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Rice Women’s Basketball beats ODU to clinch C-USA Regular Season Title

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Rice women’s basketball clinched the 2020 Conference USA Regular Season Title with a thrilling win over Old Dominion at Tudor Fieldhouse.

In a game that had all the makings of an instant classic, Rice women’s basketball emerged with a conference title-clinching victory. Neither team ever held a lead greater than eight points in a contest with 18 lead changes that came down to the final seconds.

Both teams came out firing. Rice shot 53.6 percent from the field in the first half, but only found themselves up by four points at the break. That was due, in large part, to an incredible game from Old Dominion’s Victoria Morris. The junior finished with a season-high 29 points, 12 of which came before halftime.

The big game by Morris was countered by one of the Owls’ most complete team showings of the season. Senior guard Erica Ogwumike battled foul trouble but still finished with an impactful 20 points and five rebounds in her final game at Tudor Fieldhouse. She was one of five Owls that finished in double figure points.

Rice got key contributions from their bench, something they lacked in their loss to Old Dominion earlier in the season. That included a season-high 11 points from Katelyn Crosthwait off the bench and important minutes from Destiny Jackson as well.

Once their 30-game conference winning streak was over, Rice seemed vulnerable in C-USA for the first time in two years. Beating Old Dominion gave Rice a win over every C-USA team this season. In a sense, it restored some of the Owls’ swagger.

Rice had already secured at least a share of the title with their win over UTEP on Thursday. Saturday’s triumph put the Owls’ alone atop C-USA. More importantly, it locked up the No. 1 overall seed for Rice in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament, set to begin on Wednesday, March 11.

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Rice Basketball: Owls swept by UTEP, drop regular season finale

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Rice basketball fell to UTEP in their final regular season game, their last before the Conference USA Tournament next week.

A game of runs ended running away from Rice basketball at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday. Every time UTEP took a lead, Rice was able to battle back to within one score. The back and forth continued through the first half into the early moments on the second half. Then UTEP took a double-digit lead and held on for the win.

Rice has lived and died by the three point shot this season. That came to fruition once again in the loss to UTEP. Rice shot 25.7 percent from three, well below their season average of 34.3 percent. Two of their nine made threes came in the final minute and half, when the Owls had resorted to fouling to extend the game. The same shooting woes had doomed the Owls in their two prior games with UTEP.

Final Stats

Player of the Game – Robert Martin

The senior forward came close to a double-double in the last home game of his Rice career. He finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, despite missing all five of his shots from three. Even though he came off the bench, he played 32 minutes, the second most on the team to Trey Murphy and more than every other Rice bench player combined. He will be missed next season.

Up Next

Rice basketball clinched a spot in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament earlier in the week with a win over Southern Miss. Saturday’s game against UTEP was for seeding purposes. The Miners clinched the highest seed in bottom pod, leaving the 12-Seed for Rice. The Owls were the 11-Seed last year and were bounced in the first round. The full bracket should be set for the 2020 tournament by the end of the day.

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Rice Baseball: Owls extend losing streak at Texas State

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Rice baseball fell to 0-7 on the season, dropping their first midweek contest in San Marcos to Texas State by a score of 9-2.

Texas State struck first with a solo home run in the first inning and never looked back. A three-run third inning and a three-run fifth put Rice baseball in an insurmountable hole, from which they were unable to return.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Pitching staff remains a work in progress

Kel Bordwine’s early-season struggles opened the door for Brandon Deskins to start on Tuesday. He lasted just 2.1 innings before a two-walk, three-hit third inning chased him from the game. Bordwine came on in relief and was a bit wild, walking three batters while recording five outs.

Andrew Kane and Joshua Larzabal had the best nights out of the bullpen, maintaining their spotless 0.00 ERAs. Each should move up in the pecking order after the trio of Bordwine, Ryan Rickett and Garrett Zaskoda were all tagged with runs in their brief outings.

Still not enough clutch hits

Rice baseball picked up hits with runners in scoring position during the fifth and the sixth innings. Even getting one key hit evaded Rice all weekend against UC Irvine. More than zero is a step in the right direction, but it’s nowhere near the level Rice needs to be if they want to win games.

The problem has impacted the entire lineup. Here are the averages of the Owls’ top hitters with runners in scoring position this season.

  • Trei Cruz – .167
  • Cade Edwards – .167
  • Austin Bulman – .000
  • Bradley Gneiting – .000
  • Justin Collins – .000

On most nights, those five have represented the majority of the top five spots in your order. If they aren’t driving in runs, there won’t be any sort of consistent offense.

Much tougher than expected

Going back to March 2018, Rice baseball has dropped five straight games to in-state rival Texas State. That losing streak is only two games shy of the Owls’ current seven-game skid. Every team starts the season winless, but few teams make it to the third weekend without a single tally in the lefthand column.

Rice has shown deficiencies in the starting rotation, the bullpen and the batting order. The defense has been strong — much improved from this point last season — but there is plenty more work to be done to get this team back to where they want to be.

