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Rice Baseball 2021: Previewing the LA Tech Series

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Rice baseball is still looking for their first Conference USA series win. Can they get it this weekend against Louisiana Tech?

The first two weekends of Conference USA play have come and gone. Rice baseball is lagging behind in the standings thus far but could turn that around with a series win this weekend against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs lead the West through two conference weekends. The No. 16 Bulldogs will be the Owls’ toughest test yet.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m. / 4.00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (13-14-1) played to the first tie among any C-USA team this past weekend, failing to close out a Sunday win to salvage a series draw. They narrowly dropped their series to Middle Tennesee 2-1-1.

Louisiana Tech (20-7) has been red-hot in recent weeks, winning three of four in each of their first two conference series. Last weekend they outscored UAB 31-14 in four games.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Blake Brogdon (2-4, 5.80)
Saturday 1 | Roel Garcia (1-1, 4.21)
Saturday 2 | Mitchell Holcomb (4-2, 4.24)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (1-3, 5.80)

LA Tech Pitching

It all starts at the top for the Louisiana Tech staff, led by ace Jonathan Fincher. The lefty has a perfect 5-0 record and a sterling 1.62 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched. Sunday man Jarrett Whorff has been impressive too, 5-1 so far this year with a 2.49 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. Behind them, look for Tyler Follis, Landon Tomkins and Tanner Knight as the first arms trusted out of the bullpen.

LA Tech Hitting

Part of what makes Louisiana Tech so difficult at the plate is their tremendous amount of balance. They hit .293 as a team with 27 home runs in their 27 games played. Second baseman Taylor Young has been an absolute force, leading the team with a .330 average, 30 hits and 10 doubles. Hunter Wells joins him at the top of the lineup. He’s hitting .327 and tied for the team lead with five home runs.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Previewing the MTSU Series

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Rice baseball departed for their first Conference USA road trip, paying a visit to Murfreesboro, TN. Here’s how the Owls stack up with the Blue Raiders.

The beginning of four-game weeks is officially upon us. Rice won’t play another midweek game until mid-April. For the time being, the focus will be solely on Conference USA opponents. They’ll get one more crack at an opponent from their own division this week when they take on Middle Tennessee.

Game Notes

Times: Thursday 3:00 p.m. | Friday 1:00 p.m. / 4.00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Reese Smith Jr. Field
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (12-12) saw a relatively hot streak snapped this past weekend, going 1-3 against UTSA at Reckling Park. A walk-off Saturday afternoon win was the bright spot.

Middle Tennesse (13-10) split a four-game series with UAB in Birmingham their last time out. The Blue Raiders were shut out 8-0 in their opener before rebounding to win two of the back end of a Friday doubleheader and split the remaining games.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Blake Brogdon (2-3, 6.67)
Saturday 1 | Roel Garcia (1-1, 3.97)
Saturday 2 | Mitchell Holcomb (3-2, 4.86)
Sunday | Brandon Deskins (1-3, 5.47)

MTSU Pitching

Middle Tennessee ranks in the top 10 nationally in WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio. If Rice hopes to get on base this weekend, they’re going to have to earn it. Typical Friday night starter Aaron Brown has already amassed a staggering 52 strikeouts in 33.1 innings pitched. Trent Siebert also has more K’s (39) than he does innings worked (33.0).

The rest of the staff is equally stout. Only one member of the Blue Raider’s pitching corps that has gone 10+ innings has an ERA above Brown’s 4.10. Opposing batters are hitting .227 on the season against MTSU pitching.

MTSU Hitting

The offense hasn’t been as prolific. Two MTSU hitters are batting better than .300 with right fielder Cole Escher pacing the offense with a .356 average. While the rest of the lineup doesn’t boast an impressive average, they do pack some power. Four different hitters have seven or more extra base hits, led by Brett Coker who has eight (three doubles, two triples and three home runs).

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Rice Baseball 2021: Previewing the UTSA Series

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The Rice baseball kicks off conference play this weekend with a four-game home series against UTSA. Here’s how the Owls stack up with the Roadrunners.

Rice baseball enters their first Conference USA series with momentum, courtesy of head coach Matt Bragga’s first win over Texas A&M  since his arrival two seasons ago. Their non-conference slate gives way this week to the first of two four-game series against UTSA. The Owls will host this time around with the Roadrunners returning the favor in a few weeks.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 1:00 p.m. / 4.00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
Watch: CUSAtv

How each team fared this week

Rice baseball (11-9) took their weekend series against Southern, wining two of three. Then they hit the road to play Texas A&M in a midweek game, which they won 2-1. Altogether, Rice enters this series as winners of three of their last four and five of their last seven.

UTSA (8-7) swept Texas A&M Corpus Christi last weekend, snapping a five-game losing streak. The Roadrunners have played seven in a row away from home entering their weekend tilt with the Owls.

Probable Pitchers

Friday | Blake Brogdon (2-2, 5.47)
Saturday 1 | Mitchell Holcomb (3-1, 4.78)
Saturday 2 | Brandon Deskins (1-2, 3.97)
Sunday | TBD

UTSA Pitching

Luke Malone is the probable Friday night guy. He owns a 3.66 ERA and has failed to get out of the fourth inning in two of his last four starts. If he does get into trouble, expect UTSA to turn to folks like John Chomko, Daniel Garza, Reece Easterling and Simon Miller out of the bullpen.

