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Rice Baseball: Owls post impressive series sweep over Louisiana Tech

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A week removed from their first home sweep under Matt Bragga, Rice baseball took three straight from Louisiana Tech as their late spring surge continues.

The red-hot Owls have won six in a row as they make their final push for the Conference USA Tournament. Another three-game sweep over the weekend boosted the Owls’ overall record to 21-23 and set them up with a chance to finish their home slate at .500 with a win over Houston on Wednesday.

Another series win brings Rice to 12-9 in Conference play with three weekends to go. Here’s a rundown of their most recent set and a few thoughts on what went well for the Owls against Louisiana Tech.

FRIDAY | Rice 3 – Louisiana Tech 1

Matt Canterino got things off on the right foot with a superb Friday night performance. He struck out 10 in seven innings of scoreless baseball. His counterpart, Louisiana Tech hurler Matt Miller was effective too, save for two booming extra base hits which proved to be the difference-making swings.

Braden Comeaux opened up the scoring with a home run in the fourth. Trei Cruz followed with a triple in the sixth, scoring Comeaux to put Rice ahead 2-0. An error would allow Rice to stretch the lead to 3-0 where it would remain until Lousiana Tech snapped the shutout bid with a solo home run in the ninth.

SATURDAY | Rice 4 – Louisiana Tech 2

The drama started with a close game in the series opener continued through the weekend. This time it was Evan Kravetz on the mound for Rice. He built on Canterino’s impressive start from the night before, throwing 7.1 scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking four before turning things over to the bullpen.

The Rice offense waited til the seventh to get moving, but it struck fast. Bradley Gneiting, Dominic Cox and Comeaux picked up RBI as Rice took a commanding 3-0 lead. After adding one more in the eighth, Rice took a 4-0 lead into the ninth.

With Kendall Jeffries on the mound, Louisiana Tech began to engineer a comeback. Three straight hits pushed Jeffries out of the game. A single off Garrett Gayle cut the Rice lead to 4-2 as the potential game-winning run strode to the plate with no outs in the ninth. Then this happened…

Rice flipped the script, turning a triple play to get out of the jam and secure the series win.

SUNDAY | Rice 3 – Louisiana Tech 2

Louisiana Tech got things going early in the first inning, taking the lead on an RBI double from Tanner Huddleston. They’d tack on another run on a fielders choice in the sixth on which the Owls came extremely close to turning an impressive 3-6-1 double play only to come off a few feet short.

Trailing 2-0, the big bats came through. Trei Cruz followed up singles by Comeaux and Gneiting to get Rice on the board. Gneiting would come around to score on the next at bat by way of an Andrew Dunlap groundout, tying the game 2-2.

Both teams would have their chances through the rest of regulation, but neither was able to push any more runs across. After turning Louisiana Tech away in the top of the 10th, Rice loaded the bases for Cruz who’d stand by as his team won the game on a wild pitch.

TAKEAWAYS | Rice wins series 3-0

1. Matt Canterino leads the charge

Like the rest of this team, staff ace Matt Canterino has been up and down through this season too. Even when he’s not at his best, he’s always found a way to compete. Whether it was one mistake too many or not enough help from the fielding and/or offense, Rice won one of Canterino’s first six starts of the season. The team’s record reflecting their inability to win with their best arm on the mound. Then things flipped.

Rice has won each of Canterino’s last five starts. That included Canterino’s first complete game against FIU and two consecutive 7-inning scoreless outings in the Owls’ recent six-game winning streak. Canterino has been better over the past month, but so has his supporting cast.

Winning the first game of the series is incredibly important in the postseason, where Rice hopes to find themselves in a few short weeks. Riding their ace to the finish line will give this team confidence entering the conference tournament.

2. Trei Cruz is ramping back up

Rice shortstop Trei Cruz didn’t go anywhere after he bashed the baseball to bits during the opening series against Rhode Island but his near .400 average dipped down below .300 as his big moments seemed to grow further and further apart. Things came in spurts for a while, but he kept at it. He turned a corner this month and his production has continued to climb

Cruz is hitting .461 over the past two series with four extra-base hits and an RBI in five of the Owls’ six games. He’s one of several guys that seems to be seeing the ball better and making the most of his hard contact.

3. When everything’s good, it’s good

During the rough start to the season, Rice baseball head coach Matt Bragga warned his team to be wary of the snowball effect. Misfortune on the mound, the batter’s box and the field was starting to build on itself. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong, and the resulting losses felt like the Owls’ had missed opportunities all over the place.

