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Houston completes sweep of Rice Baseball, Takes 2024 Silver Glove

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Rice Baseball kept it close, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Houston as the Cougars swept the 2024 Silver Glove Series.

Houston struck first at Schroeder Park on Wednesday night, taking a 1-0 lead over Rice baseball in the first inning in the final game of the Silver Glove Series. The Cougars had already secured the series win but were hunting for a sweep. It wouldn’t come easy, though.

Rice quickly responded. Ben Dukes evened the score in the second inning and Manny Garza put the Owls in front, grounding out in the third inning but getting the go-ahead run across in the process.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball swept by Wichita State

A solo home run from the Cougars leveled the score in the fourth, but as the game passed the midway point, the Rice pitching tandem of Tucker Alch and Ryland Urbancyzk had managed to wade through traffic on the base paths and keep the visitors in the game.

Robert Fernandez was less fortunate, he gave up a pair of runs in the fifth and was charged with the loss after Rice was unable to complete a rally from the 4-2 deficit. They got one back in the sixth on an RBI single from Tobias Motley, but that would be all.

What it means | Stacking sweeps

If you count the midweek trio of games against Houston as a series, Rice has now been swept in two of their last three series, also falling in straight games against Wichita State this past weekend. Add sweeps at the hands of Notre Dame and Stanford and Rice baseball has been swept in four of eight three or four game series this season. They have two series wins in eight tries.

It’s baseball. Winning every game was never going to happen. Even the best teams can’t achieve that. But avoiding sweeps should be the norm, regardless of the opponent, and that’s something Rice hasn’t done this season. There’s no better time to right the ship than the present with a crucial conference tilt against Memphis looming net.

ON DECK | vs Memphis (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball swept by Wichita State

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Easter weekend began with a gut-punch for Rice baseball, who dropped all three games at Wichita State to fall to 1-5 in league play.

THURSDAY | Wichita State 7 – Rice 5

In an effort to keep Parker Smith and JD McCracken on regular rest, Rice baseball turned to Tucker Alch in the series opener, hoping to use him as an opener to bridge a few innings to other members of the bullpen. He went three innings, allowing four runs, ceding work to Ryland Urbanczyk who gave up three runs in 3.1 innings before Tom Vincent finished the game.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball drops Silver Glove Series to Houston

The Rice bats were able to help the arms out in this instance, rallying from a 4-0 deficit in the first inning to take a 5-4 lead by the middle of the fourth inning. Eric Correa was instrumental in the comeback bid, knocking in the first run in the second and authoring his first collegiate home run in the fourth to put the Owls in front. Wichita State tied it in the bottom of the inning before going ahead for good in the seventh on a two-run single off Vincent.

FRIDAY  | Wichita State 10 – Rice 3

Parker Smith labored through six innings, including a damaging four-run third inning that put Rice in a 5-1 hole from which they would never recover. Smith was able to give the Owls length despite the down outing, but four more runs allowed by the bullpen and limited offensive production made the hopes of a comeback shortlived.

Rice got solo home runs from Ben Royo in the seventh and Jack Riedel in the ninth, but it wouldn’t make up for the pair of crooked numbers Wichita State put on the board, costing Rice the series.

SATURDAY | Wichita State 15 – Rice 3

Rice struck first, taking a brief lead in the finale with a two-run first inning. Wichita State responded with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning, tacking on a fourth run against JD McCracken in the second.

While the bats stayed silent, McCracken ran into further trouble in the fifth, loading the bases before being lifted to Tyler Hamilton, who allowed all three inherited runners to score. Things would only get worse in the sixth. Wichita State sent 12 men to the plate, scoring seven runs, including two runs by bases-loaded hit batsman. Down by 12, the game would be called before reaching the originally scheduled nine innings.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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1. Self-inflicted wounds

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ON DECK | at Houston (Tues), vs Memphis (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball falls to SHSU in midweek bout

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Rice Baseball saw a five-game winning streak over Sam Houston snapped on Tuesday, falling in Huntsville by the score of 6-2.

