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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls split final C-USA series with Charlotte

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Rice baseball showed some fight, but could not win their final series against Charlotte and won’t qualify for the Conference USA Tournament.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball splits series 2-2

1. Brandon Deskins an unsung hero of the 2021 pitching staff

The 2021 Rice baseball starting rotation was cobbled together from the start. Injuries, unpredictable weather happenings and performance altered the order and makeup of the four weekend starters with each successive series. Mitchell Holcomb and Roel Garcia were mainstays. Others made spot starts here and there. Brandon Deskins became the glue.

Deskins worked 53.1 innings this season with a 3.88 ERA, the best among all qualified players. He started seven games and entered others in high-leverage situations. He was tasked with getting a few outs here and there, but also worked several long relief appearances. The Rice pitching corps was better with him in it.

2. The freshmen are just getting started

Guy Garibay had an impressive weekend on the mound and at the plate. He got things started on Friday, throwing 7.2 innings in relief, allowing three runs and striking out five. Rice had fallen behind early, but it was Garibay’s career-long outing that gave Rice a chance to cut into the deficit.

His pitching performance would have been enough, but he also added a three-for-four outing at the plate in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. A bonafide two-way player, we’ve only scratched the surface of Garibay’s potential at South Main.

Alongside him, Justin Long and Nathan Becker both became regulars down the stretch. Becker’s power has been important and will be going forward. He had five RBI on the weekend including a big home run. Long’s .396 on base percentage ranks second on the team this year.

3. One season in a nutshell

Saturday’s second game of the doubleheader proved to be a microcosm of the Owls’ 2021 season. With the game tied late, Rice had a runner in scoring position with no outs in the sixth inning and eighth innings. They had a runner in scoring position and one out in the seventh. Rice was conceivably one hit away from winning the game, but couldn’t get the run home despite multiple opportunities in three straight innings.

Given the extra time, Charlotte outlasted Blake Brogdon, who made it through eight innings before ceding to Dalton Wood in the ninth. Wood allowed three hits, two runs and Rice lost the game.

Rice was a team talented enough to earn themselves opportunities that were too frequently squandered. For whatever the reason, this team never seemed to gel and put it all together. There are pieces, but there is also more work to be done.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY  | Charlotte 9 – Rice 6

Mitchell Holcomb was rocked upon arrival on Friday. Five of the first six batters he faced reached base and things went downhill quickly. He was lifted in the second inning after recording just four outs and putting two men in scoring position for Garibay. Charlotte expanded their lead to 9-2 before Garibay was abe to settle in and cool the 49er bats.

Rice scratched across pairs of runs in the third courtesy of RBIs from Austin Bulman and Justin Long. Becker added two more in the sixth, but the hole proved too big to climb out of even with the extended time.

SATURDAY 1 | Rice 11 – Charlotte 8

Rice came out swinging on Saturday. The Owls struck for four runs in the first inning, led by a three-run blast from Becker. The Owls added a pair in the second and three more in the third. Starter Roel Garcia would be lifted in favor of Deskins midway through the third who was able to cool the Charlotte bats just enough to maintain the Owls’ early advantage.

Deskins would work 4.2 innings, finishing out the seven-inning affair and earning his third win on the season. A 2 RBI single from Braden Comeaux gave Deskins and the Owls some extra breathing room in the fifth, putting Rice ahead 11-5.

SATURDAY 2 | Charlotte 6 – Rice 4

Charlotte took a 4-0 lead early in the second half of the Saturday double header. The Rice bats slowly began to pick things up in the third, scratching across singular runs in each of the next four frames to tie the game. The Owls had several chances to put crooked numbers on the board, but were held at bay by the Charlotte pitching.

Starter Blake Brogdon went eight innings, his longest outing of the season, allowing just three earned runs. When he left, the deadlock broke in favor of the visitors with Rice dropping a winnable second-half of the double header.

SUNDAY | Rice 6 – Charlotte 0

The final conference game of the 2021 season for Rice baseball was one of the quirkier games of the season. The Owls put up a six-spot in the first inning, capped off by a grand slam from Hal Hughes.

