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Rice Baseball 2021 Season Review: Lineup

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The offense played a lot of catch-up for Rice baseball in 2021, relying on a potent top of the lineup to carry the load.

The Rice bats produced a modest .271/.356/.410 slash line by the end of the regular season, finishing more or less in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories when compared to their Conference USA peers. Championed by a stellar season from Braden Comeaux, the bulk of the heavy lifting was done by a select few hitting near the top of the lineup week in and week out.

Cade Edwards

Games – 53 | AVG .288 | OBP .355 | SLG .485 | 2B – 8 | 3B – 2 | HR – 9 | BB – 18 | K – 52

Edwards led Rice with a .308 batting average last year and wasn’t too far off that pace this season. His 19 extra-base hits were the most on the team, making good use of his spot atop the order for the majority of the season. He was one of two players to start every game for Rice this spring, racking up an 8-game and a 9-game hitting streak during conference play.

Braden Comeaux

Games – 52 | AVG .346 | OBP .419 | SLG .408 | 2B – 7 | 3B – 1 | HR – 1 | BB – 16 | K – 21

Comeaux had his best statistical season of his career during the abbreviated 2020 campaign and did not slow down entering 2021. He led the team with an eye-popping .419 on-base percentage, combing a keen eye (16 walks), good plate discipline and a skillful bat to find ways to get on base. He and Edwards set the table for this offense, giving the players that followed in the lineup plenty of RBI opportunities.

Bradley Gneiting

Games – 53 | AVG .302 | OBP .369 | SLG .481 | 2B – 10 | 3B – 0 | HR – 8 | BB – 21 | K – 42

A versatile defender, Gneiting cemented himself further into everyday playing status in 2021 with his bat. He was fractions of a point behind Edwards for the team-lead in slugging percentage, racking up 10 doubles and eight home runs. With the power came an elevated strikeout total, but he made up for that with the most productive run-scoring bat in the order. His 37 RBI were by far the most on the team.

Austin Bulman

Games – 44 | AVG .270 | OBP .352 | SLG .468 | 2B – 7 | 3B – 0 | HR – 7 | BB – 19 | K – 27

Bulman slotted into the cleanup spot for most of the year, coming on strong in the final weeks of the regular season. He provided some pop (seven home runs and seven doubles) in the middle of the order that proved to be important. He improved across the board from last year’s shortened season, seeing almost a 70-point uptick in slugging percentage and more than a 30-point lift in on-base percentage.

Hal Hughes

Games – 52 | AVG .258 | OBP .330 | SLG .362 | 2B – 6 | 3B – 1 | HR – 3 | BB – 14 | K – 18

Hughes wasn’t brought in for his bat, but the LSU transfer handled himself well with the stick, proving to be a decent contact hitter in the middle to back end of the lineup. He came through with a few important home runs. And although it wasn’t a frequent occurrence, he had just three dingers all year, Rice did win all three games in which he left the yard.

Guy Garibay

Games – 48 | AVG .234 | OBP .331 | SLG .403 | 2B – 6 | 3B – 0 | HR – 6 | BB – 22 | K – 37

Garibay pulled double duty this year, seeing success on the mound and at the plate. He was a pretty streaky hitter with the bat in his hands, collecting waves in bunches with nine multi-hit games, including a couple of three-hit outings against Texas A&M and Charlotte. He’s has power and will build on his plate discipline as he gets more experience against live college pitching.

Multi-game starters

Will Karp | Games – 48 | AVG .271 | OBP .365 | SLG .326 | 2B – 3 | 3B – 1 | HR – 1 | BB – 18 | K – 22
Justin Long | Games – 44 | AVG .257 | OBP .396 | SLG .314 | 2B – 3 | 3B – 0 | HR – 1 | BB – 21 | K – 32
Connor Walsh | Games – 31 | AVG .231 | OBP .308 | SLG .433 | 2B – 5 | 3B – 2 | HR – 4 | BB – 11 | K – 35
Nathan Becker | Games – 36 | AVG .253 | OBP .314 | SLG .495 | 2B – 5 | 3B – 0 | HR – 6 | BB – 7 | K – 21
Justin Dunlap | Games – 35 | AVG .234 | OBP .344 | SLG .355 | 2B – 4 | 3B – 0 | HR – 3 | BB – 16 | K – 26

This next group cycled in and out of the lineup during most weekends. The four-game conference series required Rice to deploy a fair amount of depth. Will Karp and Justin Long tag teamed catching duties. Freshman Nathan Becker continued to build up confidence as the year progress. Each of those guys, along with Walsh and Dunlap who had down years at the plate, played important roles this season.

