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Rice baseball wins first C-USA series, 2-1 over Marshall

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Rice Baseball took their first weekend series of the season, winning the opening two games against Marshall on the Owls’ first C-USA road trip.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball wins series 2-1

A one-run defeat on Sunday must not be allowed to sully what was an impactful first Conference USA series win for Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr. and his team. The Owls held nothing back, pressing every button they could to ensure they didn’t fly back to Texas defeated.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball falls to Texas A&M in marathon game

The pair of wins gives Rice five victories in their last nine games. As modest as that may seem, playing .500 baseball following a 2-9 start represents a significant step-change in the trajectory of this program.  But first, a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Finding the few

As Cruz Jr. mentioned earlier this week, finding a core group of pitchers he could trust in key situations was one of the Owls’ most pressing priorities. The picture might not be crystal clear right now, but things look much better after this weekend than they have at any other point this year.

On Friday, Rice was able to use one reliever (David Shaw) in between a quality outing from starter Cooper Chandler and a shutdown performance from closer Matthew Linskey. Getting one inning from Parker Smith on Saturday wasn’t the plan, but nice relief outings from Roel Garcia, Tom Vincent and Garret Zaskoda turned things around for the Owls before the day was through.

Vincent and Shaw reprised their performances was good Sunday appearances as well. At a minimum, it appears Chandler, Smith, and Garcia are reliable starting options, with DeLeon quality depth and a viable Sunday guy. Shaw, Vincent, Zaskoda and Linskey have also done enough to be trusted. Rice will still need a few more guys to enter that important circle of trust, but the foundation has clearly been laid.

2. Sharing the success at the plate

Early on in the season, the vast majority of the offensive production seemed to be coming from the contingent in the middle of the order. That group was typically comprised of Guy Garibay, Austin Bulman and Aaron Smigelski. That core has grown to include the red-hot Nathan Becker in recent weeks, but it’s been the productivity from top to bottom of the lineup that has been the most encouraging.

Piere Gallo, who has hit in the bottom third of the lineup for most of the season, is fourth on the team with 15 RBI. He has 11 RBI in his last eight games. And he’d have more if he hit even a few spots higher. Johnny Hoyle had big hits this weekend. So did Connor Walsh. It’s starting to feel like someone new is contributing every other night and the offensive production is reflecting that.

3. Weekend win

For the first time this season, Rice baseball has won a weekend series. The ascent has been slow. Things started out rocky. But Rice does appear to be rounding into form at the right time. Errors are down (just four total on the weekend). Runs are trending up (Rice outscored Marshall 17 – 12) and the pitching is becoming more well-rounded and reliable. Opponents are putting up fewer crooked numbers.

Part of that is the break from playing teams like Texas and Texas Tech in three-game series. That certainly plays a factor. But just watching the team that took the field this weekend makes it abundantly clear that something has changed, they’ve grown. They’re gotten better. And that makes what comes next all the more intriguing.

More: Rice Baseball Midseason State of the Program

Cruz Jr. was intent not to “promise the moon” upon his arrival. A few good weekends of baseball should be cause for anyone to offer major course corrections when it comes to those expectations. But it’s clear that should Rice string a few more positive weekends together, they’ll officially be a competitive team that has the ability to go toe-to-toe with anyone in their conference.

If the Owls can do that, they’ll have done more than enough to earn a passing grade for Cruz Jr,’s first campaign. From there, the limits aren’t predetermined. This team still has the potential to be as good as it believes it can be.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Rice 7 – Marshall 2

Pierce Gallo put Rice baseball out in front in the top of the second inning with a solo shot down the right field line. Austin Bulman followed in the third with a home run of his own with the Owls tacking on one more to take a 3-0 lead. Marshall would tally two runs on solo shots of their own in the bottom of the third, but that would be all they were able to do against Rice pitching that afternoon.

Rice starter Cooper Chandler breezed through six innings, allowing just those two earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts. He gave way to David Shaw and eventually Matthew Linskey who stifled the Marshall bats while the Rice offense tacked on additional insurance runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth, winning by the final score of 7-2.

SATURDAY | Rice 6 – Marshall 5

Things started out poorly for Rice baseball in the middle game of the series. The Owls committed two errors in the first inning and fell behind 4-1. Starter Parker Smith would last just one inning as the Owls’ were hurled into comeback mode. Marshall added another run in the second, stretching their lead to 5-1 before Rice would mount a counteroffensive.

The Owls sent six men to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring three times, the final two runs coming from an RBI double from Austin Bulman. That put Rice back within reach, trailing 5-4. Roel Garcia delivered a masterful three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, keeping things tight before Guy Garibay and Nathan Becker could tack on RBIs in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively to give Rice a 6-5 win.

