes to the lineup. Hughes made his season debut on Tuesday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi after missing the first half of the season with an injury.

Rice committed just two errors on the weekend, and although there were a few bad hops that some of the Owls’ defenders would have preferred to make, the focus is definitely better. That’s a plus, and a much-needed sign of growth for the program as a whole.

3. Pitching staff in progress

Had anyone offered Cruz Jr. a pair of two-pitcher games to open this weekend series he would have taken it in a heartbeat, especially against one of the best hitting teams in the conference. FAU leads Conference USA in hits, and although they picked up several against Rice, the Owls top end of the staff was competitive enough to be trusted with deep outings, even in the bullpen.

Weeks ago Cruz Jr. talked about finding a reliable corps to throw in the most high-leverage of situations. Even though the Rice bullpen gave up runs this weekend, it seemed evident some combination of Garret Zaskoda, Roel Garcia, Dalton Wood, David Shaw, Tom Vincent and Cristian Cienfuegos are going to the first guys to get the call just about every weekend from here on out.

More: Rice Baseball Midseason State of the Program

The shortlist has been built. What remains to be seen is which pitchers can make the adjustments and start to limit the damage against some of the deeper lineups in Conference USA. Matthew Linskey has been darn near perfect, but he can’ throw every day, not if he wants to maintain that level of effectiveness. No, it’s going to take another step up by a few more guys. Now it appears the staff knows who they’re looking for.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | FAU 9 – Rice 4

The series started out on a rocky note for Rice baseball starter Cooper Chandler who gave up four runs in the first two innings including a few very hard-hit balls. To his credit, he dug in and fought his way to the sixth inning. Cruz Jr. noticed his grit, saying Chandler “pitched really good”, casting his major complaints upon the Rice offense, which did little to support their Friday night guy.

Rice scored once in the first inning on a groundout. Guy Garibay pulled Rice within one run on a two-run blast in the fifth inning that made the score 4-3 in favor of FAU. The visitors tacked on five more runs after that, nickling-and-diming Chandler and Zaskoda as the Rice bats watched on, resulting in a 9-4 win for FAU.

SATURDAY | FAU 6 – Ricc 5

Filling for Parker Smith who left his start last weekend early, Alex DeLeon delivered a gritty four-run, five-inning effort in Game 2 with two of those runs unearned. Behind 3-0 in the fourth, Rice slugger Austin Bulman delivered an equalizing three-run shot down the left field line to breathe new life into the Rice dugout.

Both teams traded runs in the fifth inning to set the score at 4-4. Again in the sixth, single tallies from each side made it 5-5. FAU would take the lead for good in the eighth with a leadoff home run against Roel Garia following which Rice would send the minimum to the plate in the final two half innings.

SUNDAY | FAU 7 – Rice 1

Things were shaping up to be a close game on getaway day, until they weren’t. Rice took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Austin Bulman. FAU tied the game in the third, then jumped in front in the fourth. Trailing 3-1, the game still felt in reach until FAU delivered the gut-punch 4-run finisher in the sixth inning.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

Rice reliever David Shaw left with two runners on and one out, setting the table for Tom Vincent, who struggled to get out of the frame. He gave up three hits and allowed a run to score on a hit by pitch as Rice fell behind 7-1. They would not recover, tallying just four hits in the series finale.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Houston Baptist (Tues), at Louisiana Tech (Fri-Sun)

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Rice baseball wins first C-USA series, 2-1 over Marshall

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Rice Baseball took their first weekend series of the season, winning the opening two games against Marshall on the Owls’ first C-USA road trip.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball wins series 2-1

A one-run defeat on Sunday must not be allowed to sully what was an impactful first Conference USA series win for Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr. and his team. The Owls held nothing back, pressing every button they could to ensure they didn’t fly back to Texas defeated.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball falls to Texas A&M in marathon game

The pair of wins gives Rice five victories in their last nine games. As modest as that may seem, playing .500 baseball following a 2-9 start represents a significant step-change in the trajectory of this program.  But first, a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Finding the few

As Cruz Jr. mentioned earlier this week, finding a core group of pitchers he could trust in key situations was one of the Owls’ most pressing priorities. The picture might not be crystal clear right now, but things look much better after this weekend than they have at any other point this year.

