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Rice Baseball 2019 Season Review: Defensive improvements crystal clear

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Rice baseball saw unbelievable improvement in the field, cutting down errors and making adjustments as the season progressed.

The 2019 Rice baseball season began with a series win over Rhode Island — and seven errors. The next stretch wouldn’t get any better. The Owls committed 17 errors over their next five games, including a season-high eight miscues in a 16-5 loss to Arizona. There were one or two additional plays in that dismal Arizona defeat which could have been ruled errors as well had the scorekeeper been in a different mood.

It took Rice 11 games before they completed their first error-free contest. Discipline in the field was abysmal and a real detriment to this team’s chances of finding any sustainable success. Fortunately for the Owls, that would represent rock bottom of the defense in 2019.

See Also | Season Review: Erratic offense full of highs and lows

Rice finished the year with a .965 fielding percentage, ninth best in Conference USA, committing 75 errors in 59 games. As bad as that was, the splits between non-conference play and the Owls final 30 conference games couldn’t have been any more disparate.

The Owls committed 50 errors in their 25 non-conference games, a rate of 2.0 errors per game. Once Rice moved past the bulk of their non-conference games and reached the latter portion of their schedule the defense tightened up considerably. The team committed 25 errors in 30 conference games, the third-fewest in CUSA and a rate of .83 errors per game.

See Also | Season Review: Starting pitching shines

Coach Bragga new his team was capable of cleaning things up, but it’s hard to envision an improvement of that magnitude. Rice capped off their season with a robust .986 fielding percentage in the Conference USA Tournament. That tied Old Dominion for the best fielding rate in the tournament. Rice registered twice as many putouts in their four games (109) compared to Old Dominion’s two (51).

As the season reached a new marker, the defense got better, bordering on great with some web gems from Trei Cruz in the infield and Aaron Beaulaurier in the outfield. The team as a whole had its’ issues, but this was something which could be fixed, and fixed during the season. Going from worst to first in the span of three months, though, that’s nothing short of spectacular.

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Rice Baseball: Owls making the most of established starting lineup

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With only a few games remaining in the season, Rice baseball has settled in on a starting lineup, one which has brought much-needed consistency to the offense.

Head coach Matt Bragga flip-flopped the lineup on a nightly basis at the beginning of the season. He admitted then he’d rather stick with the same nine guys and not make as many adjustments, but lamented it wouldn’t happen until they were good enough as a team to solidify a starting nine. For him, the end goal will always be consistency. “I think consistency is good in whatever you’re doing, as long as it’s going well,” Bragga affirmed.

With the end of the regular season in view, Bragga’s squad has found those nine. The same position players have started every game of the Owls’ six-game winning streak and two of their three subsequent losses — Braden Comeaux, Bradley Gneiting, Trei Cruz, Andrew Dunlap, Cade Edwards, Justin Collins, Dominic Cox, Brandt Frazier and Aaron Beaulaurier. The lone exception was a Khevin Brewer start at designated hitter in the second half of Friday’s double header against WKU.

That core group, with a few pinch hitters scattered in, has paved the way for the Owls’ longest winning streak of the season. No longer is the weight of the offense resting on any one player’s shoulders. Every night someone different gets a big hit. It took a few months to get here, but the offense is beginning to feel balanced.

“There’s not a lot of options,” Bragga admitted, “so when you find a group of nine you’re very apt to stay with that nine.”

For the most part, that nine has got the job done. They’ve won six of their last nine games with the final game of the WKU series awaiting Sunday. Salvaging one more CUSA win would have a significant on the conference race. Bragga’s mindset remains clear. “We need to do better.” he said. That much is true. Now they have the right pieces in place to do it.

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Baseball: Coach Matt Bragga undeterred by his toughest test yet

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Rice baseball had a rough start to the 2019 season, but head coach Matt Bragga is keeping the faith this team and this program can be something special.

It’s been a long time since 2003 for Rice baseball. The Owls would return to Omaha three times following their first College World Series title that remarkable season, most recently in 2008. But then things started to slow down at South Main. It came time to find the next leader who would carry what had become a mainstay program in college baseball back to the promised land.