Over the past two weeks, the opposite has occurred. The team is playing its best baseball of the year, that’s true. But they’re also the beneficiaries of a more positive version of the same snowballing. From the triple play on Saturday to a walk-off wild-pitch, Rice is finding ways to win. They would have loved to convert more often with runners in scoring position over the weekend, but even with the modest scoring, the balls that needed to fall, fell.

In no way can this weekend’s results be written off as purely good fortunate. Rice stood toe to toe with one of the best teams in Conference USA and won three straight. Luck doesn’t sweep series, good baseball does. Rice is playing good baseball right now. When that happens, the bounces seem to tend towards the positive direction.

ON DECK | vs Houston (Wed), at Western Kentucky (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball sweeps MTSU, earns Matt Bragga’s first home sweep

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Rice baseball picked up their first home series sweep under head coach Matt Bragga, winning three games against Middle Tennessee State to improve to .500 in conference play.

Rice entered Easter weekend with a bad taste in their mouth. The Owls had blasted Charlotte in their series opener and outscored them by 10 runs over the course of three games only to drop the series. With no midweek game to take their mind off the tough blow, all efforts turned to Middle Tennessee.

Coach Bragga’s charge to his team this weekend was straightforward. “We need to start making a move if we’re going to make one.” Rice made their move, sweeping their second conference opponent this season. Here are some notes on an encouraging series at Reckling Park.

THURSDAY | Rice 10 – MTSU 4

Rice RBI leader Andrew Dunlap got things going in the series opener with an RBI single in the first inning. The Owls took the 1-0 lead into the third where they broke the game open, batting around and scoring eight runs on six hits and four walks. Justin Collins and Braden Comeaux picked up two RBI apiece, with four other Owls driving in one run during the big inning.

The nine-run cushion was more than enough for Matt Canterino, who put together what was arguably his best outing of the season. He struck out 10 in seven innings, earning his team-leading fifth win of the season. Middle Tennessee would tack on four against Rice reliever Drake Greenwood, but the sizable lead would hold for the Owls’ fourth-straight win in series openers.

FRIDAY | Rice 7 – MTSU 2

The Owls’ bats got off to a slightly slower start on Friday night, but once they woke up, they caught fire. Two home runs, one by Cade Edwards another Dominic Cox, put Rice ahead 2-0 in the fourth inning. Then the Owls exploded for five runs in the fifth.

Bradley Gneiting, Trei Cruz, and Andrew Dunlap strung together three consecutive RBI hits. Dunlap came around to score the seventh run on an error. The 7-0 lead would hold until the ninth inning where once more MTSU would collect a flurry of hits, scoring two, not enough to give the Owls much of a scare.

SATURDAY |Rice 7 – MTSU 5

For the first time in the weekend, Rice was forced to come from behind. Starting pitcher Jackson Parthasarathy wasn’t as sharp as his predecessors on the mound. He would have been serviceable had the defense not committed three errors on the day, two of which resulted in three unearned runs charged to Parthasarathy.

Trailing 4-0 after Parthasarathy was removed midway through the third inning, Rice began to chip away. Rice got two in the third, one in the fourth and one in the fifth before tying the game in the seventh on a Cade Edwards sac fly. Justin Collins would drive a two-out single to left later in the inning, scoring what would be the game-winning run.

MTSU didn’t make it easy, loading the bases in the ninth. With the tying run in scoring position, Kendall Jeffries induced a double-play to clinch the victory and the series sweep.

TAKEAWAYS | Rice wins series 3-0

1. Pitch like this every weekend

It’s been no secret the Rice starting pitching is the strength of this team. When all three of the Owls’ rotation are locked in this team is going to have a chance to win most series. Aside from the sloppy defense on Saturday, the starting pitching was nearly as good as it’s been all season this weekend against Middle Tennessee, and the results were the first home series sweep of the Matt Bragga era.

Canterino, Kravetz and Parthasarathy combined for 27 strikeouts with five walks, and one earned runs allowed. That’s a stellar line through 16.2 innings on the bump. More length out of their Sunday starter would have been ideal, but an extremely fresh bullpen gave coach Bragga a bit more leeway with how long he left Parthasarathy on the mound. If Rice pitches this well, they’ll have a chance to win each of their remaining CUSA series.