Reserves

Antonio Cruz | Games – 19 | AVG .259 | OBP .355 | SLG .407 | 2B – 3 | 3B – 1 | HR – 1 | BB – 7 | K – 21
Johnny Hoyle | Games – 19 | AVG .214 | OBP .353 | SLG .214 | 2B – 0 | 3B – 0 | HR – 0 | BB – 0 | K – 4
Ben Dukes | Games – 26 | AVG .161 | OBP .316 | SLG .161 | 2B – 0 | 3B – 0 | HR – 0 | BB – 7 | K – 8
Cullen Hannigan | Games – 6 | AVG .500 | OBP .500 | SLG .500 | 2B – 0 | 3B – 0 | HR – 0 | BB – 0 | K – 1

The bench got thin quickly after the first wave of key reserves. Had Ben Dukes found more success with his bat, he likely would have gotten more opportunities. Those may come in the future. Antonio Cruz was productive when called upon, but there just weren’t very many outfield at bats to go around this year.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls bounce UAB, win first C-USA series

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Rice baseball needed a strong showing against UAB and got it, with all phases contributing to the Owls’ first C-USA series win.

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

1. The few, the proud

The Rice bullpen has been hit or miss this season. Knowing that, head coach Matt Bragga appears to have found a makeshift solution: limit their innings. Of the 31+ innings thrown by Rice pitching this weekend, starters accounted for 23 of them, roughly 74 percent.

The only game in which the starter did not go six innings was the Sunday finale. The starter in that game, Brandon Deskins, was the lone reliever the Owls utilized in the prior three games of the series, throwing two innings on Friday and another three on Sunday.

2. Strong up top

The top of the lineup has been the difference-maker for the Rice offense this season. When they’re at their best, players like Cade Edwards, Braden Comeaux, Bradley Gneiting and Austin Bulman have the capability to overcome other offensive lulls. This weekend painted that picture as clear as ever.

Rice racked up 23 RBI on the weekend, 15 of which were drive in by those top four hitters in the lineup. Nathan Becker had two RBI in the second Saturday game and Will Karp picked up a pair on Sunday, but the rest of the run production largely rested at the top.

3. The right to play another day

A sweep would have been best, but Rice baseball did their part with a series win this weekend, pushing them up one rung in the conference standings. The Owls are now tied in the win column with UAB and FIU. More importantly, Rice is within striking distance of Middle Tennessee for what will likely be the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament.

The math gets tricky with the ties thrown in, but the most likely scenario for Rice to qualify would be this: Rice wins their upcoming series against Charlotte and Middle Tennessee loses their series at FIU. Rice could also advance with a sweep and a Middle split or a split and Middle being swept. Either way, they need to make up a two-loss differential.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY  | Rice 6 – UAB 1

It’s been a bumpy road for starter Mitchell Holcomb, but he’s settled in down the stretch as one of the Owls’ most competitive pitchers. He a gem on Friday, tossing seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. With him keeping the UAB offense at bay, the Rice bats did the rest.

Rice scratched across single tallies in the first and second innings before Edwards added to the breathing room with a two-run RBI in the fourth. The Owls extended their lead again in the sixth before Bulman capped things off with a home run of his own in the ninth.

SATURDAY 1 | UAB 2 – Rice 1

Staked to a 1-0 lead by an Austin Bulman sac-fly, Roel Garcia delivered one of his stronger outings of the season in the first half of the Saturday doubleheader. He breezed through six innings, a season-long outing, allowing three hits and one unearned run.

Asked to return to the mound for the seventh inning, Garcia ran out of gas. He allowed three hits including the walk-off winner. The intentional decision to trust the rotation paid off in other games during this series. It came back to bit the Owls in this one as the offense tallied just six hits in seven frames.

SATURDAY 2 | Rice 7 – UAB 0

Clearly frustrated from how the first game ended, Rice came out swinging in the nightcap. Gneiting picked up RBI hits in the first and second innings as the Owls jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Things could have gotten even further out of hand had Rice not left the bases loaded in the second.

None of that would matter, though, starter Blake Brogdon was locked in on the mound. Given a big lead, he went the distance, completing the seven-inning game without allowing any runs and scattering five hits. Some insurance runs were added in the later innings, but Brogdon was the driving force.

SUNDAY | Rice 10 – UAB 5

Rice entered Sunday with the opportunity to secure their first Conference USA series win of the season, and a necessary one if they hoped to realize any conference tournament aspirations. Deskins got them off to a great start on the bump, but it was a crooked number from the offense in the fifth inning that blew this game open.