That’s why Matt Bragga was hired. He was hired to bring another championship back to Houston.

And that’s why the first two weeks of the 2019 season have stung so much.

“It’s just not good enough. That’s a good team, but we shot ourselves in the foot multiple times over the course of the weekend as we did on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Bragga said following a three-game sweep at Reckling Park at the hands of UC Irvine. “We’re just not a good enough baseball team right now, and that’s my job as a coach to try to make us better and get as much out of these guys as we possibly can.”

More: Takeaways from Rice baseball’s home series loss to UC Irvine

In many respects, his summary is spot on. This is not a good enough baseball team right now.

On the mound, Rice pitchers are falling behind into less-than-favorable counts. They’re not being aggressive. At the plate the hitters are swinging at bad pitches, taking poor approaches with two strikes and failing to make adjustments at the plate over the course of a series. The defense, which has now accumulated 24 errors in eight games, needs to make more plays.

That list comes straight from the head man himself. Bragga meticulously spelled out the litany of issues following the third loss of the weekend to a UC Irvine team ranked in the Top 25 of some national polls. He summed it up with an all-encompassing decree, “we have to play better baseball.”

Rice baseball
Head Coach Matt Bragga introduced by AD Joe Karlgaard.

Perhaps he could take a page out of Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren’s book. Bloomgren came to South Main with a similar mandate: restore a winning tradition at Rice. What Bloomgren found out, and Bragga is currently experiencing, is the challenge of taking a program which had fallen on hard times back to relevancy is hard.

Following the football program’s loss to previously winless UTEP, Bloomgren remarked, somewhat in dismay, “I never thought I would be associated with a team that has had this little success.”

It’s hard to determine if that was the lowest low point of a challenging season on the gridiron, but there’s no denying the team Bloomgren’s unit finished the year on a high note, defeating Old Dominion in emphatic fashion. The inkings of a turnaround are finally present, but it took time. There are no shortcuts.

Hard, but not impossible

Bragga calls himself a straight shooter. He didn’t beat around the bush after his team fell to 2-6 on the season. “There’s more of a challenge [at Rice] than I probably envisioned,” he admitted. “But that’s okay. That’s why you coach, for challenges, and trying to overcome those challenges.”

Whether Bragga underestimated the challenge or not, his task hasn’t changed. His attitude remains unwavering. “I have belief in these guys,” he said confidently,” I think this could still be a really good team and I’m certainly not going to give up on them after eight games.” With at least 48 more to play in the 2019 season, Bragga will have plenty more opportunities to make that dream become a reality. Those aspirations will continue on to 2020 and beyond, too.

I have belief in these guys. I think this could still be a really good team and I’m certainly not going to give up on them after eight games.Matt Bragga

Baseball is hard. It’s a game built on failure and rooted in daily mental battles with oneself. There’s no doubt Rice baseball got punched in the mouth at the start of the 2019 season, but there’s also no reason to write off a strategic investment made by both the administration and by Bragga after two rough weeks, not yet.

Hope remains

As he walked off the field toward his office in the inner workings of Reckling Park, Bragga made one barely audible comment which resonated back out toward the field to scattered players and media standing on the dugout steps. “We’ll get it. I promise you, we’ll get it.”

Yes, it’s back to the drawing board for coach Bragga and the 2019 Rice baseball team. But this coach is a long way from throwing in the towel, and that’s why he’s here. Bragga was hired for more than two weeks of baseball. His legacy at Rice is only just beginning. Let’s allow him to play it out.

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Baseball: Matt Bragga era begins with series win vs Rhode Island

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Rice baseball opened the Matt Bragga era with a series win over visiting Rhode Island at Reckling Park, highlighted by a walk-off wild pitch for the Owls’ first win of the season.

The Matt Bragga era on South Main is officially underway. Hired away from Tennessee Tech, Bragga was introduced in June and has been hard at work ever since. Fall ball and spring workouts have given way to real baseball, starting with the Owls’ opening weekend against Rhode Island at Reckling Park.