On Friday, Rice was able to use one reliever (David Shaw) in between a quality outing from starter Cooper Chandler and a shutdown performance from closer Matthew Linskey. Getting one inning from Parker Smith on Saturday wasn’t the plan, but nice relief outings from Roel Garcia, Tom Vincent and Garret Zaskoda turned things around for the Owls before the day was through.

Vincent and Shaw reprised their performances was good Sunday appearances as well. At a minimum, it appears Chandler, Smith, and Garcia are reliable starting options, with DeLeon quality depth and a viable Sunday guy. Shaw, Vincent, Zaskoda and Linskey have also done enough to be trusted. Rice will still need a few more guys to enter that important circle of trust, but the foundation has clearly been laid.

2. Sharing the success at the plate

Early on in the season, the vast majority of the offensive production seemed to be coming from the contingent in the middle of the order. That group was typically comprised of Guy Garibay, Austin Bulman and Aaron Smigelski. That core has grown to include the red-hot Nathan Becker in recent weeks, but it’s been the productivity from top to bottom of the lineup that has been the most encouraging.

Piere Gallo, who has hit in the bottom third of the lineup for most of the season, is fourth on the team with 15 RBI. He has 11 RBI in his last eight games. And he’d have more if he hit even a few spots higher. Johnny Hoyle had big hits this weekend. So did Connor Walsh. It’s starting to feel like someone new is contributing every other night and the offensive production is reflecting that.

3. Weekend win

For the first time this season, Rice baseball has won a weekend series. The ascent has been slow. Things started out rocky. But Rice does appear to be rounding into form at the right time. Errors are down (just four total on the weekend). Runs are trending up (Rice outscored Marshall 17 – 12) and the pitching is becoming more well-rounded and reliable. Opponents are putting up fewer crooked numbers.

Part of that is the break from playing teams like Texas and Texas Tech in three-game series. That certainly plays a factor. But just watching the team that took the field this weekend makes it abundantly clear that something has changed, they’ve grown. They’re gotten better. And that makes what comes next all the more intriguing.

More: Rice Baseball Midseason State of the Program

Cruz Jr. was intent not to “promise the moon” upon his arrival. A few good weekends of baseball should be cause for anyone to offer major course corrections when it comes to those expectations. But it’s clear that should Rice string a few more positive weekends together, they’ll officially be a competitive team that has the ability to go toe-to-toe with anyone in their conference.

If the Owls can do that, they’ll have done more than enough to earn a passing grade for Cruz Jr,’s first campaign. From there, the limits aren’t predetermined. This team still has the potential to be as good as it believes it can be.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Rice 7 – Marshall 2

Pierce Gallo put Rice baseball out in front in the top of the second inning with a solo shot down the right field line. Austin Bulman followed in the third with a home run of his own with the Owls tacking on one more to take a 3-0 lead. Marshall would tally two runs on solo shots of their own in the bottom of the third, but that would be all they were able to do against Rice pitching that afternoon.

Rice starter Cooper Chandler breezed through six innings, allowing just those two earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts. He gave way to David Shaw and eventually Matthew Linskey who stifled the Marshall bats while the Rice offense tacked on additional insurance runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth, winning by the final score of 7-2.

SATURDAY | Rice 6 – Marshall 5

Things started out poorly for Rice baseball in the middle game of the series. The Owls committed two errors in the first inning and fell behind 4-1. Starter Parker Smith would last just one inning as the Owls’ were hurled into comeback mode. Marshall added another run in the second, stretching their lead to 5-1 before Rice would mount a counteroffensive.

The Owls sent six men to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring three times, the final two runs coming from an RBI double from Austin Bulman. That put Rice back within reach, trailing 5-4. Roel Garcia delivered a masterful three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, keeping things tight before Guy Garibay and Nathan Becker could tack on RBIs in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively to give Rice a 6-5 win.