Edwards got things going in earnest with a three run home run, but the bats didn’t slow down. Following that blast, Antonio Cruz and Hal Hughes added RBI doubles to extend the lead to 6-1 in the Owls’ favor. A three-run seventh put things out of reach, giving Rice their first double-digit run total since April 17, a win over Old Dominion.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Charlotte (Fri-Sun, four games).

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Rice Baseball 2021: Southern Miss decisively soars past Owls

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Rice baseball stole an opening win, but couldn’t sustain the momentum, dropping a home series to a ranked Southern Miss team over the weekend.

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

1. Nine runs are not enough

The six-run opener was a positive start for the week, but it in itself was only a hair better than the conference average. C-USA schools average 5.93 runs per game. At the conclusion of this weekend’s games, Rice baseball averages 5.07 runs per game. Had Rice won 2-0 instead of 6-0 on Friday, that number would have fallen below five runs per game.

The best offenses in Conference USA score eight runs an outing. Only three average worse than five runs, but only one, Marshall, is below Rice in the overall standings. The bats aren’t doing enough, and the pitching staff isn’t strong enough to bail them out more often than a night or two on any given weekend.

2. There’s no one else to call upon

Micah Davis has served as an “opener” in three consecutive series. He’s walked multiple batters twice and allowed at least one run twice. Prior to those outings, he’s had a couple of strong relief appearances, but it hasn’t worked out well so far with him as the first man on the bump.

But it would be a mistake to put the weight of the Owls’ pitching struggles on his shoulders. He’s there because of failures among other members of the rotation. Will West made his first appearance of the season in the Friday night rout. That came after more familiar faces like Alex DeLeon and Drake Greenwood had allowed things to get out of hand.

The pitching staff many had hoped would be deep enough to weather long weeks in Conference USA play hasn’t lived up to those expectations. Outside of Brandon Deskins, Blake Brogdon and a few others, it’s become a dicey proposition.

3. It’s now or never for any sort of postseason

The top three teams in each division clinch a spot in the conference tournament with two additional spots given out to the best remaining teams by winning percentage. Sitting at six wins, Rice is four games behind Middle Tennessee for the eighth spot in the tournament. That’s a ton of room to make up in two weeks.

Rice draws UAB next. The Blazers are just above the Owls in the West standings. Should Rice win the series (or even sweep), they’d have something to play for on the final weekend of the regular season against Charlotte. Middle Tennessee, who Rice is chasing, visit Southern Miss the weekend before closing at home against FIU. It’s a tall order, but if Rice can win this weekend series, there’s a chance.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY  1 | Rice – Southern Miss

Things couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start for Rice in the first half of the weather-induced Friday doubleheader. The Owls struck first, taking the lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Bradley Gneiting and extending it with an RBI single from Will Karp shortly after.

Up 2-0, Mitchell Holcomb cruised through four innings. With two men on in the fifth, Deskins entered and induced a pop-up to end the threat. A three-run fifth inning and an insurance run courtesy of a Cade Edwards sixth-inning triple helped Rice close out the opener with relative ease.

FRIDAY 2 | Southern Miss 12 – Rice 1

After being silenced in the first game, the Southern Miss bats woke up in a hurry for the Friday nightcap. The Golden Eagles scored two in the first inning, four in the second and two more in the third. The Rice pitching trio of Davis, DeLeon and Greenwood had no answers, and before Greenwood was replaced to start the fourth inning, Rice was already in an insurmountable hole.

Rice would out-hit Southern Miss 10-0, only failing to reach base in one of the seven innings. It wouldn’t matter as the Owls hit safely in 2-of-10 situations with runners in scoring position.  Guy Garibay drove in the only Rice run.

SATURDAY | Southern Miss 10 – Rice 1

Roel Garcia battled through five innings on Saturday, allowing five runs on seven hits. Southern Miss just kept putting the ball in play whereas the Rice bats did not hold up their side of the bargain. While Garcia labored, the Rice offense was silent, collecting just two hits while he was on the mound.

Trailing 5-0 at the time of Garcia’s exit, the bullpen quickly allowed the lead to double over the next three innings in what felt like a carbon copy of the previous evening’s blowout loss.

SUNDAY | Southern Miss 8 – Rice 1

Garibay drew the start on Sunday and after sending the first three Golden Eagles down in the first inning, ran into trouble in the second. Southern Miss struck for four runs in the frame, adding two more in the third and forcing Garibay to exit in favor of Brogdon, who navigated 4.2 innings reasonably well, striking out five and allowing two runs.

