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Rice Baseball 2020: Previewing the Missouri State series

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Rice baseball returns home to face Missouri State. The Owls are seeking their first series win of the season. Here’s how both teams stack up.

Rice baseball knew their nonconference schedule was far from a cakewalk before the 2020 season began. Two weeks into action, the Owls sit at 0-7 with series losses to two good, but maybe not great teams in Texas and UC Irvine. This weekend’s series against a beatable Missouri State squad has become all the more important with Omaha regular Texas Tech still on deck.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 6:30 p.m. | Saturday 2:00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
TV: CUSATV

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (0-6) was swept by UC Irvine in a weekend series. The Owls faced Texas State in their midweek game, falling on the road by a score of 9-2.

Missouri State (4-4) went 1-3 in the Turface Classic last weekend. They beat Austin Peay on Thursday. They then lost games to Belmont, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee to finish the weekend. They beat Oral Roberts on Tuesday by a score of 6-3.

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday | Roel Garcia (0-0, 0.00) vs Logan Wiley (1-0, 0.00)
Saturday |Blake Brogdon (0-2, 4.22) vs Hayden Minton (1-1, 3.27)
Sunday | Drake Greenwood (0-1, 5.68)  vs Peyton Carson (0-2, 9.00)

Missouri State Pitching

Missouri State has sent 10 different pitchers to the mound over the course of their eight games played in 2020. Eight of them have a season ERA of 3.00 or better. Four of them have perfect ERAs of 0.00 including staff ace Logan Wiley. He’s thrown 15 innings of shutout ball, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out 14.

From the pen, Forrest Barnes and Trey Ziegenbein have emerged as the go-to guys. Ziegenbein is the only reliever on the squad to throw more than seven innings and owns a K/9 rate of 9.000.

Missouri State Hitting

Grant Wood has been on a tear to start the season. He leads the team with a .367 batting average, including a team-best three extra base hits. His OPS sits at a crisp .962. Greg Ziegler is just behind him with a .300 average.

This lineup as a whole is not geared toward explosiveness. The Bears have hit eight doubles this season in eight games and only have three regulars hitting better than .250.

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Rice Basketball 2020 Game Preview: Men at UTEP | Women at UAB

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There will be no Rice basketball at Tudor Fieldhouse this weekend. Both the men and the women hit the road for games against UTEP and UAB, respectively.

Rice Basketball

Time: Feb. 22 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Don Haskins Center
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
TV: CUSATV

UTEP 13-14 (4-10), Last 5 (0-5)

  • 69-55 (L) vs UAB
  • 68-64 (L) at Charlotte
  • 72-53 (L) at Old Dominion
  • 67-62 (L) vs WKU
  • 71-61 (L) vs Marshall

Rice 13-14 (5-9), Last 5 (4-1)

  • 84-75 (W) vs North Texas
  • 86-72 (W) at UAB
  • 91-83 (W) at MTSU
  • 73-70 (L) vs Old Dominion
  • 70-54 (W) vs Charlotte

UTEP statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Bryson Williams – 18.6 per game
  • Rebounds | Bryson Williams- 7.1 per game
  • Assists | Jordan Lathon – 2.8 per game
  • Steals | Nigel Hawkins – 1.0 per game
  • Blocks | Bryson Williams – 0.9 per game

Rice keys to victory

Rice basketball put together a near-perfect gameplan when they squared off with UTEP in Houston earlier this year. The Owls silenced Bryson Williams, holding him to three points before he fouled out. He attempted just two field goals, well under his season average of 13.4 attempts.

The supporting cast didn’t was limited, too. UTEP shot 5-of-28 from three (17.8%). Still, the Miners managed to make a few more shots than Rice down the stretch. If Rice can execute that plan again but bring their recent hot shooting hands, the Owls have all the pieces they need to get their revenge.