Alex DeLeon, in his only start of the season, worked through five innings without allowing a run. With Rice at the plate midway through the bottom of the fifth, weather forced a delay and ultimately a cancelation of the remainder of the game.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls bounce UAB, win first C-USA series

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Rice baseball needed a strong showing against UAB and got it, with all phases contributing to the Owls’ first C-USA series win.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball wins series 3-1

1. The few, the proud

The Rice bullpen has been hit or miss this season. Knowing that, head coach Matt Bragga appears to have found a makeshift solution: limit their innings. Of the 31+ innings thrown by Rice pitching this weekend, starters accounted for 23 of them, roughly 74 percent.

The only game in which the starter did not go six innings was the Sunday finale. The starter in that game, Brandon Deskins, was the lone reliever the Owls utilized in the prior three games of the series, throwing two innings on Friday and another three on Sunday.

2. Strong up top

The top of the lineup has been the difference-maker for the Rice offense this season. When they’re at their best, players like Cade Edwards, Braden Comeaux, Bradley Gneiting and Austin Bulman have the capability to overcome other offensive lulls. This weekend painted that picture as clear as ever.

Rice racked up 23 RBI on the weekend, 15 of which were drive in by those top four hitters in the lineup. Nathan Becker had two RBI in the second Saturday game and Will Karp picked up a pair on Sunday, but the rest of the run production largely rested at the top.

3. The right to play another day

A sweep would have been best, but Rice baseball did their part with a series win this weekend, pushing them up one rung in the conference standings. The Owls are now tied in the win column with UAB and FIU. More importantly, Rice is within striking distance of Middle Tennessee for what will likely be the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament.

The math gets tricky with the ties thrown in, but the most likely scenario for Rice to qualify would be this: Rice wins their upcoming series against Charlotte and Middle Tennessee loses their series at FIU. Rice could also advance with a sweep and a Middle split or a split and Middle being swept. Either way, they need to make up a two-loss differential.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY  | Rice 6 – UAB 1

It’s been a bumpy road for starter Mitchell Holcomb, but he’s settled in down the stretch as one of the Owls’ most competitive pitchers. He a gem on Friday, tossing seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. With him keeping the UAB offense at bay, the Rice bats did the rest.

Rice scratched across single tallies in the first and second innings before Edwards added to the breathing room with a two-run RBI in the fourth. The Owls extended their lead again in the sixth before Bulman capped things off with a home run of his own in the ninth.

SATURDAY 1 | UAB 2 – Rice 1

Staked to a 1-0 lead by an Austin Bulman sac-fly, Roel Garcia delivered one of his stronger outings of the season in the first half of the Saturday doubleheader. He breezed through six innings, a season-long outing, allowing three hits and one unearned run.

Asked to return to the mound for the seventh inning, Garcia ran out of gas. He allowed three hits including the walk-off winner. The intentional decision to trust the rotation paid off in other games during this series. It came back to bit the Owls in this one as the offense tallied just six hits in seven frames.

SATURDAY 2 | Rice 7 – UAB 0

Clearly frustrated from how the first game ended, Rice came out swinging in the nightcap. Gneiting picked up RBI hits in the first and second innings as the Owls jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Things could have gotten even further out of hand had Rice not left the bases loaded in the second.

None of that would matter, though, starter Blake Brogdon was locked in on the mound. Given a big lead, he went the distance, completing the seven-inning game without allowing any runs and scattering five hits. Some insurance runs were added in the later innings, but Brogdon was the driving force.

SUNDAY | Rice 10 – UAB 5

Rice entered Sunday with the opportunity to secure their first Conference USA series win of the season, and a necessary one if they hoped to realize any conference tournament aspirations. Deskins got them off to a great start on the bump, but it was a crooked number from the offense in the fifth inning that blew this game open.