A leadoff home run from Austin Bulman in the second was all the offense could muster. Their six hits were the fewest in any game of the series.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs UAB (Fri-Sun, four games).

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls manage series split vs UTSA in rematch

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Rice baseball started strong, riding two early wins to a series split against UTSA in a rematch of a previous meeting this season.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball splits series 2-2

1. Split shows signs of progress

Rice baseball has yet to win a weekend series against a conference opponent. Coming into this weekend, they hadn’t managed a split either. So by taking the first two games against the Roadrunners, tangible signs of progress were produced. When Rice puts together a complete game from all phases — not even necessarily a dominant showing by any group — this team can win.

At the same time, the failure to come close in either of the final two games left some well-deserved frustrations. Both things can be true. Not winning the series was a missed opportunity, especially when Rice had the luxury of throwing Roel Garcia in the finale. That should have been advantage, Owls.

2. The bullpen issues linger

Four times in four games, Rice gave up four or more runs in a single inning. The only game they avoided a crooked number, Game 2, they won. As for the rest of the series, they lost two of three when surrendering a big inning. Those bullpen blowups have hampered this team tremendously. Individual arms have flashed one weekend and failed the next.

That makes it hard for head coach Matt Bragga to know what buttons to press. Now he’s forced to ask himself not only “can this guy get the job done?” but also “is he going to be locked in today or not?”. Bragga would probably own up to being a bit too slow to use the hook, but it’s a two-way street with both sides showing weaknesses.

3. Fielding isn’t doing the Owls any favors

The bullpen hasn’t been perfect, but their struggles don’t fall solely on the guys on the mound. Errors were costly to Rice this weekend, and they’ve cropped up more than a few times for Rice over the last few weeks. In conference play, Rice sports a .966 fielding percentage, ninth in Conference USA.

The Owls committed no errors in either of their wins against UTSA this weekend. They committed two errors in each of their losses, including errors in those crucial blowup innings. When looked at another way, Rice allowed seven unearned runs in the final two games. That’s not going to cut it.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Rice 8 – UTSA 6

Following a lengthy lightning delay, the Owls got things started off on the right foot with three runs in the first two innings, two of which came with two outs. That spotted Micah Davis, who threw the first two innings in place of Garcia, given the unexpected and extended delay. Davis gave was to a bullpen day, which, apart from a woeful outing by Drake Greenwood, kept Rice right in the mix.

Tied up at six apiece entering the bottom half of the fifth inning, Bragga turned to Brandon Deskins. He struck out eight in the final five frames, allowing just four hits and no runs. That gave the offense enough opportunities to break through, which they did in the sixth courtesy of a pair of RBI groundouts from Braden Comeaux and Bradley Gneiting to put Rice ahead for good.

SATURDAY 1 | Rice 5 – UTSA 4

Starter Mitchell Holcomb allowed some contact and a quarter of one-run innings, but his workmanlike efforts prevented UTSA from every compiling a big inning in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader. While Holcomb held things close, the Rice offense did their best to chip away.

Trailing 4-3 entering the sixth, freshman Nathan Becker homered to tie things up. Then, in the seventh and final inning, a sac fly from Guy Garibay, who step onto the mound for his fourth save in the bottom half of the inning, gave Rice the win.

SATURDAY 2 | UTSA 12 – Rice – 6

Cade Edwards scored on a wild pitch in the first inning to give Rice an early lead. The Owls hung a five-spot in the third with big RBI extra-base hits from Garibay and Will Karp. But none of it would prove to be enough to overcome what has become a much-too-frequent disaster inning from the Rice pitching staff.

Matthew Linskey, who’d faired well as an opener in previous outings, failed to record an out to start the game. He walked two batters and hit a pair, the second of which drove in the tying run. He was lifted for Garret Zaskoda, but the next man up wasn’t able to quell the trouble. Zaskoda would be removed in favor of Josh Larzabal before the inning was through. Nine runs later, the inning ended and this one was essentially over.

SUNDAY | UTSA 12 – Rice 4

Things set up well for Rice entering the final game of the weekend. With Garcia on the mound after Friday’s weather, the Owls were able to hold UTSA scoreless through the fourth inning. Up 1-0 courtesy of an Austin Bulman RBI single in the fourth, Rice was unable to finish.

An error and two singles loaded the bases for UTSA in the fifth. Blake Brogdon entered and wasn’t at his best. He allowed a RBI double and a three-run home run, turning a tight game into a one-sided affair. Rice would close the gap to 7-4 in the eighth, before Brogdon ran into more trouble and UTSA piled on a few additional insurance runs.

