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Rice Baseball season ends with AAC Tournament loss to ECU

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The fifth time was not the charm for Rice baseball, falling to ECU once again as the Owls’ AAC Tournament run came to an end on Friday.

For the second time this week and the fifth time in the last nine days, Rice baseball and East Carolina met on the diamond. The Owls had been swept in a three-game series in Greenville last week before falling to the Pirates in a heartbreaker on Tuesday to begin their AAC Tournament play. The Owls’ almost unprecedented fifth chance to take down the league’s top team did not get off to a good start.

The magic Rice had captured in their near-upset earlier in the week appeared to have run out as Rice starter Tucker Alch was lifted one batter into the second inning after allowing ECU to score three times in the first. With the season on the line, head coach Jose Cruz Jr. went to JD McCracken in a rare relief appearance, but the veteran didn’t have the same level of control this time around, allowing an inherited runner and three more runs to follow.

Rice found themselves with a lot of work to do. Trailing 6-0 after two innings and Manny Garza out of the game with an injury, Tyler Hamilton took the mound and gave his team a chance. Apart from allowing an inherited runner to come around, Hamilton dazzled with one run allowed on three hits, tossing five incredibly important innings.

“It was just really personal. He left it all out there and gave us all he had,” Cruz said. “Really proud of him doing what he did. It was great.”

As Hamilton dealt, his teammates began to chip away at the plate. Kyte McDonald drove in two in the fifth. Treyton Rank followed with a sac fly. Max Johnson’s two-out, two-run single in the following inning got Rice back within one run. All of a sudden, Rice trailed 7-6 with three innings to play.

An inning later, Rice trailed 8-6 but had the winning run on second base with no outs and the heart of the order at the plate. One run came in on a fielder’s choice before a groundout from Pierce Gallo ended the Owls’ season one run short of a thrilling comeback.

“Being down 6-0 and coming back and making it a ballgame, I’m pretty proud of the guys for just fighting all the way,” Cruz said.” That was the goal, just to fight for those 27 outs, and we did.”

This game marks the end of the 2024 Rice baseball regular season. Thanks to everyone who has followed along with us this year and read our content. There’s plenty more on the way. Make sure you’re subscribed on Patreon for deep dives on the pitching staff, lineup and more in the weeks to come. If you’d like to send us a one-time token of appreciation, you can donate here. Thanks for joining us on the journey. Next season can’t get here soon enough.

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Rice Baseball overcomes deja-vu moment, soaring past UAB

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With the season on the line, Rice Baseball ace Parker Smith tossed a gem, powering the Owls past UAB in an AAC Tournament elimination game.

Parker Smith has been the Friday night starter for Rice baseball all season, typically making him the first man on the mound for every series. After head coach Jose Cruz Jr opted to throw JD McCracken a day early against East Carolina — a move that proved successful despite the unfavorable result — Smith was handed a somewhat unfamiliar role, the second man up.

That the Owls had their star pitcher on the mound with their season on the line is all that really mattered. Smith was unfazed by the juggled rotation order, mowing down Blazer after Blazer as he worked deep into the game, preserving the bullpen and giving his team the chance to play another day.

As Smith worked, his teammates steadily compiled a modest lead for him to protect. Jack Riedel launched a home run in the second inning. Another run came around to score in the next inning on a double-play groundout and a third followed in the fourth frame, courtesy of a UAB error. Kyte McDonald drove in another to make it 4-0 in favor of the Owls in the top of the seventh.

More: Parker Smith’s journey from hometown kid to Rice Baseball ace

Smith left the mound after running into some trouble in the bottom of the seventh, but a sprinting play by Ben Dukes in center field allowed Garrett Stratton to get out of the inning without damage. Smith finished the day with a final line of 6.2 innings pitched, six hits, eight strikeouts, two walks and, most importantly, zero runs allowed.

“It was very necessary,” Cruz said of Parker’s strong start. “I was very excited for him to be able to do that and give us that chance. It seemed like he was on his game from the beginning.”

