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Lamar avenges midweek loss, splits season series with Rice Baseball

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A week removed from beating Lamar on the road, Rice Baseball fell to the Cardinal at Reckling Park, evening the season series with the nearby foe.

Injuries and bullpen preservation for the upcoming weekend series against FAU left Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr. with some tough decisions in the Owls’ second midweek game in two days. He opted to hand the ball to Tucker Alch, who had recently cemented himself as the Sunday man for the club. He went two innings against Lamar, falling behind 2-0 when he left the mound and forcing the team into comeback mode once again.

Rice got one run back in the bottom of the second, cashing in on a home run from Jack Riedel, his team-leading 14th blast of the season. That one-run deficit would persist for two more innings before Lamar roughed up Karl Ralamb and Reed Gallant to the tune of five runs in the fifth inning before Tyler Hamilton came in to extinguish the threat.

Last Time Out: Texas A&M bats too much for Rice Baseball in midweek tilt

The damage had been done, though. Trailing 7-1 Rice was able to chip away in the later innings but never truly come close to threatening to take the lead. The loss evens the season series with Lamar. The Owls took the first game a week ago in Beaumont.

What it means | Waiting for the weekend

The decision to throw Alch on Wednesday tentatively points towards the potential of a new Sunday starter. Perhaps Davion Hickson is given a chance to stretch out in a starting role? Or could Alch still be available as the pitching staff treats this as more of a midweek bullpen appearance? Either option could be viable at this point.

Regardless of which way that decision goes, it’s worth noting who did not throw at all this week. Hickson wasn’t used against Texas A&M or Lamar. Tom Vincent didn’t throw either. The same is true for Jackson Blank and Garrett Stratton. This has all the markings of an intentional decision by the coaching staff to save their bullets for the games that matter the most.

Getting the series win against FAU this weekend remains the top priority. It’s pretty clear by the decisions the Owls made on the mound they weren’t pulling out all the stops to win these midweek contests and that strategy was probably the best option available to them at this present moment. Now they’ve got to prove themselves right and pitch well this weekend.

ON DECK | vs FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball falls victim to big bats of Texas A&M

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Rice Baseball hung around for a while but couldn’t go the distance against the homerun-heavy Texas A&M offense, which blasted four longballs to down the Owls.

Texas A&M needed just one batter, leadoff man Gavin Grahovac, to take a lead over Rice baseball in their midweek tilt. Two batters later, the Aggies were leading 2-0, courtesy of a second solo home run in the opening inning. Rice hurler Mauricio Rodriguez commanded the ball fairly well from that point onward, striking out six in 3.2 innings, but several wild pitches and some miscues around him saw him leave the game trailing 6-1.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball salvages one at Charlotte

The Owls’ only score to that point was a solo blast from Manny Garza, who put one over the right field wall in the third inning. The lone run wouldn’t be nearly enough against the Aggie onslaught. Texas A&M added two more home runs in the fourth, part of a four-run frame charged to Jackson Mayo that ensured the home team would be in the driver’s seat.

The Aggies scored two more in the fifth before Rice stole a run back in the sixth. The dam finally broke in the sixth when the back end of the Owls’ bullpen walked in five straight runs. After a quiet seventh, the game was officially decided via a run-rule.

What it means | Not the same game

Texas A&M baseball entered Tuesday as the No. 3 team in the nation. They had been the top-ranked squad until dropping two games this weekend, the first time they’d been beaten twice in a row this year. They responded by run-ruling LSU in the series finale before moving on to the Owls, their final non-conference opponent of the regular season.

Thanks to their victory over Rice, Texas A&M will finish the season a perfect 25-0 in nonconference play. They’ve only lost eight games all season long. The Aggie faithful will be disappointed with this season if they’re not playing in Omaha in a month’s time.

To put it plainly, these are two teams on different strata of the sport with very different expectations and very different goals. Pulling off a midweek win over a team of this caliber would have been nice but nothing about the Owls’ current aspirations changes with Tuesday’s defeat. The Owls have to turn the page and move on quickly. Lamar comes to Reckling tomorrow and would love nothing more than to avenge last week’s result in Beaumont.

ON DECK | vs Lamar (Wed), vs FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball salvages series finale against Charlotte

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Rice Baseball dropped a Friday doubleheader but rallied to salvage the series finale on Sunday against Charlotte, avoiding a sweep.

FRIDAY (AM) | Charlotte 5 – Rice 4

It took Parker Smith a while to settle in on the road against the Charlotte bats. He labored through the first and second innings, giving up three runs, no thanks to the defense behind him. By the third inning, he was in a groove, battling through 6.1 innings and surrendering five runs, only three of which were earned.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball hangs on to beat Lamar

The suspect defensive showing — the Owls were officially saddled with two errors — wasn’t assuaged by offensive production. Rice scored one run apiece in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings, failing to convert in clutch situations and falling in a one-run game that could have gone quite differently.