Rice Women's Basketball

Time: Feb. 22 at 2:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Bartow Arena
TV: CUSATV

UAB 17-9 (9-5), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 63-51 (W) vs UTEP
  • 64-53 (L) at Rice
  • 51-50 (W) at North Texas
  • 62-52 (L) vs MTSU
  • 61-59 (W) at MTSU

Rice 16-8 (11-2), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 64-53 (W) vs UAB
  • 77-60 (W) vs MTSU
  • 66-59 OT (L) at Old Dominion
  • 62-51 (L) at Charlotte
  • 69-66 (W) vs North Texas

UAB statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Rachael Childress – 16.9 per game
  • Rebounds | Angela Vendrell – 7.7 per game
  • Assists | Angela Vendrell – 4.7 per game
  • Steals | Angela Vendrell – 1.2 per game
  • Blocks | Zakyia Weathersby – 1.1 per game

Rice keys to victory

The Owls cycled through much more of their bench against North Texas than they’ve typically rotated through in previous weeks. As long as Nancy Mulkey is limited or unable to go, finding production from the bench will be hugely important. Alexah Chrisman, Kendall Ellig, Destiny Jackson and others have risen up from time to time. Who will it be on Saturday?

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Rice Baseball 2020: Previewing the UC Irvine series

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The 2020 Rice baseball is off to a tough start, making the Owls weekend road trip to UC Irvine an important series. Here’s how both teams stack up.

A three-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Longhorns was not how Rice baseball wanted to start their season. Even in defeat, the Owls showed promise. Now it’s time to take those glimmers of hope and turn them into wins. Getting revenge over the Anteaters, who swept the Owls at Reckling last season, would be the perfect place to start.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 8:00 p.m. | Saturday 8:00 p.m. | Sunday 3:00 p.m.
Venue: Fowler Park at Cunningham Field
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (0-3) was swept by Texas in a weekend series. Inclement weather forced a midweek game against Sam Houston to be postponed.

UC Irvine (1-3) won their Saturday game against Fresno State, dropping the series 2-1. They also lost their midweek game, falling to San Diego 9-1 on Tuesday.

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday | Alex De Leon (0-0, 0.00) vs Trenton Denholm (0-1, 4.76)
Saturday |Blake Brogdon (0-0, 0.00) vs Peter Van Loon (0-0, 6.75)
Sunday | Roel Garcia (0-0, 0.00)  vs Cole Van Den Helder (0-0, 10.12)

UC Irvine Pitching

The Anteater pitching staff had a rough first week to the season. Ace Trenton Denholm should be expected to rebound. The right posted a sub 2.00 ERA last season, throwing at least eight innings in six of his final nine games including to complete-game victories.

The rest of the staff had equally challenging starts. Dylan Riddle is the only reliever to make multiple appearances without allowing an earned run. Newcomers Josh Ibarra and Jacob King could be called upon if there are signs of trouble.

UC Irvine Hitting

Left fielder Jake Palmer is UC Irvine’s top bat and leadoff man. After hitting .307 last season the junior picked right up where he left off, hitting .389. And that’s after an uncharacteristic 0-3 night in the midweek drubbing by San Diego. First baseman Damla and right fielder Nathan Church have been consistent this season.

Center fielder Mike Peabody, who finished second to palmer in on base percentage last season, has gotten off to a slow start. He hit cleanup last time out. Don’t let his .142 batting average fool you.

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Rice Women’s Basketball Preview: Owls seek rebound vs North Texas

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Losing is not a familiar feeling for Rice Women’s basketball. The Owls look to get back to their winning ways against North Texas on Thursday.

Rice Women's Basketball

Time: Feb. 20 at 7:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Tudor Fieldhouse
TV: ESPN3

North Texas 9-16 (3-10), Last 5 (0-5)

  • 67-52 (L) vs Rice
  • 80-60 (L) vs MTSU
  • 51-50 (L) vs UAB
  • 72-59 (L) at Charlotte
  • 71-66 (L) at Old Dominion

Rice 16-8 (11-2), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 67-52 (W) at North Texas
  • 64-53 (W) vs UAB
  • 77-60 (W) vs MTSU
  • 66-59 OT (L) at Old Dominion
  • 62-51 (L) at Charlotte

North Texas statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Anisha George – 13.2 per game
  • Rebounds | Anisha George – 8.4 per game
  • Assists | N’Yah Boyd – 2.7 per game
  • Steals | Destinee McDowell – 2.6 per game
  • Blocks | Destinee McDowell – 1.4 per game

Rice keys to victory

Returning home to play a familiar opponent is nothing but good news for Rice women’s basketball. Rice beat North Texas 67-52 in Denton earlier this season. They beat them three times last year and twice the year before that. The Owls know the Mean Green inside and out. That’s a good start, but not enough by itself to push the home team to a much-needed victory

In their two losses, Rice has not shot well from the floor and relied heavily on Erica Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey to carry the load. Ogwumike fouled out against Charlotte and Mulkey played less than her usual complement of minutes, exiting with an injury in the second half. Rice needs someone else, anyone else, to step up and provide a scoring threat to make the defense guard something beyond Ogwumike’s drive to the basket.