Up Next | Missouri State

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Rice Baseball 2020: Bats quiet in road sweep by UC Irvine

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Swept for the second time in as many weekends, Rice baseball leaves a three-game stint at UC Irvine with an 0-6 record for the season.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | UC Irvine wins series 3-0

1. Roel Garcia will be the Owls’ ace

Transfer Alex DeLeon has failed to seize the Friday night role after his first two outings with the Owls. He gave up six runs in four innings on Opening Day. He followed that up with a three-inning, four-run outing against UC Irvine. His 14.09 ERA through two starts won’t knock him from the rotation just yet, but the juxtaposition of Garcia’s first outing in more than a year with DeLeon’s work against the same lineup was telling.

Garcia struck out three and allowed no hits in two scoreless innings. Some rust was understandable in his first time back on the mound since the 2018 season. Holding the Anteaters scoreless through one inning would have been an encouraging sing. Blanking them in two innings is an indication he could be closer to returning to his usual self than might have been anticipated.

The Friday night role will be Garcia’s when he’s back to 100 percent, or perhaps sooner. How DeLeon, Blake Brogdon, Dalton Wood and others fit into the rest of the rotation remains to be seen.

2. Sputtering offense struggles to string together hits

Saturday’s 2-1 nail biter was even more agonizingly close than the final score reveals. After being no-hit through four innings for the second day in a row, Rice had a runner in scoring position in the final five innings. That runner got all the way to third base in four of the final five frames. Rice recorded zero hits in eight opportunities. The only RBI came on a groundout, a productive out, but a hollow showing nonetheless.

The pitching staff has been largely a net-positive through the first two weeks of the season. Singular crushing outings by one pitcher here (and another there (DeLeona and Bordwine in this case) have led to the jagged box scores.

On most days, the Owls won’t need 10 runs to walk away with a victory. Getting two to three of those hits in clutch moments could sway games, even some series, in the Owls’ favor. What Rice can’t do is disappear completely at the plate every time they have the chance to put up a crooked number.

Rice baseball has scored 14 runs through their first six games. Frankly, that’s not good enough. Rice capped the UC Irvine series with four runs on 10 hits on Sunday. Their opponents managed twice the run total (nine) on just one fewer hit.

3. The continued development of Trei Cruz

Coaches and fellow players raved about the growth of Trei Cruz this offseason. A Cape Cod League All-Star and the Preseason Conference USA Player of the Year, Cruz has played well in the Owls’ first two series. The shortstop has made multiple Sportscenter Top 10-caliber plays in the dirt, showcasing his defensive prowess.

His bat has been as productive as the rest of the Rice hitters, but it’s been his discipline that’s been most impressive. Cruz is tied for the team lead in walks (five), taking advantage of pitchers who know how dangerous a mistake thrown his way can be.

Finding protection behind in the lineup should get him more hittable pitches. But for the time being, Cruz is extending innings and giving his teammates opportunities to produce runs. He can’t do it all himself, and he’s not trying to force it.

FRIDAY | UC Irvine 10 – Rice 1

Despite having no offensive output for most of the game, Rice kept the game within reach through five innings. Roel Garcia got the Owls off to a strong start. Alex DeLeon got roughed up upon his entrance but navigated the fourth and fifth innings allowing just one run. Then the floodgates burst and UC Irvine took complete control of the game with a 4-run sixth inning.

Aaron Baulaurier doubled to right center in the eight, breaking up UC Irvine’s combined no-hit bid. Justin Dunlap scored later that inning on a wild pitch. But salvaging a run was too little too late in a one-sided series-opening loss much more convincing than any of the Owls’ losses to Texas on opening weekend.

SATURDAY | UC Irvine 2 – Rice 1

This was the ultimate game of missed opportunities. Rice baseball was one hit away from winning this one for what felt likes hours. The hit never came. Blake Brogdon’s strong night (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) came up void. The two runs Brogdon allowed came immediately following leadoff doubles, one in the fourth and another in the sixth. When faced with similar chances, Rice hitters couldn’t push even the tying run across.

The final effort came with two outs in the ninth. Braden Comeaux and Cade Edwards singled to put runners on the corners. Trei Cruz came to the plate, a hit from tying the game. He popped one down the right field line in foul territory. UC Irvine outfielder Riley Kasper made a play on the ball but was injured and forced to leave the game after an extended delay. Facing one more pitch after the wait, Cruz struck out.

SUNDAY | UC Irvine 9 – Rice 4

Comeaux slapped a leadoff single to start the game, ruining any no-hit bids out of the gate. Rice would tally 10 hits on the day, three more than they’d managed in the first two games of the series. The Owls wouldn’t score until the eighth inning. By that time the game was essentially over.

UC Irvine dealt a three-run blow to Rice starter Drake Greenwood in the second inning. The finishing blow came as soon as he was relieved in the fifth. Kel Bordwine was ambushed upon his entrance. He allowed six runs (five charged to him) on four hits and one walk, retiring two of the seven batters he faced. Down 9-0, Rice baseball played things out to the finish.

