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Rice Baseball surges past Texas Southern

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A close game in the early innings tilted heavily in favor of Rice Baseball late as the Owls scored eight in the final four innings to beat Texas Southern.

Reed Gallant set the tone for Rice baseball on Wednesday night, battling through 4.1 innings before a two-run RBI single forced him from the game. His ability to navigate through eight hits while allowing just two runs was instrumental to the Owls’ chances. Case in point, by the time he turned the ball over to Garret Stratton, his teammate had already built a four-run cushion.

Those four early runs came in two pairs, each via two-out hits in successive innings. Landon West got things started by scooping a double to shallow left center field that just slipped under the glove of a diving outfielder to plate two in the third. Blaine Brown followed with a single through the left side of the infield in the fourth, stretching the Owls’ advantage from 2-0 to 4-0.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball takes one from FAU in David Pierce’s first series

After knocking Gallant out in the fifth and getting two runs back, Texas Southern nearly leveled the score in the sixth, loading the bases and scoring once off Von Baker, who loaded the bases with one out. The defense came to his rescue with Max Johnson rifling a grounder to Aric Anderson at home to turn an inning-ending 5-2 double play to preserve the Owls’ lead. That was one of several superb defensive moments from Rice.

A double from Cole Green and a groundout from Trey Duffield put Rice back in front by four and that’s as close as Texas Southern would get for the rest of the night. The Owls scored three in the sixth and five in the seventh, turning a close game into a much-needed, one-sided home win.

What They’re Saying

What it means | Off the mat

The overall record isn’t going to look pretty this season, but that’s to be expected after Rice baseball bottomed out at 2-16, making a coaching change in the process. However, Rice is 4-4 over their last eight, their first stretch of .500 baseball since winning two of three in their initial homestand of the season, with wins over Sam Houston and USC.

David Pierce was hired to quell the storm and make this team respectable again. But even though eyes have, understandably, already begun to peek ahead at next season, his impact on this current roster cannot be understated. Those around the program have commented on the team’s renewed energy and passion and the results are starting to speak for themselves.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Pierce is now officially 2-3 as the Owls’ manager. That’s in a week’s worth of baseball with a team he didn’t build and is only now beginning to understand. Nevertheless, it’s better than where the Owls have been and if this recent stretch is any indication, it means Rice baseball will be competitive this season after all. Given how rocky the start of the year was, that’s a win in itself.

ON DECK | vs ECU x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball clipped by Lamar in narrow defeat

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Rice Baseball drops one-run game against Lamar despite a continued resurgence on the mound.

Runs were at a premium on Tuesday evening in Beaumont, TX as Rice baseball battled Lamar in a razor-close game for nine innings. Jackson Blank drew the start and went four innings, limiting the Cardinals to just four hits while striking out five.

The Owls fell behind in the second when Lamar tagged Jackson Blank with a two-out, two-RBI double to pull ahead. That margin would hold for some time before Rice got one run back via a two-out triple from Trey Duffield, which drove in Cole Green to cut the Owls’ deficit in half.

More: Rice baseball hires David Pierce as head coach

Rice had some big swings in this one, but the Duffield triple was the only one put to good use. The Owls were unable to capitalize on earlier doubles from Blaine Brown and Michael Zito.

The Rice pitching kept them within striking distance, but Rice went down quickly in the eighth and once again in the ninth, dropping the midweek bout by a final score of 2-1.

What it means | In Arms We Trust

The advance of the Owls’ pitching since Jose Cruz was relieved of his duties roughly two weeks ago has been a sight to behold. Rice pitching allowed 9.31 runs per game across those first 16 contests, serving as batting practice for the vast majority of their foes and posing little threat to anyone on the mound, regardless of the caliber of opponent.

Since Parker Bangs became the interim and, presumably, was given similar latitudes to manage the staff by new head coach David Pierce, the pitching staff hasn’t just gotten better, it’s improved by leaps and bounds.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Rice allowed 9.31 runs per game through their first 16 games. In nine games since, including Tuesday against Lamar, Rice has allowed 4.22 runs per game, a 50 percent reduction. Rice hasn’t allowed double-figures once over that span. They did so six games in a row during their prolonged losing streak.

The bats haven’t seen the same degree of resurgence. Until they do, Rice baseball will have to rely on their arms, something that seems more plausible now than it did a few weeks previously.

ON DECK | vs Texas Southern (Wed), vs ECU x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball wins one of three in David Pierce debut at FAU

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Rice baseball picked up its first AAC win of the season but dropped the series on the road to Florida Atlantic in the first games under new head coach David Pierce.

FRIDAY | FAU 9, Rice 3

A solo home run from Blaine Brown got Rice baseball on the board first, turning the ball over to starter Davion Hickson, who was coming off two weeks of rest. Hickson put together one of his better outings of the season, but still got himself on the hook for four runs (three earned) across 5.1 innings pitched.

More: Why Wait? David Pierce hired as Rice baseball head coach

He left trailing 3-1 and watched from the dugout as his relief, Marco Fuentes, gave up a two-run home run to put Rice in an even further hole. FAU would tack on another run in the seventh and three more in the eight to run away with the opening game by the final score of 9-3.

SATURDAY | Rice 3, FAU 1

Florida Atlantic struck first in the second game, going ahead of the visiting Owls 1-0 on an RBI single in the second inning against Rice starter JD McCracken. That would prove to be one the only productive innings FAU would have against McCracken, who tossed six innings of one-run ball, limiting FAU to just five hits while striking out three.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball splits weekend series with Houston Christian

While McCracken did his work on the mound, Rice made the most of some opportunistic hitting, scoring a pair of runs on a two-out single from Hiram Bocachica in the fifth before Bocachica added an insurance run in the seventh, driving in one more run to account for all three of the Owls’ RBI on the afternoon. That would prove to be enough for Rice to notch their first win under new head coach David Pierce.

