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Rice Baseball falls to UH in 21-pitcher midweek nail-biter

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Rice baseball and Houston each emptied their respective bullpens on Wednesday night, but the Cougars’ staff lasted one inning longer.

Things couldn’t have gotten off to much more of an inauspicious start for Rice baseball on Wednesday night against Houston. A leadoff single was followed by another single, neither struck particularly hard. Back-to-back walks put Rice in a 1-0 hole before Guy Garibay’s diving snag turned the tide and kept Rice in the game.

Rice would then fight back from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits to tie the game. A smattering of relievers combined to hold the Houston offense at bay, with two of the Cougars’ first five runs scored on wild pitches with two outs remaining in the inning.

Mark Perkins came on in relief shortly afterward and kept the Cougars’ run total at five, giving the Rice offense a chance. The Owls squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the eighth but cashed it in during the ninth, forcing extra innings.

Ultimately it was Tom Vincent who got his bell rung in the 12th, ceding three runs before ceding the mound to Garet Zaskoda, the 20th pitcher of the game — Houston would throw No. 21 in the bottom of the inning — as the game ticked past the four-hour mark. Houston went on to win, clinching the Silver Glove series victory.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball suffers heartbreaking sweep vs DBU

“It stinks to be on the losing end of a game like this. We were very competitive, it just seems like there’s there’s one thing that happens, or two things, four things today that happened that makes life difficult for us and we end up having to talk about not winning again. It’s getting annoying,” head coach Jose Cruz Jr. said.

“I mean, I know we’re close. [We’ll] just keep showing up, keep grinding, keep game planning like we are and just have faith that things are going to turn around.”

Cruz singled out the wild pitches, errors and missed RBI opportunities as key moments that turned the course of the game.

The Owls won’t have much time to lick their wounds. They hit the road tomorrow for a three-game tilt with UTSA before returning home where they’ll face Houston again in one of two midweek games.

ON DECK | at UTSA (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball 2023: MLB Owls update – May 2

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The 2023 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.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

The past week was a productive one for Anthony Rendon, who slashed .316/.435/.803 across the five-game stretch, all marks that raised his season-long statistics. He recorded a pair of multi-hit games against the Athletics, one of which included his third double of the season.

Through May 2, Rendon is hitting .250 with three extra-base hits, 14 walks and 11 strikeouts. His OPS is .665 and he’s collected 13 RBI.

Injured List

Lucas Luetge – Atlanta Braves

On April 17, the Braves placed Lucas Luetge on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 14, with what they termed left bicep inflammation. He hasn’t appeared in a game for the team since April 12. He underwent an MRI which came back clean.

Through May 2, Luetge has an 8.10 ERA with a 1.800 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Miami Marlins

Chargois has been sidelined since April 10 with a right oblique strain. He resumed long toss activities last week and through a 25-pitch bullpen outing this week, further progressing toward a return.

Through May 2, Chargois has a 0.00 ERA with a 0.000 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Glenn Otto – Texas Rangers

Otto did not appear on the Rangers Opening Day roster despite making 27 starts for the club last season. Instead, he began the year on the injured list, landing on the 60-day IL on March 30 with a right shoulder strain. He will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.

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“It Killed Us”: Rice Baseball swept in heartbreaking fashion by DBU

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Rice Baseball took Dallas Baptist to the wire three times but came away winless. More on a tough weekend at Reckling for the Owls.

Rice baseball had their chances to win this series, but fell short. I asked head coach Jose Cruz Jr. for his take on the frustrating weekend and left it unlocked for all to read.

“It killed us”

“This hurts because we’re playing good. We’re desperate for wins. And we’re playing good enough to win, we’re just not getting the end result which stinks,” head coach Jose Cruz Jr. said. “If you tell me that we’re going into the ninth inning with a two-run lead, I’ll take it all day. For whatever reason, it just hasn’t gone our way here of late.”

Rice baseball knew what it was up against when Dallas Baptist came to town this weekend. Even without the impressive 14-game winning streak, which was snapped on Tuesday by TCU, Rice was going to be up against it facing one of the most complete teams in Conference USA and the No. 19 ranked team in the nation.

To win, Rice was going to have to take risks. If not perfect, the Owls were going to have to be pretty darn close. And for most of all three games, it sure looked as if Rice had accomplished just that. Rice led DBU through seven innings in all three games: 4-3 on Friday, 2-1 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday.

As if that weren’t enough, entering the weekend, Rice was 13-2 when leading after seven innings, that’s a clip of victories on 87 percent of such occasions. That’s what made this weekend sting all the more, because not only did they come in well below that 87 percent threshold, they were winless.

On Friday and on Sunday, it was the longball that did Rice in. “It killed us,” Cruz said of the DBU home run that put Rice behind. “It’s part of the season, right? It’s part of it. “You get ups and downs and you get a bit of heartbreak and gut punch. And that’s basically what happened this last weekend.”

In an alternate universe, Rice baseball sweeps DBU and we’re talking about a resurgence late in the season. That’s not what happened, and it’s been a downward trend that’s been apparent for a month now. But as Cruz pointed out, the pieces are there. If Rice can hang with DBU they can hang with anyone in C-USA. It’s time to turn that effort into results.

“We played good enough to win at least two games. I mean, we led in the ninth by two runs, twice,” Cruz said. “It’s just a matter of our belief in ourselves to be able to do what needs to get done to win. I think that’s the essence of what we need to do right now is just believe that we can and I think we will.”

FRIDAY | DBU 8 – Rice 6 (12 innings)

It was a race to beat the rain on Friday night and both starting pitchers certainly did their parts. Rice starter Parker Smith threw 5.1 innings with six strikeouts, allowing three runs, two of which came in his final inning of work. DBU’s ace Ryan Johnson was lifted after four innings and Rice pounced quickly, tying the game 3-3 quickly after he left.