Edwards got things going in earnest with a three run home run, but the bats didn’t slow down. Following that blast, Antonio Cruz and Hal Hughes added RBI doubles to extend the lead to 6-1 in the Owls’ favor. A three-run seventh put things out of reach, giving Rice their first double-digit run total since April 17, a win over Old Dominion.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Southern Miss decisively soars past Owls

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Rice baseball stole an opening win, but couldn’t sustain the momentum, dropping a home series to a ranked Southern Miss team over the weekend.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball loses series 3-1

1. Nine runs are not enough

The six-run opener was a positive start for the week, but it in itself was only a hair better than the conference average. C-USA schools average 5.93 runs per game. At the conclusion of this weekend’s games, Rice baseball averages 5.07 runs per game. Had Rice won 2-0 instead of 6-0 on Friday, that number would have fallen below five runs per game.

The best offenses in Conference USA score eight runs an outing. Only three average worse than five runs, but only one, Marshall, is below Rice in the overall standings. The bats aren’t doing enough, and the pitching staff isn’t strong enough to bail them out more often than a night or two on any given weekend.

2. There’s no one else to call upon

Micah Davis has served as an “opener” in three consecutive series. He’s walked multiple batters twice and allowed at least one run twice. Prior to those outings, he’s had a couple of strong relief appearances, but it hasn’t worked out well so far with him as the first man on the bump.

But it would be a mistake to put the weight of the Owls’ pitching struggles on his shoulders. He’s there because of failures among other members of the rotation. Will West made his first appearance of the season in the Friday night rout. That came after more familiar faces like Alex DeLeon and Drake Greenwood had allowed things to get out of hand.

The pitching staff many had hoped would be deep enough to weather long weeks in Conference USA play hasn’t lived up to those expectations. Outside of Brandon Deskins, Blake Brogdon and a few others, it’s become a dicey proposition.

3. It’s now or never for any sort of postseason

The top three teams in each division clinch a spot in the conference tournament with two additional spots given out to the best remaining teams by winning percentage. Sitting at six wins, Rice is four games behind Middle Tennessee for the eighth spot in the tournament. That’s a ton of room to make up in two weeks.

Rice draws UAB next. The Blazers are just above the Owls in the West standings. Should Rice win the series (or even sweep), they’d have something to play for on the final weekend of the regular season against Charlotte. Middle Tennessee, who Rice is chasing, visit Southern Miss the weekend before closing at home against FIU. It’s a tall order, but if Rice can win this weekend series, there’s a chance.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY  1 | Rice – Southern Miss

Things couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start for Rice in the first half of the weather-induced Friday doubleheader. The Owls struck first, taking the lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Bradley Gneiting and extending it with an RBI single from Will Karp shortly after.

Up 2-0, Mitchell Holcomb cruised through four innings. With two men on in the fifth, Deskins entered and induced a pop-up to end the threat. A three-run fifth inning and an insurance run courtesy of a Cade Edwards sixth-inning triple helped Rice close out the opener with relative ease.

FRIDAY 2 | Southern Miss 12 – Rice 1

After being silenced in the first game, the Southern Miss bats woke up in a hurry for the Friday nightcap. The Golden Eagles scored two in the first inning, four in the second and two more in the third. The Rice pitching trio of Davis, DeLeon and Greenwood had no answers, and before Greenwood was replaced to start the fourth inning, Rice was already in an insurmountable hole.

Rice would out-hit Southern Miss 10-0, only failing to reach base in one of the seven innings. It wouldn’t matter as the Owls hit safely in 2-of-10 situations with runners in scoring position.  Guy Garibay drove in the only Rice run.

SATURDAY | Southern Miss 10 – Rice 1

Roel Garcia battled through five innings on Saturday, allowing five runs on seven hits. Southern Miss just kept putting the ball in play whereas the Rice bats did not hold up their side of the bargain. While Garcia labored, the Rice offense was silent, collecting just two hits while he was on the mound.

Trailing 5-0 at the time of Garcia’s exit, the bullpen quickly allowed the lead to double over the next three innings in what felt like a carbon copy of the previous evening’s blowout loss.