ON DECK | Southern Miss (Fri-Sun, four games).

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls dealt one-sided sweep by LA Tech

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For the third weekend in a row, Rice baseball dropped a conference series, this time coming at home against a red-hot, ranked Louisiana Tech club.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball loses series 4-0

1. Mental toughness is missing

Rice was locked into a pitcher’s duel on Friday night. Owls’ hurler Blake Brogdon was going toe-to-toe with C-USA Pitcher of the Year candidate Jonathan Fincher. But when Brogdon waivered in the sixth inning, the team behind him folded. Dalton Wood entered with two men in scoring position and no outs. He walked two, allowed a run on a passed ball and another run on a balk.

Rice blew a two-run lead in the final inning to start Saturday’s doubleheader. Then they were blasted 20-6 in the second leg. Things went from bad to worse quickly, and nobody was there to stop the bleeding. On Sunday Rice led 2-1, then when tied 2-2, allowed a crushing 4-run sixth inning.

Head coach Matt Bragga summed it up well in a recent conversation. “As a club, we’re not mentally tough enough.” If Rice wants to contend in Conference USA. That has to change. Losing close games is painful, but wilting when the spotlight shines brightest is doubly painful.

2. Come give Comeaux some help

Rice baseball had one player on the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference team, senior third baseman Braden Comeaux. Through the first half of the season, Comeaux has more than proven his inclusion among the leagues’ best was well deserved. He’s made some spectacular plays on the hot corner and continues to hit everyone he sees.

Comeaux was one of four Owls’ to get a hit off Fincher on Friday. He helped jump-start a four-run third inning on Saturday afternoon and had a multi-hit outing Saturday night. His relentless consistency has been the best part of the Rice offense all season.

3. Missing a dominant phase

What’s hurt Rice the most during this tough opening stretch to conference play is the lack of one dominant aspect of their game to fall back on. Rice has an average offense by most metrics. Their pitching is below average. The fielding has been slightly above average, but the Owls did commit five errors this weekend across the four games.

Teams like UTSA (a great offense) or Middle Tennessee (great pitching) have managed to hover around .500 in the league play. Rice doesn’t have to fix everything all at once to start winning more baseball games, but at least one phase needs to take a step-change if Rice wants to stay competitive down the stretch.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | LA Tech 6 – Rice 0

Blake Brogdon kept Louisiana Tech at bay for five innings, but the Rice bats never proved much of a threat on Friday night against Jonathan Fincher. When Louisiana Tech broke the tie in the sixth, the Bulldogs’ three-run outburst felt like a much more exorbitant deficit.

Another three-run inning for Louisiana Tech in the eighth pushed the game further out of reach. Rice managed just four hits and had multiple base runners in just two of the nine innings.

SATURDAY 1 | LA Tech 7 – Rice 6

The bats were more productive for Rice on Saturday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to take a 6-2 lead after five innings. Cade Edwards and Bradley Gneiting hit two-run home runs. Austin Bulman and Connor Walsh provided the other run-scoring hits.

As the offense worked, Rice starter Roel Garcia held Louisiana Tech at bay and left the seven-inning game in the sixth with the lead. It would not last. The combination of Garret Zaskoda and Guy Garibay could not hold the lead. Louisiana Tech would score five runs in the final two innings to win 7-6.

SATURDAY 2 | Louisiana Tech 20 – Rice 6

After coming painfully close on Saturday afternoon the Owls were never within striking distance from a doubleheader split later that same day. Louisiana Tech scored eight runs in the second inning of Rice starter Mitchell Holcomb, who recorded just four outs. By the time Rice scored its first run in the fourth, they had already trailed 12-0.

Rice used five pitchers. All but Jared Plank allowed three or more runs. Plank’s outing was actually one of the best of the weekend by any Rice pitcher, throwing one scoreless inning with just one hit allowed. It wouldn’t be enough to slow the Louisiana Tech onslaught, though.

SUNDAY | Louisiana Tech 13 – Rice 4

Rice showed some initial resistance in the series finale. With Brandon Deskins on the mound, Rice fell behind 1-0 in the fourth inning. The bats responded immediately, manufacturing the tying run with a sacrifice fly and the go-ahead run on an RBI single. The Owls stole four bases in the inning.

The lead would prove to be short-lived. Deskins got into some trouble in the fifth with two walks of his own plus an error in the infield. Louisiana Tech would strike for two runs in that inning, piling on four more in the sixth and six more in the final two innings.

ON DECK | Incarnate Word (Tues), Old Dominion (Fri-Sun, four games).

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