2. Cade Edwards

The Rice lineup has become more consistent as the season has gone on. Slowly but surely the top three became the top four. Somewhat quietly, Cade Edwards has entrenched himself as part of the glue which holds this offense together. Batting fifth throughout the weekend, Edwards picked up six hits, batting .600 in the series with the go-ahead home run on Friday and the game-tying sac fly on Saturday.

Edwards is riding a 7-game hitting streak. The Rice offense has scored five or more runs in five of those seven games, and Edwards has been in the thick of the action. Bragga likes what he’s seeing from the Owls’ second baseman, calling Edwards “a real solid hitter [who has] some really good bat speed and drives through the ball really well.”

3. Come and take it

Rice has officially passed the midway point of conference play. It’s been a bumpy ride, but after starting 0-5, Rice has won nine of their next 14, pulling themselves back to .500 in conference play. It’s no guarantee of future success, but it is a testament to a team willing to fight.

With four series remaining, Rice is in the thick of the pack in Conference USA. FAU leads the way at 14-4 with the Owls five games behind, tied for fifth. They entered the weekend tied for seventh, with tiebreakers putting them in ninth place.

Winning the conference is still mathematically possible, but even without an incredible late surge, Rice has enough season left to position themselves for the conference tournament in Biloxi.

Entering the weekend D1 Baseball projected Conference USA to be a two-bid league with league-leading FAU sitting in the First Five Out. Rice has a few signature wins (TCU, Baylor), but the chances of reaching the postseason with a sub-.500 overall record will be slim to none.

Rice is 18-23 right now, meaning the most likely avenue to postseason play is a CUSA Tournament win. That’s much easier to do as a three seed than an eight-seed. Coach Bragga says he’s aware of the numbers and the scenarios, but “at the end of the day, we have to go perform. If we perform, we’ll have an opportunity, if we don’t we won’t.”

ON DECK | vs Louisiana Tech (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball: Friday blowout not enough as Owls drop series to Charlotte

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Rice baseball followed up a Friday night offensive explosion with a pair of Saturday losses, ruining brief hopes of another road series win.

What could have been a reassuring weekend ended in frustration as Rice dropped another Saturday doubleheader after a Matt Canterino Friday night win. The loss drops the Owls’ record to 15-23 with the heart of conference play still ahead of them. Here’s how each game went and a few closing thoughts on another disappointing series.

FRIDAY | Rice 19 – Charlotte 4

Things couldn’t have gotten off to much of a better start for Rice in the series opener. After both teams were held scoreless in the first inning, Rice exploded for 10 runs in the second on two grand slams, the first from Justin Collins and the next by Andrew Dunlap.

Staked to a more than comfortable lead, Matt Canterino maneuvered through six innings before turning things over to Dalton Wood and Drake Greenwood. It wasn’t the sharpest Canterino has been this season (two strikeouts, one walk, and four earned runs), but it was more than enough for his third straight win.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON | Charlotte 6 – Rice 5

The first end of the double header was headlined by the pitching staffs. Evan Kravetz got the start for the Owls and threw seven innings, allowing one earned run and striking out eight. Charlotte fought back, taking a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

Rice would recapture the lead in the eighth on a Cade Edwards triple, eventually setting the Owls up with a 5-4 advantage entering the ninth inning. Things start out innocently enough with a ground out to third base. Charlotte would then load the bases, and then, with two outs, the 49ers came through with a game-winning walk-off single up the middle.

SATURDAY NIGHT| Charlotte 4 – Rice 0

Jackson Parthasarathy did enough on the mound in the series finale to give his team a chance to win. The Owls’ last piece in the starting rotation threw 5.1 innings, striking out 11 batters and allowing three earned runs, one each in the first, fourth and sixth innings. That first run would prove to be the game-winner, though, as Rice was shut out on three hits a little more than 24 hours removed from a 19-run shellacking of this same squad on Friday night.

Rice had their chance to spark a rally in the ninth, getting their first two base runners on with no outs. Two strikeouts and a groundout would extinguish the threat and end the series in favor of the home team.

TAKEAWAYS | Charlotte wins series 2-1

1. Are the double-headers too much?

The Rice offense has come prepared for their last two series openers. The Owls scored eight against FIU on Friday night and followed it up with 19 in the opener against Charlotte. Matt Canterino pitched both of those games, and although he wasn’t perfect, he was more than effective enough to give Rice plenty of cushion on the scoreboard.