SUNDAY | Southern Miss 8 – Rice 1

Garibay drew the start on Sunday and after sending the first three Golden Eagles down in the first inning, ran into trouble in the second. Southern Miss struck for four runs in the frame, adding two more in the third and forcing Garibay to exit in favor of Brogdon, who navigated 4.2 innings reasonably well, striking out five and allowing two runs.

A leadoff home run from Austin Bulman in the second was all the offense could muster. Their six hits were the fewest in any game of the series.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls dealt one-sided sweep by LA Tech

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For the third weekend in a row, Rice baseball dropped a conference series, this time coming at home against a red-hot, ranked Louisiana Tech club.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball loses series 4-0

1. Mental toughness is missing

Rice was locked into a pitcher’s duel on Friday night. Owls’ hurler Blake Brogdon was going toe-to-toe with C-USA Pitcher of the Year candidate Jonathan Fincher. But when Brogdon waivered in the sixth inning, the team behind him folded. Dalton Wood entered with two men in scoring position and no outs. He walked two, allowed a run on a passed ball and another run on a balk.

Rice blew a two-run lead in the final inning to start Saturday’s doubleheader. Then they were blasted 20-6 in the second leg. Things went from bad to worse quickly, and nobody was there to stop the bleeding. On Sunday Rice led 2-1, then when tied 2-2, allowed a crushing 4-run sixth inning.

Head coach Matt Bragga summed it up well in a recent conversation. “As a club, we’re not mentally tough enough.” If Rice wants to contend in Conference USA. That has to change. Losing close games is painful, but wilting when the spotlight shines brightest is doubly painful.

2. Come give Comeaux some help

Rice baseball had one player on the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference team, senior third baseman Braden Comeaux. Through the first half of the season, Comeaux has more than proven his inclusion among the leagues’ best was well deserved. He’s made some spectacular plays on the hot corner and continues to hit everyone he sees.

Comeaux was one of four Owls’ to get a hit off Fincher on Friday. He helped jump-start a four-run third inning on Saturday afternoon and had a multi-hit outing Saturday night. His relentless consistency has been the best part of the Rice offense all season.

3. Missing a dominant phase

What’s hurt Rice the most during this tough opening stretch to conference play is the lack of one dominant aspect of their game to fall back on. Rice has an average offense by most metrics. Their pitching is below average. The fielding has been slightly above average, but the Owls did commit five errors this weekend across the four games.

Teams like UTSA (a great offense) or Middle Tennessee (great pitching) have managed to hover around .500 in the league play. Rice doesn’t have to fix everything all at once to start winning more baseball games, but at least one phase needs to take a step-change if Rice wants to stay competitive down the stretch.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | LA Tech 6 – Rice 0

Blake Brogdon kept Louisiana Tech at bay for five innings, but the Rice bats never proved much of a threat on Friday night against Jonathan Fincher. When Louisiana Tech broke the tie in the sixth, the Bulldogs’ three-run outburst felt like a much more exorbitant deficit.

Another three-run inning for Louisiana Tech in the eighth pushed the game further out of reach. Rice managed just four hits and had multiple base runners in just two of the nine innings.

SATURDAY 1 | LA Tech 7 – Rice 6

The bats were more productive for Rice on Saturday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to take a 6-2 lead after five innings. Cade Edwards and Bradley Gneiting hit two-run home runs. Austin Bulman and Connor Walsh provided the other run-scoring hits.

As the offense worked, Rice starter Roel Garcia held Louisiana Tech at bay and left the seven-inning game in the sixth with the lead. It would not last. The combination of Garret Zaskoda and Guy Garibay could not hold the lead. Louisiana Tech would score five runs in the final two innings to win 7-6.

SATURDAY 2 | Louisiana Tech 20 – Rice 6

After coming painfully close on Saturday afternoon the Owls were never within striking distance from a doubleheader split later that same day. Louisiana Tech scored eight runs in the second inning of Rice starter Mitchell Holcomb, who recorded just four outs. By the time Rice scored its first run in the fourth, they had already trailed 12-0.

Rice used five pitchers. All but Jared Plank allowed three or more runs. Plank’s outing was actually one of the best of the weekend by any Rice pitcher, throwing one scoreless inning with just one hit allowed. It wouldn’t be enough to slow the Louisiana Tech onslaught, though.