SUNDAY | Marshall 5 – Rice 4

Marshall scored first for the first time in the weekend, jumping out in front of Rice 3-0 as Alex DeLeon battled through 4.1 contested innings. He would leave after 4.1 innings, charged with four runs, the same total as the Owls’ hard scored in his defense. Rice scored all of their runs in the fourth and fifth innings, leveling the game at 4-4 before both teams went quiet for several at bats.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

It was Marshall that broke the quiet, delivering an RBI double against Thomas Burbank in the eighth to steal the game and avert the series sweep.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Wed), vs FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Rice baseball pushes UAB to the wire, but drops first C-USA series 2-1

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Rice Baseball pushed UAB to the brink in a decisive rubber match but missed the chance of their first series win by the slimmest of margins.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 2-1

If two blowout victories in midweek games wasn’t a clear enough indication, a hard-fought opening weekend to conference play served as further proof this Rice baseball squad has turned the corner. Who knows what was said following a 10-1 Friday night shellacking at the hands of Texas Tech, but ever since, this has been a different ball club.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball blasts SFA and Sam Houston in midweek wins

Rice baseball won their first Friday night contest of the season and leaves the weekend feeling like they ought to have won the series. That’s tremendous progress for a team that was struggling to win singular games of any sort a few weeks ago.

“There’s something here,” Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr. said after the series. “We’re working it.”

Texas A&M comes to town on Tuesday after taking a weekend series from a ranked LSU squad, promising to challenge the Owls even further. But before we turn the page, a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. The bats are back in town

Following last a sweep at the hands of Texas Tech, Rice baseball was averaging 3.5 runs per game. There had really only been three solid performances at the plate through 18 games — An eight-run Sunday against Lamar, a seven-run midweek outing against Houston and nine runs in the series finale against Harvard. Every other outing was unremarkable, at best.

When things clicked, the Owls’ offense exploded. Beginning with a 19-run outburst against SFA on Tuesday, Rice would score 13 against Sam Houston on Wednesday and tallies of eight, six and eight runs against UAB. Rice baseball averaged a whopping 10.8 runs per game in those five contests.

This is lightyears ahead of anything the Owls have put forth at the plate so far this season and it’s risen from a collective step-change across the breadth of the lineup. If Rice can hit like this, they’re going to continue winning games.

2. Secret weapon Matthew Linskey

Perhaps no player on the entire Rice baseball roster has elevated their game to the same degree as closer Matthew Linskey. The sophomore hurler appeared in 10 contests last season and finished with a 7.15 ERA. He had 12 strikeouts and 14 walks in 11.1 innings. He had some good outings, but he wasn’t anywhere near the shut-down pitcher he’s become this season.

“I think he understands his body,” Cruz Jr. said. “There’s been a few adjustments made on his mechanics and he’s really become a force for us, which is great for us.”

So far in 2022, Linskey has already worked a stretch in which he retired 14 out of 16 batters with strikeouts. Entering the season, he had never retired the side with three-straight K’s in his career. He’s done that twice already this season and accrued three strikeouts in exactly 1.0 inning of work on four separate occasions.

3. Playing better baseball

It hasn’t always been a masterclass in how baseball should be played, but the simple face of the matter is this: Rice baseball has won three of five — and they nearly walked it off on Sunday — after sputtering to a 5-13 start to the regular season. And beyond the final box scores, the Owls simply looked like a different team this week.

Cruz Jr admitted dropping the series was disappointing, but he seemed cognizant of the overarching growth saying that he thinks the Owls are finally “finding their groove when it comes to the lineup, the roles and rhythm. Which is great.”

There’s more to work on. The Rice pitching staff looked vulnerable on too many occasions this weekend, giving up 17 hits in the Sunday finale. Even though they won it, the Rice defense still compiled another five-error game, their third of the season. Those need to be cleaned up, but the Owls have something solid to build on.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Rice 8 – UAB 7

There was nothing conventional about the opening game of the series which started as a pitcher’s duel and ended as a slugfest. Cooper Chandler put up zeroes on the mound for the Owls through six innings, collecting seven strikeouts in what was undoubtedly his best outing in a Rice baseball uniform.

Rice took the lead early via three home runs, one from Austin Bulman and two from Aaron Smigelski. Up 4-0, Rice surrendered six runs to the Blazers in the top of the sixth before punching back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.

With Rice leading 8-7, closer Matthew Linskey would enter with one out in the top of the eighth and work a five-out save to notch the Owls’ first Friday night win of the season.

SATURDAY | UAB 10 – Rice 6

There were moments when it felt like Saturday’s game would be a mere reprisal of the Friday night affair. UAB put up the first crooked number of the day in the third inning, scoring three to break a scoreless start by both sides. Rice took the lead with a four-run fourth, riding a series of RBI singles and one sac fly to pull ahead.

