Rice baseball needs a big weekend against Charlotte to clinch a spot in the Conference USA Baseball Tournament. Here’s how the Owls stack up with the 49ers.

Fresh off their first C-USA series win of the season, Rice baseball hopes to continue their winning ways this coming weekend against the Charlotte 49ers. Rice punch their ticket to the Conference USA Baseball Tournament with a strong showing this weekend and a little help from a few others teams in the league.

Times: Friday 1:00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m. / ~4:00 p.m. | Sunday 12:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (21-27-1) took three of four from UAB last weekend with their only loss coming by a walk off. The Owls could have used the extra win, but a three-win weekend in itself was big for this team with the regular season end coming soon.

UAB (35-14) took care of business in their final home series of the year, sweeping Marshall in commanding fashion. The 49ers outscored the Herd 35-19 in three games, rebounding swiftly from a series loss to Old Dominion the weekend prior.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Mitchell 6olcomb (5-4, 6.08 ERA)
Saturday 1 | Roel Garcia (1-5, 5.26)
Saturday 2 | Blake Brogdon (3-5, 5.29)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (2-4, 3.70)

Charlotte Pitching

While the 49ers might lack the top end of the rotation talent that’s carried other teams this deep into the season, they do have one of the more well-rounded pitching staffs in Conference USA. Bryce McGowan leads the team in strikeouts (92). Andrew Lindsey has a sterling 6-1 record, who marvelously did not receive a decision last weekend against Marshall even though he surrendered seven runs.

Charlotte Hitting

The Charlotte offense came to Lindsey’s back in that game, and has risen to the occasion throughout the season. The 49ers have the No. 4 offense in Conference USA led by Austin Knight, the conference leader in batting average, hits and doubles. Right behind him, the No. 2 hitter in C-USA, is Gino Groover, with a .352 average.  Those two are the key cogs in the machine that have made Charlotte so successful.

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Rice baseball hits the road for their final Conference USA series away from home this coming weekend where they’ll take on the UAB Blazers.

Must-win territory has arrived for Rice baseball. The Owls have completed six Conference USA series so far and have yet to record any series wins. They have a split with UTSA under their belts and single ranked wins over Old Dominion and Southern Miss. But the win total still needs to come up by a good margin in the final two weekends.

Rice has a better total record than UAB. This would be a good weekend to keep that distinction in place, and hopefully, to grow the gap.

Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m. / ~4:00 p.m. | Sunday 12:30 p.m.
Venue: Young Memorial Field
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (18-26-1) dropped a weekend series against Southern Miss at Reckling Park. The Owls blanked the Golden Eagles 6-0 in the opener but could not keep their ranked foes at bay for the final three games.

UAB (15-30) split a four-game series with UTSA last weekend, mirroring an outcome Rice had earlier in the season. Like Rice, UAB has yet to win a conference series outright.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Mitchell Holcomb (5-4, 6.71)
Saturday 1 | Roel Garcia (1-4, 5.76 ERA)
Saturday 2 | Blake Brogdon (2-5, 5.95)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (2-4, 3.92)

UAB Pitching

Riley Davis is the man to watch on the mound for UAB. He’s seventh in Conference USA in ERA (2.95) and is tied for first in the league with three complete games. Collin Taylor will be the first man out of the bullpen, second on the team in appearances and second in ERA (3.38). Brady Greene is another effective bullpen piece the Owls might see more than once.

UAB Hitting

The Blazers ranked dead last in conference play with a .231 batting average. They don’t score a lot of runs, don’t hit for power and don’t get on base well. Chandler Simpson (.317/.359/.366)has been the most consistent producer in the lineup, followed by Colton Schultz (.289/.381/388) and Zack Davis (.288/.331/.451) but after that, things drop off precipitously.

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Rice baseball welcomes their return to the friendly confines of Reckling Park, but their weekend matchup with Southern Miss looms large.

It’s hard to believe, but May baseball is already upon us. The calendar is turning quickly and more than just the hot corner is heating up. The Rice baseball regular season schedule is winding down, but before it concludes in its entirety, the Owls have another ranked C-USA opponent to battle. Southern Miss enters the weekend 26-13 and ranked No. 23 in the D1 Baseball Top 25.

Times: Friday 2:00 p.m. / ~5:00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (17-23-1) split a weekend series with UTSA in San Antonio, their second series matchup with the Roadrunners this season. The Owls held a 2-0 upper hand but were unable to slam the door in the final two games to earn their first series win of the season.

Southern Miss (26-13) took three of four games from Western Kentucky, winning their third conference series of the season. The Golden Eagles have earned at least a split in each weekend of conference play since they opened things up with a series loss to Louisiana Tech at home.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Roel Garcia (1-3, 5.36 ERA)
Saturday 1 | Mitchell Holcomb (4-4, 7.35)
Saturday 2 | Blake Brogdon (2-5, 6.14)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (2-4, 4.24)

Southern Miss Pitching

The Southern Miss pitching staff has been the gold standard in Conference USA this season. The Golden Eagles lead the league in ERA, thanks in large part to the contributions of a potent quarter of starting pitchers. Hunter Stanley (5-1, 2.51 ERA), Ben Ethridge (4-1, 2.88), Walker Powell (6-2, 3.20) and Drew Boyd (2-2, 4.41) have been superb.

Southern Miss Hitting

When the pitching is that good, the offense doesn’t have to be top of the line to win ballgames. There have been outbursts here and there, but this lineup largely relies on the big bats of Gabe Montenegro and Charlie Fischer. Montenegro leads the team with 50 hits and a .338 batting average whereas Fischer leads C-USA in on-base percentage and sports a heft 1.1116 OPS.

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Rice baseball gets a rematch this weekend in their second series against UTSA. What has changed for both programs over the past month?

One of the oddities of the 2021 Rice Baseball schedule is the multiple rematches scattered throughout conference play. The Owls and Roadrunners opened up their C-USA schedules against each other in Houston in late March. Now they’ll head to San Antonio to play another suite of four games.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 2:00 p.m. / 5:00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Roadrunner Field
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (15-21-1) salvaged a single win against Old Dominion on the road, bouncing back from two one-sided losses to present more a more formidable match in the final two games. Now the Owls have to prove the team they’re ready to play more like the team that showed up Saturday night and not the one that was tossed about on Friday and Saturday morning.

UTSA (15-15) had a tough weekend as well, taking the series finale on the road against Charlotte to post a 1-3 weekend. Prior to that, UTSA took three of four from Middle Tennessee at home. UTSA is 6-6 at home this season.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Roel Garcia (1-2, 5.45)
Saturday 1 | Blake Brogdon (2-5, 5.29)
Saturday 2 | Mitchell Holcomb (4-4, 7.20)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (1-4, 4.84)

UTSA Pitching

It’s been a series of patchwork performances from the UTSA pitching staff in recent weeks. We’re probably not going to see many of the Roadrunners’ arms go too deep into games —  eight different UTSA pitchers have made multiple starts.  — instead expect to see the opening man give way to a series of arms out of the bullpen.

UTSA Hitting

The bats are the most prominent asset of this UTSA team. As a team, the Roadrunners are hitting .290, fourth-best in Conference USA and a decent margin above Rice (.264) which ranks fifth. Depth has been a key differentiator. Griffin Paxton leads the way with a hefty .354 average, but he’s supported by players like Nick Thornquist and Joshua Lamb, both of which are hitting .333 or better with 12+ extra base hits.

The Roadrunners hit for a good amount of power and don’t strike out too often. Their 225 strikeouts are the fewest in C-USA.

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