SUNDAY | Marshall 5 – Rice 4

Marshall scored first for the first time in the weekend, jumping out in front of Rice 3-0 as Alex DeLeon battled through 4.1 contested innings. He would leave after 4.1 innings, charged with four runs, the same total as the Owls’ hard scored in his defense. Rice scored all of their runs in the fourth and fifth innings, leveling the game at 4-4 before both teams went quiet for several at bats.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

It was Marshall that broke the quiet, delivering an RBI double against Thomas Burbank in the eighth to steal the game and avert the series sweep.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Wed), vs FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball: Struggles continue as Owls drop series to Harvard, 3-1

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Rice Baseball averted the sweep, but still turned in a rather poor outing against Harvard in the Owls’ second home series loss of the season.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 3-1

Perhaps someone just needs to whisper “It’s Sunday” into the Rice baseball dugout every day. Two of the Owls’ three wins this year have come in the final game of their weekend series with the other coming in a midweek tilt at Houston Baptist. Rice picked up its third win of the year this weekend, but it came with a tangible cost — three more painful losses. What did we learn from the 1-3 weekend and what’s next for Rice baseball?

1. Mayday, offense

It wasn’t until the shadows started to creep across the diamond at Reckling Park late Saturday afternoon that the Rice offense even began to consider showing up for the week. Rice was blanked 9-0 by Baylor on Wednesday. On Friday night, Harvard skunked the Owls 3-0. Then Rice failed to scratch across even a singular run through five innings on the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Even when accounting for the nine-run outburst on Sunday afternoon, Rice accumulated 12 runs in fives games this week dating back to the Baylor disaster. That’s an average of 2.4 runs per game. While there are days when a team can get away with that low of a run total, more often than not, you’re going to need more oomph to win college baseball game these days, you just are.

Last Time Out: Baylor blanks Owls in midweek tilt

Head coach Jose Cruz Jr. did what he could on Sunday to spark the sluggish unit. He flipped up the batting order and shuffled names around. That did help, but the bulk of the production still came from the core of Guy Garibay, Austin Bulman, Connor Walsh and Nathan Becker, four guys who were likely to be in the lineup in some capacity anyway.

Whether it’s improved approaches, better plate discipline or all of the above, the task in the batter’s box has reached critical levels of importance.

2. Starting pitching might be coming around

For the first weekend this year, Rice baseball had more decent outings from the bulk of their starting rotation. Cooper Chandler went 5.0 innings and allowed two earned runs with six strikeouts, by far his best outing of the season. On Saturday, Roel Garcia went four scoreless frames. More length would have been a bonus for both of them, but leaving the game midway through without putting the team in a large hole is a win for now.

Thomas Burbank was really the only starter who had a “bad” outing. His 3.0 inning, three-run performance will be colored by the double he surrendered on his final pitch which allowed two to score and staked Harvard to an early 3-0 lead. At that point in the series, Rice simply had to try someone else to attempt to salvage a split.

Lastly, Alex DeLeon earned the win on Sunday with four innings of two-run ball. He only struck out one batter but competed well, giving up one home run in an otherwise quality outing. That quartet was far from perfect, but none of them singlehandedly lost Rice games. That hasn’t been the case in previous weekends to date.

3. It’s going to be a long season

Rice baseball is 3-9 through their first 12 games. It’s true, starting off with No. 1 ranked Texas in Austin was a brutal welcoming to a new era at South Main, but the Owls have played the next nine games at Reckling Park. And if the likes of Lamar and Harvard can reprise the fabled murder’s row of the Yankee greats, how will this team respond to above-average teams. Like, Baylor, perhaps?

This isn’t a call for anyone to throw in the towels, heaven’s no. But it is a sobering reminder that this young team is going to need to develop from the ground up. There’s a ton of talent standing on the grass at Reckling right now. Every piece just isn’t fully in sync with each other.

To his credit, Cruz Jr. didn’t place the bar as high as those outside the program might have initially demanded it. “I’m not going to promise the moon right now,” he said during the lead up to the season. “I will say we will be better than we were the last couple years.”

Rice was 2-14 in 2020 and 23-29-1 last season. This iteration of Rice baseball is already above the 2020 club. They’ve got a ways to go until they’re anywhere in the ballpark of .500. That’s probably okay, but it’s going to have to take some getting used to as they grow and develop in real time.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Harvard 3 – Rice 0

Harvard struck first with a leadoff double to set the table in the second inning. They followed it up with a manufactured run via a couple of singles in these second. Despite cobbling together just one hit through three innings, Rice still had an opportunity to answer with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third with no outs. Austin Bulman struck out and Guy Garibay lined out to right field to end the threat.

Neither team would score for the next six innings. Harvard pushed across an insurance run in the ninth courtesy of a Rice error. The Owls went quietly. Rice had three times as many strikeouts (15) as hits (5) for the day. Had it not been for quality outings on the mound from Chandler, Garret Zaskoda, David Shaw and DeLeon, there wouldn’t have been anything positive to take away from this game.