Then the doubleheaders happened. Rice scored nine in two Saturday against FIU, one more than their Friday night tally. The Owls were held to five one day after their 19-run outburst against Charlotte. As the series have drawn on, the focus at the plate has waned. It didn’t even seem like the same team that showed up to the ballpark on Friday and Saturday.

2. Not good enough to be unlucky

Rice was one out away from winning this series. Then a single in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader evaporated what could have been a 2-0 series lead. Even with a loss in the finale, a 2-1 finish would have lifted Rice to .500 in conference play. Instead, they sit at 6-8.

Three errors by Rice gave Charlotte the chance for a game-winning hit on Saturday afternoon. Then Charlotte first baseman Dominick Cammarata punched ball up the middle. A little bit further to either side and it’s an out, but Cammarata’s ball found the hole and Charlotte won.

Right now, Rice needs a little bit of luck. They haven’t been consistent enough to overcome bad bounces. Mistakes are magnified when the margin for error is thin. This time, it cost Rice the series.

3. This team needs Evan Kravetz and Jackson Parthasarathy more than ever

Rice has lost both the final two games of each of the last two series, but it hasn’t been due to a lack of capable pitching. Kravetz had one poor outing, allowing six runs through 4.2 innings, but the Owls would still go on to score seven in a losing effort. The rest have all been strong starts which went unrewarded.

Canterino and Addison Moss were billed as the Owls’ 1-2 all offseason. Injuries have largely kept Moss out of the rotation, but Kravetz and Parthasarathy have more than answered the call. When they’re on the mound Rice typically has a chance to win. Otherwise, Rice could have been trailing 9-0 on Sunday instead of 4-0. If those two had been worse, Rice would be starting at a sub-.500 CUSA record with little to no reason for hope.

Rice can pitch, and pitch with the best of them. It’s going to make more than that alone to climb back to the upper half of the conference standings, but it’s one thing Rice does have going for them.

ON DECK | vs Middle Tennessee (Thus-Sat)

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Rice Baseball: Owls flying high with road sweep vs Old Dominion

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It’s been a season of streaks, both good and bad, for Rice baseball. A road series sweep of Old Dominion has the Owls on the upswing.

The back and forth swings of the 2019 Rice baseball season hit a high note in Virginia. After winning their first conference game on Sunday against UTSA, Rice extended their CUSA winning streak to four games in a row with a three game sweep of Old Dominion.

The strong weekend boosts the Owls’ record to 12-18 (4-5 CUSA). While it wasn’t quite a “must win” series, the impact from the impressive showing will have repercussions in the days to come. Here are how each game finished and three final takeaways from one of the Owl’s best weekends of the season.

FRIDAY | Rice 3 – Old Dominion 1

Despite a 1-4 record entering the series, Rice ace Matt Canterino has been steady. Ufnoratunetly for him, one bad inning had spoiled his last few starts as the offense behind him sputtered. He only got three runs of support on Friday night, but Canterino was so locked in that would prove to be more than enough.

Canterino’s only run allowed came by way of a wild pitch in the fifth inning, an inning in which he recorded three of his season-high 12 strikeouts. The run could only even the score — Bradley Gneiting had opened up a 1-0 edge in the top half of the inning with an RBI single.

Rice would tack on two additional runs in the seventh and eighth innings on solo home runs to left field by Braden Comeaux and Justin Collins, respectively. Kendal Jeffries would relieve Canterino after six innings and silence Old Dominion for the remainder of the game, allowing one hit and zero runs as he faced the minimum to earn his third save of the year.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON | Rice 14 – Old Dominion 10

Both offenses came out swinging following the pitcher’s duel on Friday night. Neither starting pitcher made it past the third inning. Tommy Gertner recorded five outs and was charged with five runs after hitting four batters, walking two and allowing five hits. Rice starter Addison Moss was equally ineffective, allowing seven runs while walking three in 2+ innings of work.

Fortunately for the Owls, they had proven starter Jackson Parthasarathy waiting in the pen. He came on in the third and closed out the game, throwing seven innings of three-run ball. Old Dominion wasn’t nearly as fortunate. The Monarchs turned to six pitchers on the day, none of which lasted at least three innings. All but one, Trey Fisher who got the last two outs in the ninth, allowed fewer than two hits and one run.

Outfielder Dominic Cox led the way with seven RBI on three extra base hits, highlighted by his first home run on the season. Andrew Dunlap blasted two home runs of his own driving in four. Every player in the Owls’ lineup reached base at least once and the team totaled just seven strikeouts, tied for the fewest in conference play.