Rice took the series two games to one. Here’s a rundown of each game a few closing thoughts from the weekend.

FRIDAY | Rhode Island 2, Rice 1 (10 innings)

The concerns around this team during the offseason largely focused on the offensive side of the ball. Those early worries proved accurate out of the gate with as the Owls failed to give their ace Matt Canterino much support on Friday night.

Canterino was superb, tossing 6.1 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine. The offense managed one run on a Trei Cruz RBI single, one of six hits on the night.

It was the defense that faltered in extra innings. Rice committed two errors in the 10th, the first of which allowed Rhode Island to score an unearned and eventual game-deciding run.

SATURDAY | Rice 7, Rhode Island 6 (13 innings)

A comfortable lead turned into a thrilling finish on Saturday, culminating in an extra-inning win, the first of the Matt Bragga era. Rice had built a 3-0 lead on a career night from starting pitcher Evan Kravetz, inserted after Addison Moss was a late scratch (wrist). Kravetz set a career high with 10 strikeouts through five innings, giving way to Dalton Wood in the sixth.

Rhode Island battled back, eventually tying the game in the top of the ninth inning, the second full inning worked by potential closer Garrett Gayle. The score would stay deadlocked at 5-5 entering extra until Rhode Island scratched across a run in the top of the 13th.

Trailing 6-5, Rice needed a spark. They got it from Dominic Cox. He was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch and came in to score on an errant throw to third on a Trei Cruz single. Cruz would come in to score the winning run minutes later on a passed ball, a fortunate break which capped off the five-hour contest.

SUNDAY | Rice 15, Rhode Island 3

There was no pitchers duel on Sunday. Rice matched their seven runs scored in 13 innings the game prior in the first three frames. Rhode Island starter Nick Robinson surrendered five extra-base hits, including the first two home runs of the weekend one by Trei Cruz, the other by Justin Collins.

Cruz launched a grand slam in the fifth inning, the highlight of a masterful performance at the plate. That long ball gave him eight RBI for the game, the most runs driven in by any Rice player since Anthony Rendon tallied eight RBI against Cal in 2010.

On the mound, Jackson Parthasarathy moved quickly mowing down Rhode Island hitters left and right. He matched the strong starts from Canterino and Kravetz, going six innings while allowing one hit, no runs and striking out eight.

After the slow start, Sunday’s runaway win gave this team a nice boost of confidence headed into two important midweek games against Texas and Arizona.

TAKEAWAYS | Rice wins series 2-1

1. Rice pitching was as good as advertised

There will be much more threatening visiting lineups in Reckling Park this year. Rhode Island was a young, mostly unproven group from the northeast and Rice met them with an experienced group of hurlers. It should have been a dominant outing by the Rice pitching staff. For the most part, it was.

Through three games, Rice starters hold a season ERA of 0.00. The combination of Canterino, Kravetz and Parthasarathy allowed seven hits, two walks and zero runs while striking out 27 over 17.1 innings pitched.

It wasn’t just a good weekend for the rotation. Kendal Jeffries and Kel Bordwine were both strong out of the pen. Jeffries relieved Canterino on Friday night, throwing 3.2 innings with six strikeouts and four hits. Bordwine carried the Owls through three extra frames on Saturday. Despite being charged with the go-ahead run allowed by Zach Esquivel, he allowed three hits with two strikeouts, facing 13.

Bragga had high praise for his pitchers, saying “They’re giving our offense a chance to find our identity right now.” It took every bit of success from the Owls on the bump to match Rhode Island on Friday and Saturday. Sunday, the offense took over.

2. The offense is a work in progress, but there’s plenty to work with

Active baserunning, hit and runs, a squeeze play at home and the long ball were all part of the repertoire for the Rice offense on opening weekend. Bragga expects the offense to become more cohesive as the season progresses, but for now, he’s going to continue to experiment.