SUNDAY | FAU 6, Rice 4

Rice struck first in the rubber game, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Tobias Motley in the fourth inning. FAU would even the score in the bottom of the inning, picking up a run against Tucker Alch, who would only be charged for two runs through five innings of work that afternoon.

FAU went in front momentarily in the sixth on an RBI double down the left field line but Trey Duffield answered with a massive one-out 2 RBI single to catapult Rice back in front in the top of the seventh inning. The back-and-forth would not stop there, though, FAU launched a three-run bomb to retake the lead, 6-3.

Rice would get the trying run to the plate in the ninth, but only managed to get one run across, dropping the game and the series.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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Rice Baseball drops 4-2 decision to Incarnate Word

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Rice Baseball came up two runs short, falling to Incarnate Word in a midweek bout, their final game managed by interim skipper Parker Bangs.

The final game under the management of Rice baseball interim head coach Parker Bangs got off to an inauspicious start with the visiting Incarnate Word Cardinals scoring two in the first off freshman opener Blaine Brown. Jack Ben-Shoshan entered and prevented further damage, giving the Owls a chance to get back in the game, which they did an inning later.

A groundout from Treyton Rank scored one before Max Johnson singled to right field, leveling the score at two runs, apiece. Things would were quickly for both teams in the third before Incarnate Word got Jackson Blank for for the go-ahead run in the fourth and added one more insurance run off Von Baker in the seventh.

More: Rice baseball hires David Pierce as head coach

Rice would have their chances, getting runners to second and third with one out in the seventh but failing to score. A leadoff walk in the ninth was spoiled by a double-play, followed by back-to-back singles. But even though Rice tallied 10 hits, they were limited to just the two runs, falling by a final score of 4-2.

What it means | Bring on the David Pierce era

Parker Bangs ends his time as skipper with a 2-3 record across four games. That’s not too shabby considering the 2-14 team he inherited and the whirlwind of stress and emotions that have surrounded the program this week. It’s what comes next that is most important, though, more specifically, who comes next.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

On Wednesday, former Rice baseball assistant David Pierce will be introduced as the Owls’ next head coach and get to work immediately. He’ll fly with the team to Boca Raton and coach the Owls for the first time on Friday night against FAU.

To say this season has been unusual would be an understatement, but both Pierce and these players hope their second act is one worth remembering. We’ll all find out whether or not that’s for the better soon enough.

ON DECK | vs Florida Atlantic x3 (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball splits weekend series with HCU

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Led by interim manager Parker Bangs, Rice Baseball split a four-game set with Houston Christian this weekend, winning back-to-back games for the first time this year.

FRIDAY | HCU 4, Rice 3 (11 inn)

The pitching tandem of Garrett Stratton and Marco Fuentes delivered a marvelous nine innings of work on Friday night, combining to allows two runs with nine strikeouts, keeping Houston Christian at bay and giving the Owls’ bats every opportunity to make a difference.

More: Jose Cruz Jr. out as Rice Baseball head coach

HCU went in front with an RBI single and a RBI groundout in the fourth. Rice countered with RBI from Trey Duffield and Tobias Motley in the sixth to bring things even. Deadlocked at 2-2, Jack Ben-Shoshan got through the 10th unscathed before HCU struck for two more in the 11th. The Owls would get some traffic on the bases in the bottom half of the inning, but came up one run short.

SATURDAY AM | HCU 6, Rice 2 (7 inn)

In the first seven-inning game of a Saturday double-header, Houston Christian hit home runs in the second and third inning off Rice starter JD McCracken to take a 4-0 lead. Motley got one of those runs back with an RBI single in the fourth, but HCU tagged McCracken for two more runs in the fourth, jumping out to a 6-1 lead.

The shortened game left the Owls without much time to mount a comeback. Although the Huskies wouldn’t score again, another RBI single from Motley in the sixth was all the Owls could muster in response. The defeat marked the 12th straight defeat for Rice baseball.

SATURDAY PM | Rice 7, HCU 4 (7 inn)

The Rice bats finally got going in the second half of the double-header, exploding for seven runs in the first three innings, highlighted by a five-run second and a home run from Trey Duffield. That early onslaught put the Owls in the drivers seat and gave starter Tucker Alch a cushion to work with as the game progressed.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball swept by Yale

Houston Christian would get to Alch for four runs in the fourth, but Alch returned to put up a couple of additional zeroes in the subsequent frames. Von Baker entered in the seventh and closed out the game, earning his first save as an Owl and the securing the first win for Rice Baseball since February 23.

SUNDAY | Rice 6, HCU 2

Both sides swapped single runs in the first inning as the pitching staffs navigated some early trouble. Rice baseball settled in quite nicely on the mound when interim manager Parker Bangs went to Reed Gallant who took the ball in the third inning and went to work, mowing down seven Huskies across seven innings of one-run ball.

With Gallant hurling a gem, the bats went to work. Trey Duffield’s solo home run in the fourth put Rice in front. Blaine Brown extended the lead to 3-1 with an RBI single in the fifth. Then Jacob Devenny and Max Johnson went deep in the eighth to stretch the lead to five, giving the Owls’ plenty of breathing room to help them secure the series split.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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