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Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – Apr 16

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The 2025 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are making the most of their time in The Show. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers has been out of the lineup for the last few days after a rather impressive start to his 2025 campaign. He went 2-for-5 on April 9, his last start this week, hitting fifth in the lineup and playing center field, his usual position.

Through Apr. 16, Myers is hitting .333 with two extra-base hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. His OPS is .755 and he’s collected two RBI.

Injured List

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon is slated to miss a significant amount of time following him surgery this spring. The bad news is another bump in an injury-plagued stint with the Angels; Rendon missed a chunk of last season with an oblique strain.

Matt Canterino – Twins AAA

Canterino was thought to have a real chance to crack the big league roster at some point this season, converting himself to a reliver this offseason in hopes of limiting the stress on his arm and preserving his health. Unfortunately, he’s set to miss a third consecutive season, undergoing shoulder surgery in early March.

Knocking on the Door

The following Owls began the season in AAA:

  • JT Chargois – Round Rock Express (Rangers)
  • Tristan Gray – Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
  • Evan Kravetz – Louisville Bats (Reds)
  • Glenn Otto – Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros)
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Rice Baseball drops Silver Glove finale to Houston

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Rice Baseball dropped the final game of the Silver Glove series against Houston without much protest in their penultimate midweek game of the season.

Any aspirations of stealing the final game of the Silver Glove series from Houston were quickly cast aside on Tuesday night when Rice baseball head coach David Pierce was forced to pull starting pitcher Marco Fuentes before he recorded an out in the first inning. Neither Austin Eppley, who followed him, nor Mark Perkins, who came next, were able to keep the Cougars in check, and not entirely by fault of their own.

The Cougars recorded just five hits in the first three innings against that trio, but three errors and three hit batters proved too much to overcome. Houston scored eight in the first three frames, thrusting Rice into catch-up mode early in the game.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball posts emphatic series win over USF

Rice did scrape together a few runs, getting one run back on a single from Hiram Bocachica in the second. Bocachica scored on a wild pitch in the fourth and Treyton Rank lifted a home run to left field in the fifth. Each accounted for a single run, not nearly enough to spur a serious comeback.

The Cougars scored four in the seventh, three on a home run off Matt Zatopek, putting the game out of reach. They went on to win 15-3. Houston swept the Silver Glove series with the win, but Rice still leads the all-time series 62-40

What it means | Playing the long game

Rice baseball pulled out all the stops to secure a conference win against South Florida this weekend, masterfully piecing together a somewhat unconventional combination of pitchers to secure the necessary outs. Rather than taxing those same arms against a non-conference opponent, the coaching staff opted to trot out some lesser-used hurlers. The results went about as well as one might expect.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

After Fuentes failed to record an out, Eppley and Perkins were the next to be summoned to the mound, neither of whom ranks highly on the Owls’ leverage inning circle of trust. By the time Von Baker arrived with one out in the third, the damage had been done and Rice found itself in an 8-1 hole. Rice would go on to use a season-high 10 pitchers in the contest, most of which won’t be featured on weekends.

For better or worse, each arm can only wear so many innings and throw so many pitches. Tuesday’s utilization was reflective of that and made it quite clear the staff is putting all of its eggs in the conference wins basket rather than selling out to win a midweek game in a season series that had already been decided.

Up Next: at Memphis x3 (Thr-Sat)

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Rice Baseball posts emphatic series win over USF

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For Rice baseball, their first series win of the season was a big one, taking two of three from South Florida which entered the weekend atop the AAC standings.

FRIDAY | USF 14, Rice 3 (7 inn)

With Davion Hickson completing his suspension, JD McCracken drew the Friday night start for Rice baseball this week. He worked calmy through the first and the second inning before USF ambushed him with a three-run, four-hit third inning. He’d managed just one more out before being lifted in the fourth in favor of Garrett Stratton with the Owls trailing 4-1.

More: 59 Minutes — David Pierce Challenges Rice baseball to grow

Landon West had done his part to get Rice on the board with a solo home run in the second and proceeded to cut the deficit in half with a sac fly in the fourth. Stratton kept the Owls in the game, working into the seventh before surrendering a three-run home run to put Rice behind 7-2.

Treyton Rank got one back with a home run in the bottom of the frame before USF opened the floodgates in the eighth. Nolan Roycraft recorded one out and was charged with seven runs. Micah Davis gave up two of those, enough to push the Owls’ deficit to 11 and end the game via a run rule.