UTSA Hitting

This lineup can hit. UTSA has only played 15 games so far, the second-fewest among C-USA teams, but they’re near the top of the stat sheet in most of the key offensive metrics. They lead the conference in batting average (.294) and on-base percentage (.389) and they’re third in slugging percentage (.462).

First baseman Griffin Paxton has 23 hits in 15 games, nine of which have gone for extra bases. He, along with reigning C-USA hitter of the week Nick Thornquist and two other Roadrunners have three or more home runs. The Rice pitching staff is going to have its hands full.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Previewing the Southern Series

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The Rice baseball enters the weekend fresh from one of their best weekends of the season. Here’s how the Owls stack up with visiting Southern.

It was a good weekend for Rice baseball, who won three of four in a multi-team event. It was the first time Rice has won three games in any weekend span since they swept a three-game series from Louisiana Tech in April 2019. Tuesday’s one-sided loss to Texas State cooled the Owls’ momentum, but they’ll have fresh arms and ready bats for the upcoming three-game slate.

This series marks their final weekend tune-up before Conference USA play begins the following weekend. The Owls will then host UTSA in a four-game series.  But first, a look at how Rice matches up with Southern. Originally scheduled for a Saturday doubleheader, the series will now be a more traditional three game affair.

Game Notes

Times: Friday 6:00 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 (8-8) took both games against Northern Illinois and split a pair of games against Kansas State. They lost their midweek game against Texas State.

Southern (5-10) lost three of their last four, dropping their most recent weekend series with Prairie View A&M (whom Rice beat 10-0) as well as a midweek game against Lamar.

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday | Blake Brogdon (1-2, 6.52)
Saturday | Roel Garcia (1-1, 3.86)
Sunday | Mitchell Holcomb (2-1, 5.59)

Southern Pitching

Willhelm Allen is their definitive Friday night guy. He owns a 5.30 ERA in 18.2 innings pitched across four games. He’s not going to go deep, and with a .304 batting average against and only 14 strikeouts, Rice should be able to get some hits off of him.

Larry Barabino has been the go-to guy out of the bullpen. He’s allowed two runs in 9.1 innings with eight strikeouts. Walks have been his nemesis though. He’s surrendered seven on the season. The staff as a whole owns at 5.52 ERA almost a full point higher than the Owls.

Southern Hitting

The offense hasn’t been much better than the pitching. Southern has a team average of .233 shared by 20 different hitters. They do have a fairly consistent core led by Bubba Thompson (.271 avg, 16 hits, 10 runs) and Zavier Moore (.246 avg, 14 hits, 8 runs). While they might lack truly elite hitters, they have a smattering of guys who have shown flashes and can put the ball in the gap for an extra-base hit.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Northern Illinois and Kansas State Preview

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Rice baseball returns to Reckling Park this week to host a pair of teams from further north than last week’s all-Texas Shriner’s Classic.

It was a mixed bag for Rice baseball last weekend. They won one of their three games at the Shriner’s Classic, defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by run rule while falling to Sam Houston and Texas State. The Owls will get another crack at the Bobcats later in the season, but for now it’s time to turn the page to a mini-invitation on their home field.

Rice will host Northern Illinois and Kansas State it what was meant to be the second multi-team gathering at Reckling Park this season. The first, scheduled to be against Washington, Arkansas-Little Rock and Houston Baptist, was turned into a three-game series with Houston Baptist because of the Winter Storm.

Oddly enough, Rice got another crack at HBU on Tuesday, dispatching them behind a marvelous outing from Brandon Deskins. The sophomore pitcher racked up 11 strikeouts in six innings, earning his first win of the season.

Weekend Notes

Times: Friday 5:00 p.m. | Saturday 4:00 p.m. | Sunday 10:30 a.m. / 2:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal

Projected Rice Baseball Starters

Friday | Blake Brogdon (0-2, 8.31 ERA)
Saturday | Roel Garcia (1-0, 2.77 ERA)
Sunday AM | Mitchell Holcomb (1-1, 9.26 ERA)
Sunday PM | TBD

Kansas State (Saturday / Sunday PM)

Kansas State is 8-4 on the season after picking up a pair of midweek wins over South Dakota State. They opened the year with a win over Oregon State in the Sanderson Ford College Classic and also have a series win over Western Michigan so far this season.

The Wildcats will be a strong test for the Owls’ pitching. They hit .276 as a team and have four regulars with an OPS better than 1.000. Outfielder Dylan Phillips boasts a .381/.500/.594 slash line. The pitching has been strong as well, buoyed by starters Connor McCullough and preseason Co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Jordan Wicks.

Northern Illinois (Friday / Sunday AM)

Like Rice, Northern Illinois is no stranger to weather cancelations. The storms that swept across the country in mid-February canceled NIU’s opening series against Memphis. They’ve played two series since, both on the road. They won once of three games against Evansville and were swept in a four-game series at URGV, which strangely enough, contained zero nine-inning games.

First baseman Kam Smith and centerfielder Brady Huebbe have done their part. smith is hitting a staggering .435 while Huebbe has a team-high six extra-base hits and a .810 slugging percentage. The bullpen has been better than the rotation thus far. Look for Paul Tuerlli and Tristan Michaels to be the first line of defense when NIU gets into a jam.

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