Lauren Schwartz has been in a bit of a shooting slump of late, connecting on more than two shots from the field once in her last five games — all starts. She’s shown herself to be a capable scoring threat at times this year and could be the key cog Rice needs to snap back into their winning ways.

More: Complete playlist of 2020 Rice baseball walk up songs

If not Schwartz, look for fellow starters Sydne Wiggins and Jasmine Smith to knock down the key shots behind the Owls’ leading scorers. Both have had moments, but neither has been leaned upon to carry the offense on a consistent basis.

The defense will continue to be the Owls’ bread and butter. None of their conference opponents have reached 70 points. Six have been held to 60 or fewer. Rice doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel on Thursday. They just need to play their game and create a few more plus opportunities on offense. Finding a new spark their should be more than enough to get this team back in the win column.

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Rice Basketball 2020 Game Preview: Men and Women vs Charlotte

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Each of the Rice Basketball teams saw winning streaks snapped against Old Dominion. They’ll look to get back on track against Charlotte. Here’s a preview of those games.

Rice Basketball

Time: Feb. 15 at 2:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Tudor Fieldhouse
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
TV: ESPN+ (If you don’t have ESPN+ you can access a free trial or subscribe here.)

Charlotte 14-10 (8-5), Last 5 (2-3)

  • 72-59 (L) at Louisiana Tech
  • 74-68 OT (L) at Southern Miss
  • 68-64 (W) vs UTEP
  • 91-84 (W) vs UTSA
  • 81-72 (L) at North Texas

Rice 12-14 (4-9), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 90-88 (L) vs UTSA
  • 84-75 (W) vs North Texas
  • 86-72 (W) at UAB
  • 91-83 (W) at MTSU
  • 73-70 (L) vs Old Dominion

Charlotte statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Jordan Shepherd – 14.2 per game
  • Rebounds | Jahmir Young- 5.2 per game
  • Assists | Jordan Shepherd – 4.2 per game
  • Steals | Cooper Robb – 1.6 per game
  • Blocks | Amidou Bamba – 1.0 per game

Rice keys to victory

The Owls’ shooting pace entering the Old Dominion game was unsustainable. They’d hit more than 50 percent of their shots from the field in each of their three prior games — all victories. Dropping back down below that mark was expected. Falling all the way to 36.1 % was a bit more than regression to the mean. A stunning 8-for-37 from three was the culprit. Rice needs to find a way to be a bit more effective inside against Charlotte which ranks fourth in C-USA in three-point defense.

Rice Women's Basketball

Time: Feb. 15 at 3:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Halton Arena
TV: ESPN+ (If you don’t have ESPN+ you can access a free trial or subscribe here.)

Charlotte 16-7 (7-5), Last 5 (4-1)

  • 55-37 (W) vs Louisiana Tech
  • 63-59 (W) vs Southern Miss
  • 82-76 OT (L) at UTEP
  • 67-47 (W) at UTSA
  • 72-59 (W) vs North Texas

Rice 16-6 (11-0), Last 5 (5-0)

  • 74-62 (W) at UTSA
  • 67-52 (W) at North Texas
  • 64-53 (W) vs UAB
  • 77-60 (W) vs MTSU
  • 66-59 OT (L) at Old Dominion

Charlotte statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Jade Phillips – 15.5 per game
  • Rebounds | Jade Phillips – 9.7 per game
  • Assists | Jada McMillian – 3.4 per game
  • Steals | Jade Phillips – 1.5 per game
  • Blocks | Jazmin Harris – 0.8 per game

Rice keys to victory

Rice women’s basketball has no streak to uphold when they hit the court in Charlotte on Saturday. The Owls played hard against Old Dominion, but the focus was lacking at times. The free throw shooting was sub-par and the thin lineup wasn’t able to bounce back in a tough environment. It was an off night. Every team has those.

The Owls can put any thoughts of a drop off to bed by playing their physical brand of basketball and eliminating some of those unforced errors. To this point, Rice has proven they’re a hard to beat when they don’t beat themselves.

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