SATURDAY NIGHT| Rice 11 – Old Dominion 2

Bumped up from the previously scheduled Sunday start, Rice picked up where they left off in the earlier game, blasting past Old Dominion in the series finale to sweep the series. Evan Kravetz had arguably the best outing of his career, allowing three hits and two runs in eight innings of work against an Old Dominion lineup which had scored 10 runs against Rice only a few hours before he took the mound.

Kravetz allowed a single in the first before holding the Monarchs without a hit from the second to the sixth inning. Old Dominion scored twice on a pair of sacrifice flies in the seventh, but an 8-0 Rice advantage made the damage seem paltry in comparison.

As Kravetz dealt on the mound, Rice pounded out 16 hits, the most against any conference opponent yet this season. Dunlap hit his third home run of the day, extenind a 1-0 Rice lead to a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Collins would follow with another home run. The five-run margin proved to be more than enough, but Rice would tack on three runs in the seventh and ninth innings for good measure.

TAKEAWAYS | Rice wins series 3-0

1. The offense actually looks balanced

At the beginning of the season it felt like it was Trei Cruz against the world. The talented shortstop carries a big stick, but he’s since fallen down in the stat sheet following his hot start. Four every day starters are hitting .300 or better — that doesn’t include Cruz or Collins behind the plate. Nor does it count red-hot Dominic Cox.

The first seven batters Rice started in the last game of the series on Saturday were hitting .286 or better. Rice scored 11 runs. It’s not rocket science, but seven strong hitters typically leads to more productive offenses than weak lineups with one big-time slugger. That was where the Owls found themselves early on as Cruz flirted with a ,400 average. Now, they’re fairly even keeled with players emerging from all over the roster to make big hits.

This offense is more than just Trei Cruz right now. And perhaps not so coincidentally, the production increased exponentially.

2. More often that not, the rotation is going to be enough

Matt Canterino only went six innings, but he struck out 12. In quick relief of Addison Moss, Jackson Parthasarathy went seven innings on Saturday before Evan Kravetz slammed the door in the final game to secure the sweep. As a unit, it was a pretty good weekend, especially when you consider how much Rice needed to win to a weekend series.

If Rice can get close to that level of effectiveness each weekend in conference play they’ll be a threat to take down all comers. That’s especially true considering the masterful work of the Rice bullpen over the weekend. The three relievers utilized by coach Matt Bragg over the weekend  — Jeffries, Parthasarathy and Gayle —  allowed three runs on nine hits in 11 innings.

3. Resiliency

It’s been a season of streaks. After opening with a series win over Rhode Island, Rice looked out of touch in losses to Arizona and Texas as well as weekend series dropped to UC Irvine and Oklahoma. They righted that ship with a huge weekend at the Shriner’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

Then things went south again. Rice dropped their first five conference games and looked bad doing it. There were questions about whether or not this team could do enough to earn a postseason berth, something which has been the expected outcome of season at Rice for some time. Sitting in another low spot, Rice rallied again.

Baseball is an intensive character to test. Players on all teams learn a lot about themselves during the strains of tough stretches on the plate or at the ound. It takes intestinal fortitude, guts, to weather the storm and keep fighting. Whether or not they’ll reach the postseason or not remains to be seen, but this team continues to prove they’re going to battle. That’s a good sign.

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

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Rice Baseball: Sunday comeback averts home sweep vs UTSA

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Rice baseball salvaged a tough weekend series against UTSA with a come from behind win on Sunday, their first victory when their opponent scored first this season.

It was another up and down weekend for Rice baseball as the Owls dropped the first two games against UTSA before rallying for a Sunday victory. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Owls and an 0-5 start in conference play. Here’s a wrap up on each of the three games and some closing thoughts on the Owls’ second CUSA series.

FRIDAY | UTSA 4 – Rice 2

Rice ace Matt Canterino put together a career-long outing in the series opener on Friday, throwing 8 2/3rds innings before being relieved in the ninth by Kendall Jeffries for one final out. As was the case in his outing against FAU, Canterino was sharp for the duration, save for one crooked number which would prove to be the decider.

Canterino retired the first 10 batters he faced, hurtling through his start until the seventh inning where two triples, a single and a wild pitch put his team behind 3-0. Rice would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame, leaving the tying run on third after a triple of their own.