SATURDAY | Rice 15, USF 3 (7 inn)

Tucker Alch delivered 4.1 innings of no-hit baseball, leaving the game with a 4-0 advantage after hitting the first two South Florida batters to open the fifth. His relief came in the form of Davion Hickson, who collected the next two outs, albeit with USF scoring on an overthrown ball from catcher Aric Anderson on a stolen base attempt.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball swept at Tulane

Hickson would work through an uneventful top of the sixth before spending a lengthy time on the bench as he watched the Rice bats pile on seven more runs. Anderson, Graiden West, Colin Robson, Blaine Brown and Michael Zito had RBI in the inning, setting Rice up for a potential run-rule win. They’d earn that early ending with a walk-off grand slam from Brown.

SUNDAY | Rice 5, USF 2

Perhaps still reeling from Saturday’s shellacking, South Florida didn’t play clean baseball in the rubber game and Rice baseball took advantage of those miscues. Graiden West scored on an error in the second to put Rice in front, setting up another unearned run in the same frame. The Bulls got one back in the top of the third, but another error in the bottom half of the inning allowed Rice to add two more to its total.

On the mound, Jackson Blank worked through traffic to allow just two runs in four innings, giving way to Jack Ben-Shoshan in the fifth who would allow just two hits in his five innings of relief, stymying the USF offense. Neither side would score after the fifth as Ben-Shoshan slammed the door, earning the win and clinching the first series win for Rice baseball under head coach David Pierce.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – Apr 9

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The 2025 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are making the most of their time in The Show. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers fast start to the season didn’t slow down as the calendar turned from March to April. Myers has bounced back and forth between outfield positions and come off the bench while still boasting a batting average better than .300 with a penchant for the spectacular such as this diving catch to close out a win:

Through Apr. 9, Myers is hitting .320 with two extra-base hits, one walk and seven strikeouts. His OPS is .746 and he’s collected two RBI.

Injured List

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon is slated to miss a significant amount of time following him surgery this spring. The bad news is another bump in an injury-plagued stint with the Angels; Rendon missed a chunk of last season with an oblique strain.

Matt Canterino – Twins AAA

Canterino was thought to have a real chance to crack the big league roster at some point this season, converting himself to a reliver this offseason in hopes of limiting the stress on his arm and preserving his health. Unfortunately, he’s set to miss a third consecutive season, undergoing shoulder surgery in early March.

Knocking on the Door

The following Owls began the season in AAA:

  • JT Chargois – Round Rock Express (Rangers)
  • Tristan Gray – Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
  • Evan Kravetz – Louisville Bats (Reds)
  • Glenn Otto – Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros)
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Houston tops Rice baseball, takes Silver Glover Series

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Rice Baseball slugged several home runs but still fell to Houston on the road as the Cougars took the Silver Glove Series.

Close games had become the norm for Rice baseball in the early days of the David Pierce era and Tuesday’s midweek tilt against crosstown rival Houston looked like it would follow a similar trend in the initial frames. Houston scratched across a single run in each of the first three innings off Rice starter Jackson Blank with the Owls scoring one run on a wild pitch in the third.

Houston led 3-1 after the third and began to pull away in the next few innings. The Cougars scored two in the fourth with Jack Ben-Shoshan on the mound and three more in the fifth against Von Baker. The bats hadn’t collected a hit yet, waiting until Aric Anderson opened the top of the sixth with a home run to break up five innings of no-hit ball from the Cougars.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball swept by Tulane

No-hitter averted, Rice would get a couple more home runs to pretty up the box score. Cole Green drove a pitch over the wall in the eighth. Blaine Brown followed with another shot to the left side to start the ninth and was joined a few batters later by Hiram Bocachica, who mashed the Owls’ fourth long ball of the night. It wouldn’t be enough to keep pace with the Cougars, though, who prevailed 10-7.

With the win, Houston clinches the Silver Glove series. The two teams will meet once more this season, next Tuesday following the Owls’ weekend series against South Florida.

What it means | Catcher platoon paying off

There was, understandably, much trepidation when longtime backstop Manny Garza entered the Transfer Portal this offseason, forcing the Owls to reckon with a different path forward at the catcher position. They added Lorenzo Rios from Northwestern from the portal, but it’s been their home-grown players who have proven to be the answer at the position.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

Landon West leads the team in on-base percentage. Anderson has only made 12 game appearances, but is hitting .320 with two home runs and two doubles across his eight hits. Anderson played sparingly under Jose Cruz Jr, but has appeared in eight games since David Pierce took over the program, performing well.

The catching tandem has also gunned down 10 would-be base stealers and allowed just nine passed balls. The defense has been solid, and at times, superb. For a position that was a question mark entering the spring, this duo has answered the call.

Up Next: vs South Florida x3 (Fri-Sun)

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