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Rice Baseball: Six Owls selected in 2019 MLB Draft

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Headlined by pitcher Matt Canterino, a Day 1 selection by the Minnesota Twins, six Rice baseball players heard their names called in the 2019 MLB Draft.

Round 2 (54) – Twins – Matt Canterino

The most unsurprising Rice selection, Canterino was off the board early. His Rice career ends after a superb junior season where he finished with a 2.81 ERA in 99.1 innings.

Round 5 (155) – Reds – Evan Kravetz

Most assumed Kravetz would be a Day 2 selection. Instead he ended up closer to being a Day 1 selection than a Day 3 choice. Kravetz was off the board in the first 100 picks of the second day, impressing enough during his senior season to climb all the way to the fifth round.

Round 12 (376) – Astros – Garrett Gayle

One of the Owls’ most talented bullpen arms from 2019, Gayle was the only Rice reliever chosen this year. His 2019 splits weren’t overwhelming, but there’s a lot about his game to like.

Round 27 (807) – Blue Jays – Roel Garcia

Garcia missed the entire 2019 season and is now faced with a decision to make. Being selected in the back half of the draft makes a player’s decision to sign with their respective team far from a sure thing. Garcia certainly would have the chance to elevate his stock with another year at South Main.

Round 37 (1113) – Nationals – Trei Cruz

Those same sentiments go for Cruz. An impressive hitter with plenty of power and tools at the plate, Cruz can easily play his way into a Top 10 round selection with more discipline in the field and improved decision making at the plate.

Round 37 (1118) – Rays – Addison Moss

Although he did make a handful of appearances, Moss was never truly healthy this season. Projected to be the Saturday man entering the year, he’ll be a much higher selection in 2020 should he return to school.

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Rice Baseball: Owls stunned by walk-off loss to Southern Miss in CUSA Tournament

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Matt Canterino’s gem was wasted. The Rice baseball bullpen caved again as the Owls fell to Southern Miss at the Conference USA Baseball Tournament.

The formula for Rice advancing in the Conference USA Baseball Tournament was simple: Pitch well and take advantage of opportunities at the plate. Matt Canterino answered the call. The bullpen did not as the Owls fell to 2-Seed Southern Miss 6-4 in 10 innings.

More: CUSA Tournament Bracket, news and notes

The staff ace, Canterino was every bit as special as the Owls needed him to be. He was sharp as ever through 7.1 innings, striking out nine, walking two and allowing one run on three hits. With the Southern Miss offense confounded, even a slight lead felt commanding.

To that point, the offense had been sturdy. Braden Comeaux reached based on each his first four plate appearances, coming in to score three times. Trei Cruz blasted a two-run dinger in the third. Rice led 4-0 at the seventh inning stretch.

Owls fall by walk-off for the fourth straight game

When Canterino left the game Rice fans held their breath. The bullpen was coming off their worst week of the season. It took guts for Bragga to pull Canterino when he got into the seventh inning jam. While it might have been ideal to ride Canterino as far as he could carry them, he’s already thrown 100 pitches. His availability the rest of the week would have been factored into Bragga’s decision to turn to the pen.

With Garrett Gayle on the mound, Rice coughed up the four run lead including three runs scored in the ninth inning. Rice needed one more out to advance. On multiple tries, they failed to get it. A walk-off home run by Southern Miss slugger Matt Wallner ended any hope of a late rally.

Rice isn’t going to advance without a few big outings from their bullpen. They came close Wendesday, but fell painfully short once again.

UP NEXT | Louisiana Tech – Thursday 9:00 am

Rice will play Louisiana Tech in the loser’s bracket. The Bulldogs dropped their first-round game to Marshall in 12 innings., the longest game (by time) in CUSA Tournament history. Rice swept Louisiana Tech at home earlier this season.

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Rice Baseball: Owls switch gears to CUSA Tournament after Marshall sweep

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Riding high after a series win over Southern Miss, Rice baseball was stopped stone-cold in their tracks by Marshall, narrowly clinching a CUSA Tournament spot.

The week began on a high note, with Rice baseball besting rival Houston to clinch the Silver Glove Series. After the Tuesday night victory, Rice hit the road to finish conference play with a three-game set in Huntington, West Virginia. Both Marshall and Rice were fighting for a spot in the Conference Tournament. Rice clinched their berth on Friday but Marshall had more work to do, eventually locking up a spot of their own after taking three straight from Rice.

Both the Owls and the Thundering Herd earned spots in Biloxi this coming week. Here’s how the series unfolded with three overarching themes as Rice enters the conference tournament.

THURSDAY | Marshall 5, Rice 4 (11)

Rice used a big fifth inning to jump ahead in the series opener. Trei Cruz broke the deadlock with an RBI single to center, scoring Aaron Beaulaurier. Andrew Dunlap followed with a three-run bomb to break things open.

Matt Canterino was in top form on the mound, holding Marshall to two earned runs in seven innings with nine strikeouts. He handed the ball to Kendal Jefferies at the start of the eighth. Jefferies, and later Garrett Gayle, were unable to hold the line. Marshall walked it off in the 11th on a two-out RBI single after holding Rice scoreless through the final six innings.

FRIDAY | Marshall 4, Rice 3 (10)

Kel Bordwine took the ball on Friday after Evan Kravetz was a late scratch. Even with the deviation in the weekend rotation, the Owls weren’t threatened early in game two. Bordwine was superb, throwing seven innings of one-run ball. The Marshall offense mustered five hits off the short-notice starter, allowing the Rice offense to slowly build a lead.

Rice climbed ahead 3-0, courtesy of a few impactful extra-base hits. Bealaurier doubled in the third, scoring Antonio Cruz. Bradley Gneiting and Antonio Cruz added solo home runs in the fourth and seventh innings, respectively.