UTSA would tack on an insurance run on a two-out double in the ninth, leaving Rice one more chance to even the score. With two men on in the ninth, Cade Edwards struck out to end the game.

SATURDAY | UTSA 9 – Rice 3

Jackson Parthasarathy, bumped up from his typical Sunday slot in the starting rotation, lasted two innings in the second game of this series. He was ticketed for four earned runs on five hits before being replaced by Addison Moss out of the bullpen in what felt like a crucial game for Rice tow in.

Not only was Moss unable to stop the bleeding, he had his second consecutive poor outing, allowing four earned runs on five hits, walking two. Trailing 8-0 entering the bottom of the fourth, Rice was unable to get enough big hits to make a meaningful dent in the sizable deficit.

Andrew Dunlap and Dominic Cox each picked up two hits and scored all three of the Owls’ runs on the afternoon. The bullpen combination of Blair Lewis and Dalton Wood held the Roadrunners scoreless over the final four innings, but it proved to be too little too late.

SUNDAY | Rice 8 – UTSA 3

Rice entered the final game of the series in desperate need of a victory to stop a seven-game skid. Evan Kravetz held his own early, but trouble in the third allowed UTSA to strike first. At that point, Rice was 0-14 when their opponents scored the first run.

Sensing the need to right the ship, Rice flipped the script in the bottom half of the inning. Following an RBI single from Bradley Gneiting, the Owls took the lead on a drooping double from Cade Ewards which landed on the right side of the right field line, scoring two to give Rice a 3-1 lead. UTSA evened the score the following frame with a two-run homer to left field.

Momentum seemed to shift toward the Owls in the fifth. In the top half of the inning, Braden Comeaux gunned down the would-be go ahead run at the plate. In the bottom half, Cade Edwards punched a bullet into center field, scoring Andrew Dunlap to give Rice a 4-3 lead.

TAKEAWAYS | UTSA wins series 2-1

1. If the starting rotation stumbled, Rice is in trouble

The combination of Matt Canterino, Jackson Parthasarathy, Evan Kravetz and Addison Moss have been ticketed as the biggest assets this team has in 2019. Canterino has a future in the big leagues, while the others have each achieved legitimate collegiate successes.

The bullpen has been hit or miss. The lineup has struggled through injuries and been inconsistent when healthy. The starting rotation isn’t all this team has to turn things around, but it’s unquestionably the greatest weapon in the arsenal. But Canterino is losing ball games. Moss and Parthasarathy didn’t make it through three innings. Kravetz was marginally better on Sunday, throwing 4 1/3rd innings and allowing three runs.

Nobody else has emerged to help right the ship. Rice’s big guns need to step up. If the starting rotation doesn’t turn things around Rice is going to lose a lot more 4-2 games.

2. The lineup wasn’t deep … and then came the injuries

Dominic DiCaprio will miss the remainder of the season with recurring back injuries. A senior, it looks like DiCaprio has played his last games ever for the Blue and Gray. He ends his career with a .299 average, 173 hits and 85 RBI. DiCaprio hadn’t been the same since injuries spoiled his junior season, but his veteran presence in the lineup will be missed.

That alone would be a concern for a thin Rice lineup which is already coping with a string of injuries. Braden Comeaux returned to the lineup this weekend after missing a week with a back injury. Brandt Frazier eased back in last weekend against FAU after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Justin Collins didn’t miss extended time, but a midweek scare on a backswing against Texas State made all Rice fans hold their breath. Rice absolutely must stay healthy, particularly with one of their senior bats being put on the shelf.

3. Consistency is needed from Six – Seven – Eight – Nine

Health aside, Rice has been able to find relatively consistent production from their top half of the lineup. The Owls have five players hitting better than .300 on the season, but the rotation of outfielders and whomever draws the start at first base has been problematic.

Dominic Cox, who had four base hits on the season entering the UTSA series, had his best weekend yet with three hits from the bottom third of the order. Outside of his strong weekend, the bottom four spots in the lineup hit a meager 7-for-33 (.212) with nine strikeouts, salvaged by a big seventh inning on Sunday against multiple UTSA relievers.

The bottom third of most lineups in college baseball will punch below the level of the top third; there are only so many bats to go around.  Expecting a .400 hitter to emerge from the eight-hole isn’t realistic, but finding someone who can make contact consistently and put balls in play at a reasonable clip is doable. Rice has yet to find the combination which makes that happen.

ON DECK | at Texas State (Tues),  at Old Dominion (Fri-Sun)

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