SATURDAY (AM) | Harvard 2 – Rice 1

The offense was equally disappointing in the first end of Saturday’s double header. The Owls sent the minimum to the plate five times in the seven-inning game and scored just one run. That came in the bottom half of the sixth inning which had just seen the Rice defense commit two errors, contributing to Harvard’s only two runs of the game.

Once more, the Rice pitching staff was fine. Garcia had a strong performance. Even though Brandon Deskins was charged with the games’ only two runs, neither was earned and he pitched relatively well. The defense just did not help him out.

SATURDAY (PM) | Harvard 6 – Rice 3

The back end of the doubleheader featured some of the Owls’ more disappointing outings on the mound from the weekend. Burbank was hit hard, giving up three extra-base hits in three innings. Mark Perkins recorded just as many outs as he handed out walks (two apiece) and Dalton Wood’s struggles with the strikeout continued. His three runs allowed in the fifth inning sunk any chance Rice had of mounting a comeback.

Rice got two runs back in the fifth via a fielder’s choice followed by a well-placed double by Bulman. A sac fly from Garibay would make it 6-3 in the seventh, but the hole was just too big to overcome.

SUNDAY | Rice 9 – Harvard 6

Three games’ worth (or more) of frustration boiled over on Sunday as Rice delivered a three-spot in the first inning, two more runs in the second and another in the third. Harvard would score twice against DeLeon, but the Rice bats did not slow down. Rice scored at least one run in five of the first six innings, staking the bullpen to a 9-2 lead and asking them for nine outs.

For the most part, Tom Vincent and Reed Gallant threw strikes. Each walked just one batter in more than one inning of work (2.0 for Vincent, 1.1 for Gallant). While each was credited with two runs, the cushion they were pitching with was sufficient to net Rice the win.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Houston (Tues)

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Austin Bulman slam saves Rice Baseball from series sweep vs Lamar

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After a rocky start, Rice Baseball was able to salvage one game against Lamar, dropping the series but finishing things on a high note.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 1-2

It took three tries, but Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr. earned his first home victory on Sunday afternoon in thrilling come-from-behind fashion thanks to the bat of Austin Bulman. His grand slam salvaged what could have been the Owls’ second consecutive weekend of winless play, averting what Cruz Jr. himself dubbed “disaster” and replacing it with a momentum-building win.

“Our team is starting to build, starting to come together in many ways,” Cruz Jr. said. “We still have a ways to go.”

Fielding will undoubtedly be on the to-do list — Rice committed four errors to Lamar’s two — as will be situational hitting. There was good and bad on the mound and much like the rest of the roster, it has tweaks that need to be made too. But first, here’s are three important takeaways from the weekend.

1. The lineup writes itself

In the lead-up to the regular season, Cruz Jr. said “the lineup writes itself.” Through seven games, that declaration is beginning to bear itself out.

At the plate, the top half of the lineup is more or less set with the return of Connor Walsh on Saturday. Walsh missed the first four games of the season with injuries but came back swinging, going 2-for-4 with a walk in his debut. Behind him, in some order, have been Bulman, Garibay, Aaron Smigelski and Drew Woodcox.

More: Jose Cruz Jr. hopes to bring modern edge to Rice baseball

Defensively, there has been some rotation between some of the infield positions and the designated hitter spot. Outside of the platoon at designated hitter, catcher has featured the most notable split with Justin Long and Manny Garza both fighting for playing time. The lineup isn’t set just yet, but it’s starting to feel pretty close. A few notable lines from the weekend:

  • Garibay: 5-for-15, 2 HR, 5 RBI
  • Bulman: 5-for-14, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI
  • Smigelski: 5-for-13, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI

2. Arms you can trust

Navigating the Rice pitching staff has felt like running through a minefield in the early portions of this season. Outings have ranged from abysmal to fantastic, with almost no precursor to warn what might happen next. Starter Cooper Chandler was hit around on Friday night, but rough weather conditions and poor defense behind him did not help. Cruz Jr. said Chandler would “probably end up starting next Friday as well.”