FRIDAY (PM) | Charlotte 9 – Rice 3

Rice struck first in the second game of the Friday doubleheader, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, grabbing two runs from a bases-loaded, no-out situation. That would prove to be a crucial missed opportunity to do more damage when Owls’ starter JD McCracken failed to make it through the fourth inning, ceding to Jackson Blank with Rice trailing 4-2 in the fourth.

Blank and Tyler Hamilton would wade through the remainder of the game, combing to allow 11 hits and five runs. The offense was done, though. Rice managed just one more run for the remainder of the contest, an RBI single from Ben Dukes in the seventh.

SUNDAY | Rice 8 – Charlotte 5

Things started off sour for Rice baseball in the series finale. Starter Tucker Alch was lifted in the second inning after allowing four runs. Being forced to bring in Davion Hickson that early certainly wasn’t the plan, but he delivered five dazzling, scoreless innings anyway, striking out 10 of the 19 batters he faced. That respite allowed the Rice bats to get rolling.

More: Jose Cruz Jr. and the trajectory of Rice Baseball

Rice scored three in the fourth, two in the fifth, two more in the sixth and another in the seventh. All but two of those eight runs came via the long ball, of which the Owls had three on the day. Staked to an 8-4 advantage Tom Vincent finished the final 2.1 innings, securing the win.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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ON DECK | at Texas A&M (Tues), vs Lamar (Wed), vs FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball 2024: MLB Owls Update – May 2

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The 2024 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Tyler Duffey – Kansas City Royals

Duffey saw action in his second game since being called up this week, working 1.2 innings against the Blue Jays on Monday. He allowed two hits and one run while striking out two of the eight batters he faced.

Through May 2, Duffey has a 2.45 ERA with a 1.091 WHIP. He’s averaging 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers was called up at the end of April and wasted no time making his mark on the Marlins roster. He tripled in his first game and then hit a walk-off winner two days later. His family was in the stands for the big moment.

Through May 2, Myers is hitting .455 with one extra-base hit, three walks and two strikeouts. His OPS is 1.136 and he’s collected five RBI.

Injured List

J.T. Chargois – Miami Marlins

Chargois reportedly suffered a setback in his rehab from neck spasms this week. No timetable has been provided for his potential return to the roster.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon is expected to miss a lengthy amount of time after suffering a partial tear in his left hamstring in late April. There is no timetable for his return as of yet, a frustrating development after a red-hot end of the month prior to suffering the injury.

Through May 2, Rendon is hitting .267 with three extra-base hits, six walks and 15 strikeouts. His OPS is .632 and he’s collected three RBI.

Glenn Otto – San Diego Padres

Prior to the beginning of the season, Otto was placed on the 15-Day Injured List on March 19 with a right teres major strain.

Knocking on the Door

The following Owls began the season in AAA:

  • Matt Canterino – St Paul Saints (Twins)
  • Tyler Duffey – Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) *promoted
  • Jon Duplantier – Syracuse Mets (Mets)
  • Tristan Gray – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins)
  • Evan Kravetz – Louisville Bats (Reds)
  • Lucas Luetge – Worcester Red Sox (Red Sox)
  • Dane Myers – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) *promoted
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Rice Baseball hangs on to beat Lamar on the road

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Rice Baseball struck early and executed down the stretch to take down a 34-win Lamar squad on the road.

Rice baseball continued its recent them of strong starts, jumping on top of the hosting Lamar Cardinals with a 4-run second inning on Wednesday night. Kyle McDonald got the first run across in his return to the lineup after battling injuries, scoring Jack Riedel on a sacrifice fly. Tobias Motley and Jacob Devenny added RBI hits of their own in the inning. Pierce Gallo tacked on one more run in the third.

Staked to a 5-0 lead, Rice pitching was tasked with fulfilling their end of the bargain. Karl Ralamb drew the start, but quickly ceded the mound to Mauricio Rodriguez in what would become a true bullpen game. No Rice pitcher worked more than 1.2 innings.

Rodriguez, Jackson Mayo and Mark Perkins were each charged with two runs apiece, but by the time Perkins was charged with his second run and Reed Gallant had entered the game, the Owls had built enough of a cushion to weather a few missteps from the back end of the bullpen.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball tops AAC-leading UTSA in best of three

Leading 8-6 after six innings, head coach Jose Cruz Jr. turned the ball over to his most trusted options. Jackson Blank, Tom Vincent and Davion Hickson finished the game, allowing no more runs and securing the win.

What it means | Just keep winning

Lamar is a good baseball team and, by record, a better baseball team than Rice baseball has proven itself to be to this point, at least on paper. But Rice hasn’t been playing like the team that got off to such a slow start, quite the contrary. This version of the Owls looks as good as it has ever looked under Cruz. Winning games like this further solidifies that notion.

Rice has won nine of their last 11 including back-to-back midweek contests against Lamar and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. They’ve got a tough road ahead of them, including a rematch with Lamar next week and a trip to play at No. 1 Texas A&M. But the more wins they can stack along the way, the better.

ON DECK | at Charlotte (Fri-Sun)

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