The first two Rice baseball hitters reached base on Tuesday against Sam Houston, but only one of them came in to score with the second stranded at third base. That inability to push runs across despite having chances would prove to be the theme of the night in a game that was low-scoring until the home team broke things open in the middle innings.

Rice led 1-0 after one inning. It wasn’t until the fourth frame that Sam Houston was able to tie the game on a throwing error on a dropped third strike. Things slowly began to unravel from there. The Bearkats scored two in the fifth and three in the sixth, doing the bulk of their damage against Garrett Stratton and Tom Vincent after start Robert Fernandez was charged with three unearned runs in 4.2 innings of work.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball wins one of three against Tulane

Trailing 6-1 after six, the Owls didn’t have much of a response. Brendan Cumming tacked on an additional run in the ninth to narrow the deficit by a slim margin but the result was the same, a loss, which snapped a five-game winning streak for Rice in their all-time series against Sam Houston.

What it means | Converting Opportunities

It’s hard to boil an entire game down to one statistic, but on Tuesday night there was one glaring gap in the numbers that had an outsized impact on the game. Sam Houston hit .143 on the night, but a staggering .429 (3-0f-7) with runners in scoring position. Two of those three big hits came in the sixth inning when Sam Houston hung a three spot on the board, doubling their lead and putting Rice away.

In comparison, Rice hit an equally uninspiring .188 for the game but just .143 (1-of-7) with runners in scoring position. Looked at another way, Sam Houston converted two more run-scoring opportunities than Rice did and Sam Houston won the ball game. Rice stranded seven base runners, including two in the sixth, two in the eighth and one in the ninth.

Both sides had their chances. The one that took advantage of them won.

ON DECK | at Wichita State (Thr-Sat)

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Rice Baseball drops Tulane series but notches first-ever AAC win

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Although they dropped the series to Tulane two games to one, Rice baseball was able to salvage the finale and earn its first-ever AAC win.

FRIDAY | Tulane 14 – Rice 7 (11 innings)

Treyton Rank got Rice baseball off to the right foot on Friday night. His first big hit came in the third inning, a double to left center which put the Owls in front 2-0. Just two innings later, a triple gave the home team a 4-0 advantage. A big lead with Parker Smith on the mound had Rice feeling good, but trouble loomed as soon as Smith left the game.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball drops Silver Glove Series to Houston

Tulane forced Smith to exit in the sixth, scoring two runs credited to his ledger in the frame. The Green Wave tied it up in the seventh then took a 6-4 lead in the eighth. Jacob Devenny leveled the score with a clutch, two-out single in the eighth. The score stayed there for a while until the 11th inning. Garrett Stratton lost command and loaded the bases before ceding the mound to Jack Ben-Shoshan, who was battered and left with a large deficit and no outs recorded.

SATURDAY | Tulane 10 – Rice 1

JD McCracken labored through 5.2 innings on Saturday, working through base runners to give Rice a chance, allowing just three runs (all unearned) on six hits and four walks. The offense gave him one run of support while he was on the mound, a solo home run in the fifth from Jack Riedel.

McCracken gave way to Mauricio Rodriguez who got out of the sixth inning without further damage then allowed one run in the seventh before things went south in the eighth. Tulane struck for five in the inning, expanding their lead to 9-1 against the Owls who didn’t manage any additional runs for the afternoon, falling 10-1.

SUNDAY | Rice 4 – Tulane 2

Little by little, Rice built a lead in the series finale. An RBI groundout from Nathan Becker put Rice in front in the first, then a fielder’s choice and a single from Kyte McDonald added two more to the Owls’ total in second inning before Becker pushed the Rice lead to 4-0 with a single in the fifth.