Unlike Friday, though, Rice didn’t have enough in the tank on the mound or the plate to hold that advantage. UAB ripped the lead right back in the fifth and extended their advantage to 10-6 in the eighth, roughing up Brandon Deskins and Reed Gallant in the process. UAB would hold on to win by that score

SUNDAY | UAB 9 – Rice 8

The theme of unraveling pitching staffs and crooked numbers continued into the rubber game of the series. Both teams swapped single runs in the first inning. UAB would take a brief 2-1 lead heading into the fifth before expanding that edge to 6-1 as they drove Rice starter Parker Smith from the ballgame.

Down, but not defeated, Rice answered with a four-spot in the seventh inning, aided by the fourth home run from Smigelski on the weekend. The two sides would trade runs in the next two innings and UAB’s skipper would get tossed. It would finally come down to a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the ninth. Rice needed three runs to win or two to tie. They got one, falling 9-8.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Texas A&M (Tues), at Marshall (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball drops first Silver Glove matchup vs Houston

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Shaky defense soured a productive evening for the Rice baseball offense as the Owls fell to Houston in Game 1 of the Silver Glove Series.

The recent string of strange, painful games accumulated by Rice baseball this season continued on Tuesday night. Amidst a backdrop of errors and missed opportunities, Parker Smith delivered a strong performance, eventually be saddled with five runs, although only three were earned.

The drama began on what should have been a routine fly-ball hit to left fielder Jack Ben-Shoshan in the first inning. Instead of out number two, the ball bounced off his glove and put two runners in scoring position. Both would come in to score, spotting the visiting Cougars to a 2-0 lead.

Last Time Out : Takeaways from Rice Baseball 3-1 series loss to Harvard

Rice would leave the bases loaded in the second before loading them once more in the third inning, despite not tallying any hits. Aaron Smigelski would take care of that evasive base knock, delivering a two-run double to spot Rice to a 3-2 lead. That advantage would last mere minutes before Houston found the equalizer in the fourth when a would-be base stealer would score from second on a pair of errors.

Soon after, Rice found themselves trailing 5-3 and began to chip away. Rice scored would engineer runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, tying things up with Houston 6-6 after the Owls allowed another unearned run following another outfield mishap.

On the mound, Garrett Zaskoda was extremely effective after taking the reigns from Cooper Chandler in his first relief appearance of the season. Zaskoda tied a career-high with four strikeouts, giving the team a fighting chance in the middle innings which they’d hold until an RBI double scored the winning runs against Zaskoda’s replacement, Brandon Deskins, in the eighth.

What they’re saying | Fix the fielding

Head coach Jose Cruz Jr. was quick to praise the strong outings on the mound, giving nods to several individuals including Chandler, who essentially threw his midweek bullpen session in the game. The critical comments came when addressing the fielding woes. “I don’t know how you can possibly have five errors and win a game,” he said. “That’s just something that we’re going to have to fix. The amount of errors we’ve had in so many games is just unacceptable.”

Cruz Jr. went as far as to say he’d consider moving players to the bench if they couldn’t hold on to the baseball. At this point, everything is on the table as he and the rest of the coaching staff work to assemble the best starting lineup to win games.

“We had three errors in the outfield today and that’s crazy town. I mean, that doesn’t happen,” Cruz Jr. said. Indeed, it hasn’t happened for Rice baseball since an eight error game against Arizona in 2019, spread across a host of different position players.

What it means | Offense waking up?

Seven runs against anyone is a particularly important milestone for a team that’s struggled at the plate early this season. Tuesday was proof the Owls can get the bats going. Now they just need to do it consistently.

They might start working on a bust of Aaron Smigeliski to keep in the Rice baseball dugout. After pinch hits in his first two appearances of the season, Smigelski earned his spot in the regular lineup where he stayed until being hit by a pitch in the Sunday finale against Lamar. That injury kept him out of the lineup against Baylor and through the weekend series against Harvard.

He made his return to the order on Tuesday, walking in his first plate appearance to earn an eight-game on-base streak. He one-upped that accolade in his second plate appearance, blasting a double to the alley in right-center, turning a 2-1 Rice deficit into a 3-2 Rice lead. It was the Owls’ only hit of the first three innings, but it was the biggest. He also added a productive out to advance a runner in the seventh.

At a time when the bats around him were struggling, Smigelski made every trip to the plate count, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. In all seriousness, it’ll take more than a good couple of weeks to earn some tangible hardware. But in a season filled with lows for Rice baseball, Smigelski has been a bright light.

Jack Riedel also earned a mention. Despite not starting the game and coming in as a defensive replacement in the fourth inning he finished a triple short of the cycle, mashing his first career home run along the way.

ON DECK | Texas Tech

The extended Rice baseball homestand marches on this coming weekend with a three-game set against Texas Tech. First pitch for Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. The series will be the Owls’ final non-conference weekend slate before opening up conference play the following weekend against UAB.