In a somewhat fitting twist of fate, Rice found itself in a deja vu moment soon after Smith left the mound. The Owls once again held a 4-0 lead in the eighth inning with the bases loaded, just like they did in the prior game against ECU. Last time they failed to score and their opponent rallied to beat them late. This time, though, Rice got back-to-back run-producing at-bats, taking a 7-0 lead into the bottom half of the inning and preserving it with a double play.

“What a difference a day makes,” Cruz said with a bittersweet chuckle.

Riedel, who officially put the game out of reach with his league-leading 17th home run in the ninth inning, couldn’t help but notice the similarities in the situations. “We kind of were in the same spot today [as yesterday against ECU] and sometimes it just happens in baseball, right,” he said. “We were in a fortunate spot today to take advantage of it and get the lead right there.”

Rice will have an off day tomorrow before resuming tournament play on Friday. Tucker Alch is expected to get the start with the Owls’ entire arsenal in the bullpen available to assist. They’ll either be in a rematch with ECU for the fifth time in eight days or a matchup with Wichita State.

“It’s a gigantic confidence builder for us. We haven’t won a conference [tournament] game in years, it’s been a while. It’s exciting for us to be able to play on, in a do-or-die situation to come out like we did,” Cruz said. “Our confidence is high.”

Up Next: Friday, May 24 at 12:00 pm CT vs Loser of Wichita State/East Carolina

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Rice Baseball squanders late lead, falling to ECU in AAC Tournament

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Rice Baseball started strong before everything went wrong in a disastrous 12-run eighth inning that sent the Owls from an upset bid to an elimination game.

Days removed from a disastrous one-inning start, perhaps his worst of the season, Rice baseball hurler JD McCracken delivered an incredible bounce-back performance. On an afternoon when his team desperately needed him to deliver, the Owls’ typical Saturday starter tossed six shutout innings, allowing just two hits, neither of which left the infield.

“They didn’t really get a chance to see him last time we faced them,” head coach Jose Cruz Jr. said of McCracken’s big day. “He had some really good bullpens after that and we thought he was the best matchup for them and he proved us right. He pitched great, man. He was very competitive, tough, on a really good hitting team and he held them down pretty ferociously.”

Thanks to McCracken, through seven innings, everything was going right for the underdogs. A Rice team that was outscored 29-11 in three games this past weekend in Greenville, to that point, played strong defense, committed zero errors, and executed just well enough on offense to spot them a 4-0 lead midway through the eighth inning. That’s when disaster struck.

Kyte McDonald lost a ball in the sun which resulted in a leadoff triple. ECU loaded the bases and proceeded to take the lead on three consecutive bloop singles, which landed just past the heads of the Owls’ infielders. There was a botched double play ball. Nothing was hit hard off ace reliever Davion Hickson, but ECU just kept coming. McDonald lost another ball in the sun a few batters later before the Pirates eventually broke the game open with a bases-loaded triple off Tom Vincent.

“I haven’t really been a part of anything quite like it,” Cruz said of the decisive eighth inning. “It just seemed like it was just one thing after another after another. A couple plays that we should have executed that probably would have changed the entire inning early on and we just didn’t get it done.”

Trailing 4-0, ECU had scored 12 unanswered runs, tattering the boxscore of the Owls’ best relief pitchers and ruining what began as a storybook afternoon for Rice baseball.

“Ultimately there’s 27 outs and we were just a little short there at the end.”

The 12-run eighth-inning implosion exacerbated what had been a 1-for-11 outing with runners in scoring position for Rice hitters with 11 runners left on base. An ineffective offensive day combined with a bad inning to end all bad innings sent the Owls to the loser’s bracket. The next time they play, tomorrow against UAB, their season will be on the line.

More: Parker Smith’s journey from hometown kid to Rice Baseball ace

Cruz will turn to Parker Smith to start that elimination game. “He’s been our ace the entire year, for a couple years, really. He’s going to be ready to go and I’m sure he’s going to be chomping at the bit to get out there,” Cruz said.

“It stinks at the moment, but we got to try and shake it off and be as prepared as possible for tomorrow.”

Up Next: vs 5-Seed UAB – Wednesday, May 22 at 12:00 p.m. CT

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Rice Baseball ends regular season with sweep by ECU

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Rice Baseball ended its regular season with a sweep at the hands of East Carolina and now must await its postseason fate as other teams finish play.