As the bats methodically tacked on runs, the pitching trio of Tucker Alch, Ryland Urbanczyk and Tyler Hamilton were able to limit the Tulane bats, which had vexed the Owls’ relievers throughout much of the weekend. Hickson entered in the ninth inning to slam the door, notching the first-ever American Conference win for Rice baseball.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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1. Fridays have to be for the Owls

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ON DECK | at Sam Houston (Tues), at Wichita State (Thr-Sat)

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Rice Women’s Basketball falls short at LSU in NCAA Tournament

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Rice Women’s Basketball pushed LSU to the wire, dropping a hard-fought game to the defending champs in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

A sea of frustrated purple and gold clan onlookers bemoaned a season-low first quarter point total for the defending national champion LSU Tigers following a physical battle with Rice Women’s basketball in the opening stanza of their NCAA Tournament game. The Owls held the Tigers to 12 points, and while they only managed six themselves, it was evident from the start they were going to give LSU all they had.

“Once we got over that first punch that they threw, we absolutely hung with them,” Malia Fisher said. “I think it was just about playing our brand of basketball and hitting shots early to spread their defense out and then being aggressive, and like I said, not being scared and taking it to them.”

Even when LSU went on a 10-2 run, Rice never looked rattled. The Owls weathered the storm, staying vigilant on defense and got key shots in key moments, many of them coming from the long range of Emily Klaczek whose final three of the first half silenced a full house at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rogue.

More: Potential head coach candidates for Rice men’s basketball

Despite being heavy underdogs, Rice never looked rattled. In the waning moments of the third quarter an 11-2 run put LSU up by 11, their largest lead of the game. Malia Fisher spent most of that time on the bench, struggling with foul trouble, yet the Owls battled back with Destiny Jackson leading the charge and Hailey Adams knocking down some big free throws along the way.

“I can’t hear myself think,” Fisher joked afterward, noting how the environment wasn’t too much for this team. Even with the noise, Rice pushed back.

That 11-point deficit dwindled as the fourth quarter progressed. Sussy Ngulefac’s layup with 1:56 got Rice within six points. The Owls wouldn’t get any closer than that, watching the clock wind down after a hard-fought battle against a battled-tested LSU team.

Final Box | LSU 70 – Rice 60

What They’re Saying

“I’m incredibly proud to be their coach. We came in here and we wanted to have the exact same mindset that we had in the conference tournament and that was to come in and play our best brand of basketball and to not quit and to not give up and be relentless… I’m incredibly proud. We came in here. We fought for four quarters. We won two of those quarters against the defending national champion. I thought we did a lot of great things, but the main thing that I’m proud of is that we never for one second quit or looked like we didn’t believe that we belonged in this game. Very, very proud. I don’t know if I can say that enough.”” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Poise under pressure

Strip away the seeds and the fanfare. If you handed a copy of this game to someone who didn’t know LSU was the defending national champions and Rice women’s basketball had only earned their ticket to play in the dance a week ago, Friday’s result wouldn’t have given many clues.

LSU turned the ball over 24 times. They shot 42 percent from the field and never led by more than 11 points, despite being nearly a 30-point favorite by most oddsmakers.

Rice won on the margins. They got to loose balls and never let effort be the differentiator between success and failure. For 40 minutes, it looked like the Owls wanted it more than the Tigers. In the end, LSU’s edge in athleticism and height — they outrebounded Rice 42-29 — proved decisive. But not once did it ever seem as if the Owls would go down without a fight.

“We were not afraid of the moment and we were ready to play. We proved that we were here and we were not going to just be somebody that they were going to be able to run over or walk all over,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “And that was because of their unwavering belief in one another and their unwavering confidence in our gameplan and what we were trying to get accomplished today.”

The 2023-2024 Rice women’s basketball season comes to an end in Baton Rouge, but the showing was about as impressive as it could have been in a loss. The unflappable Owls will be back. They’re already charting a course for another trip to the dance next year.

“We talked about it in the locker room. Remember this feeling. Remember what it felt like to get here but next year we want to go further,” Edmonds said. “Everything matters. We’ve already started talking about that. And I think everybody’s going to be hungry.”

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