“I’m learning this team. I’m learning these guys and trying to figure out what’s best suited for us to score runs,” Bragga said. “We’ll do whatever it takes to get those runs in because are pitching staff is throwing really well.”

Cruz was the offensive MVP of the weekend, leading the team with eight hits, including two home runs and two triples on Saturday, and 10 RBI. Dominic DiCaprio and Cade Edwards had a pair of doubles. Bradley Geniting had six hits, scoring five times. Four Owls (Gneiting, T. Cruz, Collins, Edwards) leave opening weekend with a batting average better than .300.

3. The fielding must get better

The pitchers shined and the offense showed flashes, leaving the errors with the gloves the most glaring concern of the weekend.

Rice committed seven errors on the weekend. If they play clean baseball the series could very well have ended in a sweep. When the offense is firing on all cylinders they’ll have the wiggle room to work past the occasional fielding mistake. For now, it’s even more imperative the team tightens up their fielding.

Both of the first two games were decided by errors with the deciding runs coming for each squad via fielding miscues. Even with a sizable lead on Sunday, Rice couldn’t come up with a clean sheet.

ON DECK | vs Texas (Tues), vs Arizona (Wed), vs UC-Irvine (Fri.-Sun.)

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Head coach Matt Bragga ushers in new era for Owls

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Rice baseball has hired its 21st head coach in program history, officially introducing former Tennessee Tech head coach Matt Bragga at Reckling Park on Thursday.

It’s been a long time since Rice baseball was on the hunt for a new head coach. Any trepidation towards their first hire in nearly three decades quickly faded away thanks to the sharp smile of new head coach Matt Bragga. The jovial, passionate coaching veteran held his introductory press conference on Thursday before a packed crowd at Reckling Park. “[Rice] is an elite program in college baseball,” he said, “my expectations for what is going to happen here are high.”

Bragga doesn’t make such claims lightly. He took a Tennessee Tech program from a 15-win season when he arrived to the brink of a College World Series appearance in 2018. After defeating the Texas Longhorns in Game 1 of the Austin Regional, Bragga’s squad couldn’t quite seal the deal and deliver on the trip to the College World Series that he had promised when he took the Tennessee Tech job 15 years prior. “We got one game away from Omaha,” recalled Bragga who went on to add, “If you can do it at Tennessee Tech. We can do it big time at Rice.”

There was a time when College World Series was an annual affair for Rice baseball, but it’s been a decade since the Owls last played in Omaha. Bragga intends to use the same mentality that he used to transform Tennessee Tech at Rice, with one notable exception. Rice isn’t starting over from square one, rather, Bragga views Rice as a sleeping giant that’s ready to wake up. And that starts with the players.

“This is what you can expect from me. High energy, great passion, blue-collar work-ethic mentality, competitiveness. I love competitors. Competitors win.”

Bragga’s culture is one of respect, passion and competitiveness. In his brief moments at the podium, he hammered on those focal points. He didn’t mince words when he delivered his vision for the program going forward. “This is what you can expect from me,” he declared. “High energy, great passion, blue-collar work-ethic mentality, competitiveness. I love competitors. Competitors win.” That competition extends to not-so-friendly games of ping-pong, getting to class first and every day of practice. Everything is a competition, but it all comes with one purpose in mind – returning to Omaha.

“When the players know you love them, you can make them believe anything is possible.” That message, one of Bragga’s lasting impressions from his interview with athletic director Joe Karlgaard, was what Karlgaard shared in his opening remarks during Bragga’s introduction. And that tone, one which invoked an atmosphere of family, resonated throughout the room as Bragga continued to share his hopes for Rice baseball.

For a moment, it felt like the new head coach had been there for years. His humble sincerity was invigorating. There wasn’t any flashing lights or smokescreens. Just Bragga, who summed up the press conference with a simple, but telling statement. “I’m a baseball coach,” he said. “At the end of the day, I like to get on that field and get dirty and roll my sleeves up and go to work.”

There’s plenty to be done at Rice, but if Bragga is to be believed, it might be a shorter process than previously expected. For now, it’s time to get to work.

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