ON DECK | at Texas State (Tues), vs Missouri State (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball 2020: Texas sweeps Owls on opening weekend

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Rice baseball played a trio of close games against longtime rival Texas, but found themselves on the wrong side of each contest, starting the season 0-3.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Texas wins series 3-0

1. The starting pitching didn’t dazzle but kept Rice in every game

Alex DeLeon, Blake Brogdon and Kel Bordwine combined to throw 14.1 innings, allowing 14 hits, 12 runs while striking out eight. That’s not up to the lofty standard set by Matt Canterino and Evan Kravetz in 2019, but it’s not going to doom a weekend on its own. It’s a modest starting point for a weekend rotation that will go through several permutations before settling on the three men tasked with carrying a typical series.

Roel Garcia and Dalton Wood could both figure into how the rotation looks come conference time. Both are currently working back to health and should be available in some capacity later in the season. Garcia is expected to make his season debut on Tuesday with the possibility of a Sunday outing from him depending on how he fares in his first time out.

The short outings were the biggest worry spot from the weekend. Not having any of their three starters finish the sixth inning is an unsustainable hindrance for a team with eyes on a winning season.

2. The bats have to wake up

The Rice offense was purported the most likely unit to click this season. Amid concerns with new faces on the mound, Rice returned their best hitters from last season. They’d also added key transfers like Austin Bulman and Daniel Hernandez. Seeing the unit come out somewhat sluggish early on was a bit disappointing.

With opening weekend in the books, five Rice hitters are hitting better than .270 this year

  • Braden Comeaux – .417, 1 HR, 3 RBI
  • Cade Edwards – .375, 3B, 1 RBI
  • Austin Bulman – .308, 1 HR, 1 RBI
  • Trei Cruz – .300, 2B
  • Daniel Hernandez – .273, 2B, 1 RBI

There’s plenty of room for growth. And it should get better. Sunday was a testament to that. The Owls produced 10 hits, but only two runs. Third baseman Braden Comeaux, who went 4-for-4 in the finale, said Rice “just had to change our plan and our approach slightly at the plate. We were doing a little bit of guessing.”

That’s a decent portion of the lineup hitting reasonably well. The problem has been the situational hitting combined with multiple hitless outings from the likes of Tyler LaRue, Brayden Combs and Justin Collins. The 4-hole hitters combined to go 2-for-12 on the weekend.

Granted, the arms Texas through during the series were some of the better ones the Owls will face this season. Friday’s muted second inning against Bryce Elder — in which Rice scored just twice after being gifted three hit batsman and an error — serves as the uncomfortable encapsulation of the current state of the offense.

3. Don’t fix the stuff that isn’t broken

The schedule is one of the more challenging slates in the conference, if not the nation. Rice baseball doesn’t have any “gimme” weekends to iron out the kinks. They’ll play at UC Irvine, at Texas Tech and home against Missouri State over the next several weekends. Those are quality postseason teams with Omaha experience. Rice is going to have to figure things out on the fly.

The defense and the relief pitching shined on opening weekend. After starting the 2019 campaign as one of the most error-prone teams in Conference USA, Rice eventually became the best fielding team at the conference tournament. That consistently held true against Texas. The Owls watched the Longhorns commit three errors. Rice had none during the first two games before committing two on Sunday.

And although the relievers entered with just as many question marks (if not more) than the starting pitching, the Rice pen was superb throughout the series. Cristian Cienfuegos, Josh Larzabal and Drake Greenwood had great outings, spanning multiple innings against what looks to be a decent hitting team. It’s early, but those two units looked particularly crisp in their first action of the year.

FRIDAY | Texas 7 – Rice 4

Both teams came out a bit rusty on opening night. All Big-12 pitcher Bryce Elder hit three batters in the second inning and Texas committed their first of three errors on the night. That enabled Rice — despite not hitting a ball out of the infield — to take an early 2-1 lead.

Strong bats were enough for the visitors to overcome those lapses. A home run in the third and another in the fourth staked Texas to a 5-2 lead. The third Texas dinger came in the seventh, putting the Owls into a 7-3 hole from which they were unable to recover.

SATURDAY | Texas 4 – Rice 0

The Rice baseball offense was quiet again in the series-deciding Saturday loss. Rice mustered five hits and failed to convert in clutch moments, going 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-8 with runners on base.

Blake Brogdon pitched 5.2 strong innings on the mound, allowing three runs and keeping the Owls in the game before handing things over to the bullpen duo of Drake Greenwood and Garrett Zaskoda. A few solo home runs by the Longhorns proved enough for them to snag the series win.

SUNDAY | Texas 5 – Rice 4

It was Texas which struck first again in the series finale. The Longhorns smoked four balls to the outfield in the first inning, forcing Kel Bordwine to battle back from behind. He eventually settled in, at one point retiring six in a row before being relieved in the fifth inning.

The Rice bats were limited to small bursts. Cade Edwards had an RBI single in the fourth. Austin Bulman had a solo home run in the sixth. A recurring theme from last year reared it’s head again — hitting with runners in scoring position. Rice went 3-for-22 with runners in scoring position this weekend.

ON DECK | at Sam Houston St (Tues), at UC Irvine (Fri-Sun)

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