FRIDAY | ECU 8 – Rice 2

Parker Smith labored through eight innings on Friday night, more or less keeping the ECU offense at bay in six of those frames. The Pirates made him pay in those two decisive innings, though, putting up a four-spot in the fourth and a three-spot in the eighth.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball run-rules Texas Southern in midweek finale

Unfortunately for Smith, he didn’t get much help from the Rice bats. Rice scored once on a sac fly in the second and once again on a fielder’s choice in the seventh. Runs were hard to come by on a night when the offense totaled just four hits and did not draw any walks.

SATURDAY (AM) | ECU 15 – Rice 5 (8 innings)

A short day from JD McCracken led to a disastrous beginning of a Saturday doubleheader for Rice baseball. McCracken was pulled after a four-walk first inning in favor of Garrett Stratton, who faired even worse in the second inning, surrendering seven runs before being lifted himself for Mark Perkins. Despite chipping into the lead with a pair of runs of their own in the top half of the second, Rice entered the third inning trailing 11-2.

Another slow start for the bats was not enough to overcome the massive early deficit. Rice tallied five hits and five runs, three of which came on solo home runs by Kyte McDonald, Pierce Gallo and Trey Duffield. None of them were enough to prevent ECU from winning the game via a run-rule decision in the eighth.

SATURDAY (PM) | ECU 6 – Rice 4

East Carolina got out in front in the first inning with a two-run home run, putting the Owls behind the eight ball once again. This time, though, the bats woke up. Six consecutive hits and four runs later, Rice was in front. Max Johnson delivered the first RBI whack with a two-run double. Kyte McDonald added another RBI hit and then Treyton Rank drove in run number four.

More: Jose Cruz Jr. and the trajectory of Rice Baseball

ECU got one run back in the second, then Rice called on Davion Hickson to go the rest of the way. He held the Pirates to six hits in 4.1 innings of work, but five of those hits came consecutively in the sixth inning, allowing ECU to retake the lead, 6-4. They would hold on to win by that score.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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Rice Baseball rolls to run-rule win over Texas Southern

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Rice baseball wrapped up its final midweek game of the regular season, scoring 16 unanswered runs and run-ruling Texas Southern at Reckling Park.

The situation looked dire for Rice baseball in the early goings of its final game at Reckling Park this season. Owls’ starter Karl Ralamb allowed Texas Southern to load the bases without any hits in the first inning. He was lifted quickly in favor of Mauricio Rodriguez, but a wild pitch an a couple of RBI singles allowed the visiting Tigers to take a 4-0 lead in the opening frame.

After going quietly in the first, Rice chipped into the lead with a pair of solo home runs in the second inning, one each for Jack Riedel — who’s tenth blast at home this year is one-shy of the 11 home homers hit by Anthony Rendon in 2010 — and Pierce Gallo.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball takes battle of the Owls over Florida Atlantic

If that was signs of the dam leaking, it broke open completely the following inning. Rice sent 13 batters to the plate in the third inning, scoring eight runs. Aric Anderson began the scoring run with a leadoff home run and would pick up another RBI later in the inning with a bases-loaded walk.

Ben Dukes drove in a run in the fifth before Gallo’s second home run of the day jumpstarted a 5-run sixth inning that officially put the game out of reach. Texas Southern would get one run in the top of the seventh inning, breaking through after Mark Perkins twirled three innings of no-hit ball to earn the win. The game would be called after the top of the seventh inning with Rice baseball earning the run-rule victory.

What it means | Locked In

Rice baseball just authored perhaps its most impressive midweek game this season. In the grand scheme of things, the additional non-conference win doesn’t do much to bolster the Owls’ record nor resume, but it could serve as a notable signal that this team is as locked in as they can get going into what has become the most crucial series of the season.

If Rice wins the series this weekend at East Carolina they’re extremely likely to punch their ticket to the conference tournament. ECU, while still the top team in the league standings, has lost five games in a row and looks mortal for one of the first times all season. Rice played its best baseball today. ECU hasn’t had that sort of rhythm in a few weeks. The Owls are heating up at the right time. All that’s left to do is to capitalize on that momentum.

ON DECK | at ECU (Thr-Sat)

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