On the positive side, Alex DeLeon was sharp in relief of Chandler going 3.1 innings and allowing just one earned run. Garret Zaskoda worked 2.1 innings on Saturday with three strikeouts and one run allowed. Reed Gallant punched out all three batters he faced in a rare 1-2-3 inning on Saturday. Cristian Cienfuegos, Mark Perkins and Brandon Deskins all provided quality outings on Sunday.

Cruz Jr. emphasized the command of his pitchers as one of the most important aspects of their success. “I think our pitching competed pretty good. We’re pounding the zone very well,” he said.

As for the starters, Roel Garcia looked sharper than his previous outing. He was charged with two runs in 4.1 innings. Thomas Burbank had his final line marred by a rough final inning, but more or less kept Rice in the game until things unraveled.

The real problem was the landmines in between. David Shaw, Caleb Matthews and Tom Vincent each allowed multiple runs while recording four outs or less. Many of the players that have struggled are young with more to learn as they progress at the collegiate level. Others aren’t. Regardless, finding the trusted list of who Cruz Jr. can turn to in key moments remains a top priority.

3. Smigeliski shines

It seemed destined to go down as an obscure fact with relatively little importance: the first run of the 2022 Rice Baseball season was scored by true freshman Aaron Smigelski. The newcomer entered as a pinch hitter in a 15-0 ballgame, singled and came around to score.

Cruz Jr. took note of the at bat, praising the newcomers’ approach, and gave him another chance the following day which turned into the same result, a hit. Smigelski entered the starting lineup for the Owls’ midweek game against HBU and has been a fixture in the starting nine from that point onward.

“It doesn’t faze him. The guy is what I call a flat-liner. He goes about his business like it’s just another day,” Cruz Jr. said. “He’s been a boost of energy for us.” Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but the Owls’ offensive numbers have been much better with Smigelski in the lineup. That’s not going to be changing anytime soon.

When asked about the offensive production as a whole, Smigelski’s name was the first one Cruz Jr. mentioned. “Smigelski was amazing all weekend,” he said, before continuing on to list Garibay, Bulman and Becker as well.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Lamar 12 – Rice 6

The series did not get off to an auspicious start for Rice baseball. Lamar loaded the bases with its first three batters of the game and struck with four runners in the first inning against Rice starter Cooper Chandler who labored through three innings of work. Rice would steal back two runs in the bottom of the frame but would leave runners in scoring position in two of the next three innings.

It wasn’t that Rice didn’t get their hits, they just couldn’t deliver once base runners were on. Rice hit .188 with RISP in scoring position and gave up 12 runs on the mound. It’s hard to win games like that.

SATURDAY | Lamar 8 – Rice 6 (11)

Saturday was a much more subdued affair for both sides in the early goings. Roel Garcia worked three scoreless innings for the Owls before leaving the game in the fifth with a 2-1 lead thanks to a home run by Aaron Smigelski. Lamar would tie things up that inning and take a 5-2 lead the following frame.

Both sides were quiet for a while after that before Rice broke through with a pair of clutch two-out, RBI hits in the bottom of the eighth. Smigelski drove in two with a single to left. Woodcox lined a ball into center, giving Rice a 6-5 lead. It wouldn’t last long. Lamar homered in the ninth to tie the score.

From there, the game moved on to extra innings. Lamar broke through with two runs in the 11th. Rice had their chance to equalize, but pinch hitters Benjamin Rosengard and Jack Ben-Shoshan struck out, stranding the tying runs on base.

SUNDAY | Rice 8 – Lamar 6

Thomas Burbank cruised through the first 4.2 innings against Lamar on Sunday before running into a barrage of extra-base hits. After retiring the first two batters he faced in the fifth, he allowed a walk, followed by a double and then two triples, breaking a 1-1 tie and giving Lamar a 5-1 advantage.

Garibay delivered the Owls’ first score on a solo shot in the fourth inning, his second long ball of the weekend. He helped moved the lineup along with a walk in the fifth, helping the home team scratch across their first crooked number of the weekend. Smigelski would be the hero, driving in two on an RBI single to left field to bring Rice back within striking distance, although they still trailed 5-4.

Lamar would tack on another, stacking the deck further against Rice baseball in the late innings. The Owls’ big chance would come in the eighth. With the bases loaded, Bulman took a 2-2 pitch and drove it well past the fence for a grand slam. Matthew Linskey came on for the save to give Rice the win.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Baylor (Wed)

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