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Sloppy performance doors Rice Baseball against Baylor in midweek tilt

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Rice baseball couldn’t hold on to the ball in a sloppy midweek loss to Baylor, committing four errors for the first time since the 2020 season.

The starting rotation had been an adventure for Rice baseball in the early outings of the 2022 season. Parker Smith, the Owls’ midweek starter, had delivered the unquestionably best appearance to date when he pitched six scoreless innings in a win against Houston Baptist last Tuesday. He got off to a solid start against Baylor this week, but left the game in the fifth with his team trailing 5-0.

Although he’ll be credited with the loss in the box score, he’s only going to be charged with one earned run. That’s because Rice committed four errors in the contest, fumbling away any chance of toppling an in-state on a beautiful evening at Reckling Park. A leaping grab by Justin Dunlap might have been the only bright spot.

The first blow came in the second inning. Following a strikeout and a single, the third batter ripped a ball down the right field line to Guy Garibay. It was fielded cleanly and relayed into the infield where it was mishandled and allowed to roll all the way to the left field wall. One run scored. Smith worked out of the rest of the frame without further damage.

Last Time Out : Takeaways from Rice Baseball 2-1 series loss to Lamar

Both teams swapped zeroes in the third and fourth innings before disaster struck in the fifth. What should have been a one-out lineout to Justin Dunlap bounced off his glove to the fence, putting runners on second and third. What should have been a routine groundout on the following play allowed both runs to score when the ball ricocheted off the glove of Austin Bulman into the outfield.

The next Baylor batter deposited the ball over the left field fence. 5-0. And every single run could be traced back to a booted ball or an off-target throw. Baylor would tack on three more run, two via wild pitches, before the final out. Rice mistakes were the overarching theme of the evening.

What it means

The four errors are the most committed by any Rice baseball team in a single game since March 3, 2020 against Louisiana. They’d only had a pair of three-error games since the 2020 season began, one of which came last week against Houston Baptist. In fact, Rice committed at least one error in every game this season. They’ve played eight.

There were always going to be bumps and bruises as the Owls learned to fly under a new head coach. But several of the players that have committed these infractions are seasoned baseball players who haven’t forgotten how to play. Whatever the reason, the problem has to be addressed. Rice is beating themselves just as much as other teams are winning through pure ability and talent.

ON DECK | Lamar

Rice baseball is in the midst of a 17-game homestand which continues on Friday when Harvard comes to town. The Owls will play a four-game set with the Crimson, including a Saturday doubleheader.

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Rice Baseball 2022: Owls top HBU for first win of Cruz Jr. era

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Rice baseball picked up the first win of the Jose Cruz Jr. era, beating Houston Baptist and former Rice great Lance Berkman.

Opening weekend wasn’t the grand entrance many Rice baseball fans had been hoping for with new head coach Jose Cruz Jr. in the dugout. The Owls were swept, gave up 36 runs and only scored three of their own. Reasons for optimism were in dire need. They found several in a midweek win over Houston Baptist.

Although the narrative surrounding the game centered on a battle of coaches — Cruz and Houston Baptist headman Lance Berkman were once roommates at Rice — the game itself was vigorous. Rice jumped out in front when two runs scored on an HBU error in the first inning.

Rice added to their advantage the following inning on a sac fly by Austin Bulman and once more on a fourth-inning RBI double by Antonio Cruz. Leading 4-0, Rice pitcher Parker Smith had all the breathing room he needed.

Last Time Out : Takeaways from Rice Baseball swept by Texas, 3-0

“I was just trying to throw strikes,” Smith said once he’d wrapped up six innings of scoreless baseball, striking out four without issuing any walks. Other than a hit batsman, the pitching performance was almost a full 180-degree turn from how the Owls fared last weekend.

Things were quiet on the scoreboard until Smith left the game. Following two runs from the Owls in the top half of the seventh, the Huskies would muster their first run in the bottom of the frame. They’d get one more in the eighth before falling to the Owls by a final score of 6-2.

What it means

The talent differential between Rice baseball and Houston Baptist is supposed to be fairly sizable. Rice should win this game more often than they don’t, but learning how to win is something that holds material weight in the baseball world of superstitions and processes. Rice got the monkey off their back before it turned into a gorilla. 1-3 isn’t great, but it’s a lot better than 0-4.

“I’m so excited we finally won a game,” Cruz Jr. said in relief. “The boys have been hungry for it, they’ve been working hard. So I’m happy to get that out of the way.”

ON DECK | Lamar

Rice baseball kicks off a 17-game homestand on Friday, beginning with a three-game series against Lamar. That set is part of a 34-game home schedule, the most regular-season games every play at Reckling Park following it’s opening in 2000.

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