Marshall wouldn’t score until the eighth, leveling the score at 3-3 after Blair Lewis surrendered a 2-run home run. That score would hold for one more inning until Marshall scored a final, unearned run on an infield error to win the game in the 10th.

SATURDAY | Marshall 5, Rice 4

Marshall struck first in the finale, taking a 1-0 lead on a home run in the first inning. Playing from behind for the first time in regulation, Rice was forced to muster a comeback. Trei Cruz gave Rice the lead with a fourth-inning double. Justin Collins extended the advantage to 3-1 with a solo home run in the sixth. Jackson Parthasarathy powered through the Marshall lineup as Bordwine and Canterino had before. Things were looking good.

Yet again, Rice took a lead into the later innings. Yet again, Marshall found an equalizer. The Thundering Herd knotted the game at 3-3 in the eighth, but this time Rice punched back, squeezing out the go-ahead run via a sac bunt in the top of the ninth inning. The small ball wouldn’t be enough, though, as Marshall tied and went on to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, their third walk-off win of the weekend.

TAKEAWAYS | Marshall wins series 3-0

1. Who will step up in the bullpen?

The Owls most trustworthy bullpen arms failed them in big spots against Marshall. Staked to late leads with few outs to get, nobody was able to come up with an answer. That’s not a problem the Owls were hoping to run into this late in the season, but May is the time to make the best with what you have, not to reinvent the wheel.

Coach Bragga could try to implement a quicker hook or experiment with bumping someone like Bordwine from a spot starter to a bullpen piece. Bragga will undoubtedly push all the buttons he thinks will make the most sense for the team in its current state, but he’s not able to step on the mound and physically throw the pitches.

Those same players who had rough weekends have proven capable in the past. Jefferies and Gayle have combined for nine saves, 100 percent of the team’s total on the season. And that’s the peculiar thing about baseball. The sport built upon failure will put these same pitchers in high leverage situations again, soon. They’re going to get another chance. If they capitalize on their opportunities in Biloxi, their shortcomings in Huntington will fade, quickly.

2. It’s going to be a short week if something doesn’t change

Even without a win in their final regular-season series, Rice qualified for the Conference USA Baseball Tournament. The starting pitching showcased their extraordinary depth over the weekend, digging beyond their typical weekend trio and still producing three quality starts. The bullpen and the offense can’t ask for much better than they got against Marshall, setting the stage for a game of Russian Roulette going forward.

Assuming a strong start on the mound, Rice needs to find a way to avoid joint implosions by the bullpen and the lineup. If one of those two units can produce at a level commensurate to the starting pitching, Rice has a shot to advance deep into the conference tournament. If both units fade into a repeat of this weekend. Bang. Season over.

3. CUSA Tournament set

If there is any good fortune to be found in the weekend sweep, Rice draws a familiar opponent in the opening game of the CUSA Tournament. Rice took two of three from Southern Miss a week ago, relying on their now embraced pattern of high-caliber pitching and just-enough offense.

UTSA’s loss on Saturday might prove to be fortuitous for the Owls, too. A win by the Roadrunners would have dropped Rice to the 8-seed where they’d have met 1-seed FAU in Biloxi. FAU swept Rice earlier this season and the games weren’t as close as the three Rice loss to Marshall. Nevertheless, Rice has its opponent. Now they need to execute.

ON DECK | vs Southern Miss (Wed) in CUSA Tournament

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Rice Baseball: Slow starts dooms Owls against Texas A&M

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Rice baseball missed an opportunity, falling to Texas A&M in a midweek contest before returning to conference play against UTSA over the weekend.

Kel Bordwine got the start in Rice’s midweek bout with fellow lone star power Texas A&M. On a night when no pitcher went three innings for either side, Borwdine’s early exit proved to be troublesome. He left after 1.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits with two walks. He wasn’t as locked in as he’d been in recent starts, putting Rice behind the eight ball on the road.

Rice would rally with a run in the third, but a three spot from Texas A&M in the fifth gave the Aggies a hefty 7-1 lead. An Andrew Dunlap two-run home run in the seventh was all the offense Rice had left, falling 8-3.

1. Garrett Gayle is back

The Rice bullpen got off to a rough start, but perhaps no pitcher’s beginnings were more confusing than Gayle’s. The stuff was always good, but the command had seemingly vanished. Gayle walked seven batters over his first 7.2 innings. Since his appearance against Oklahoma, he’s now thrown 8.1 innings, walking just two and striking out eight.

He was almost perfect out of the pen against Texas A&M. On a night when the bullpen got a fair amount of work from different relievers, he was the only man to hold the Aggies hitless while striking out at least one batter.

2. Loss to Texas A&M a missed opportunity

Losing to a ranked team in a midweek game on the road isn’t going to spoil the season for Rice. Still, the woulda-coulda-shoulda factor of Tuesday’s defeat could have repercussions down the line. Rice owns wins over ranked programs TCU and Baylor. Adding Texas A&M to that list would have given Rice a trifecta of big wins over power programs to bolster their case for postseason play.

When it comes to building a resume, non-conference are important. Texas A&M was one of this squad’s last marquee games outside of Conference USA play. Dropping this game in the fashion they did has to be a bit disappointing.

3. Can this team bounce back?

It’s been a hot and cold season for Rice.  Rice won two of three, then they dropped five of six. Then they picked up their big wins over Baylor and TCU and won for games in seven days. Now they’ve lost four out of their last five. In the obvious downswing of their streaky spring, can this team right the ship?

When it looked like this team might be headed down a forgettable path they bounced back with a pair of marquee wins. They don’t have a ranked team on their schedule for some time, so it’s time to get back to the basics and take care of business in conference play.

ON DECK | vs UTSA (Fri-Sun)

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