From there, Rice tacked on solo runs in the seventh (a Drew Holderbach RBI single) and the eighth (a Guy Garibay home run) to go ahead 5-3 before thunderstorms forced a postponement to Saturday. Upon resumption, DBU tied the game in the ninth with a two-run home run before pouring on three more in the 12th to complete the come-from-behind win.

SATURDAY | DBU 10 – Rice 3

Even though the Owls had used several arms to complete the first game on Saturday afternoon, the pitching staff came through in a big way in the early portions of the evening game. JD McCracken racked up a career-best seven strikeouts and Matthew. Linskey looked much more like his old self, striking out three while allowing one run in two innings.

MORE: Roost Pod – Rice Football Spring Ball Recap and Basketball Recruiting

McCracken and Linskey’s arms combined with two solo home runs from Jack Riedel positioned Rice with a 2-1 lead entering the eighth inning. Five walks, two home runs and a single later, DBU had hung an eight-spot on the Owls and put the game out of reach.

SUNDAY | DBU 4 – Rice 3

DBU struck first in the finale, but Rice was quick to follow. They trailed for a matter of minutes, answer a DBU solo home run in the first inning with three straight two-out hits, capped off by a two-RBI single from Manny Garza. Jack Riedel added some insurance in the third with a sacrifice fly, staking the Owls to a 3-1 lead in the early going.

That lead held for a good while thanks to strong pitching performances from Cristian Cienfuegos, Ryland Urbanczyk and Justin Long. When Long was relieved in the top of the ninth following a lead-off home run from DBU, Rice led 3-2. Once again, the Owls were unable to get those last three outs. Jack Ben-Shoshan was credited with the loss, allowing a walk and a go-ahead home run in relief of Long.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

Rather than a series win, Rice baseball is reckoning with one that got away. Here are three takeaways from a tough weekend at home.

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

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Rice Baseball 2023: MLB Owls update – Apr 25

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The 2023 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.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

At this moment, Rendon is the only healthy Owl left standing after injuries have put a trio of former Rice baseball pitchers on the shelf for the time being. After a resurgent middle of the month, it was tougher sledding for Rendon this past week, going hitless in three straight games before posting a two-hit, two-RBI game against the Athletics on Monday. He followed that up with a couple of walks against the A’s on Tuesday, bumping his on-base percentage up to .353 for the season.

Through April 25, Rendon is hitting .226 with two extra-base hits, 11 walks and nine strikeouts. His OPS is .617 and he’s collected 11 RBI.

Injured List

Lucas Luetge – Atlanta Braves

On April 17, the Braves placed Lucas Luetge on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 14, with what they termed left bicep inflammation. He hasn’t appeared in a game for the team since April 12.

Through April 18, Luetge has an 8.10 ERA with a 1.800 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Miami Marlins

Chargois has been sidelined since April 10 with a right oblique strain. Per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald, he resumed playing catch this week, a positive development towards his eventual return.

Through April 18, Chargois has a 0.00 ERA with a 0.000 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Glenn Otto – Texas Rangers

Otto did not appear on the Rangers Opening Day roster despite making 27 starts for the club last season. Instead, he began the year on the injured list, landing on the 60-day IL on March 30 with a right shoulder strain. He will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Rice Baseball falters late, drops series to MTSU

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Rice Baseball and MTSU went down to the final inning with the fate of the series in the balance before an MTSU walk-off spoiled the Owls’ weekend.

FRIDAY | MTSU 6 – Rice 0

It didn’t matter which portion of the weather-split game it was for Rice baseball, the bats just weren’t syncing up. Rice was held scoreless in their series opener against Middle Tennessee, which was paused in the sixth inning with Rice trailing 3-0 before being restarted on Saturday afternoon.

Prior to the delay, Tyler Hamilton and Cristian Cienfuegos kept the Blue Raiders to one unearned run through four innings.  Blake Brogdon was tagged for two runs in the fifth, but the Owls were very much still in the game until MTSU tagged Ryland Urbanczyk with three runs in the eighth inning on Saturday to put the game away.

SATURDAY | Rice 9 – MTSU 2

Rice baseball and MTSU traded single runs in the early innings then did so again in the top of the sixth and bottom of the seventh. The game was neck-and-neck, even when Paul Smith singled in Jack Riedel in the top of the eighth to put the Owls in front. Leading 3-2 entering the ninth, the Rice bats exploded.

MORE: Roost Pod – Rice Football Spring Ball Recap and Basketball Recruiting

Three consecutive RBI hits put Rice up 7-2 and prompted an MTSU pitching change. The new reliever didn’t fair much better, getting charged with two additional runs on sacrifice flies as the Owls smacked the Blue Raiders around, scoring six in the ninth to win 9-2.

SUNDAY | MTSU 5 – Rice 4 (11 innings)

MTSU took a 2-0 lead on a first-inning home run against JD McCracken in the series finale, forcing Rice to play from behind. The Owls chipped away with a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Trey Duffield and another in the eighth, this time via a Ben Royo home run. Finally tied again, that’s when the drama would begin.

Both teams traded solo runs in the next two half innings, forcing extra with the score deadlocked at 3-3. Royo came through again in the tenth with an RBI single, but MTSU leveled the score on a wild pitch charged Rice reliever Krishna Raj. After Rice went quietly in the top half of the next inning, Raj gave up the walk-off long ball on the very next pitch, handing the game and the series to MTSU.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

Rice baseball had their chances to win a series for the first time in a month and couldn’t close the deal. Here are a few takeaways from a wet, frustrating weekend in Murfreesboro.

1. RIP RISP

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ON DECK | vs Dallas Baptist (Fri-Sun)

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