SUNDAY | Louisiana Tech 13 – Rice 4

Rice showed some initial resistance in the series finale. With Brandon Deskins on the mound, Rice fell behind 1-0 in the fourth inning. The bats responded immediately, manufacturing the tying run with a sacrifice fly and the go-ahead run on an RBI single. The Owls stole four bases in the inning.

The lead would prove to be short-lived. Deskins got into some trouble in the fifth with two walks of his own plus an error in the infield. Louisiana Tech would strike for two runs in that inning, piling on four more in the sixth and six more in the final two innings.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Offense lifts Owls to series win over Southern

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Rice baseball took two of three from Southern, winning their first non-conference series of the season prior to Conference USA action.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball wins series 2-1

1. Rice baseball should have swept Southern

On paper, Rice looked to be the better baseball team entering the weekend. The Owls had the better pitching staff and the better offense. Friday and Saturday proved that expectation to be true. That made Sunday’s loss all the more puzzling.

Yes, it’s baseball, and strange things happen all the time. Winning the series was an absolute must, and that was achieved. But the Owls proved their bench is better than many of their opponents’ regulars.  This team shows what it’s capable of achieving, expectations can and should rise.

2. Braden Comeaux is officially Mr. Consistent

Leading Rice with a .352 batting average through 19 games, the senior third baseman has proven to be the most unflappable Owl. When the offense scuttled on Sunday, Comeaux stayed productive, tallying two hits in four at bats and driving in one of the Owls’ four runs. He hit a blistering .500 on the weekend, driving in three.

Rice has found a healthy amount of productive bats this season. Bradley Gneiting has been superb. Antonio Cruz forced his named one the lineup card and has played well of late. Freshman Guy Garibay has showcased tremendous play discipline and lead the team in walks. Rice needs all of them to continue to produce. When they do, Comeaux’s ever-ready swing will amplify their efforts.

3. Building trust on Wood

Dalton Wood has been eased back into the bullpen after missing the 2020 season. He made his fourth appearance on Sunday, entering the game with his team trailing. If Rice was going to have a chance, he needed to be superb, and he was. Wood threw three scoreless innings, maintain a spotless 0.00 ERA while tallying his 10th strikeout of the year.

Wood is the only Rice pitcher to have four consecutive multi-inning scoreless outings this season. He’s been the guy tasked with holding the line when Rice is trailing so far, but his reliability could warrant more crucial innings in the near future. Few Rice relievers have produced to his level and he has the arm to be a special asset for this club.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Rice 14 – Southern 2

Rice baseball came out swinging on Friday night, scoring two runs in the first inning and never looking back. The Owls’ offense was as good as it’s been all season, scoring in six of eight innings. Justin Dunlap led the team with four hits. Connor Walsh had one but drove in four.

On the mound, Blake Brogdon was dynamic. He struck out 10 batters in seven innings, allowing two runs and walking one along the way. Staked to an early lead, he was fearless, and for the most part, he avoided significant damage.

SATURDAY | Rice 13 – Southern 4

Saturday brought more of the same. Bradley Gneiting got things started with a solo shot in the first inning. Southern would equalize in the second and keep the game close, briefly. Then Rice exploded for six runs in the fifth inning, including three by way of bases loaded RBI walks.

Elevated from the Sunday spot after Roel Garcia was a scratch, Mitchell Holcomb put together his second consecutive strong performance. He struck out nine in seven innings, allowing just two earned runs. Micah Davis closed the door in the ninth with three-straight strikeouts.

SUNDAY | Southern 6 – Rice 4

Things started off the right way for Rice in the series finale thanks to a first inning RBI double by Braden Comeaux that spotted the Owls’ to a 1-0 lead. It would not last. Starting pitcher Brandon Deskin’s started to spiral in the third inning, allowing four two-out runs to put Rice in an early hole.

Unlike the prior two outings, the bats did not wake up. After clawing back to a 6-4 deficit, Rice managed two hits in the final three innings and left the tying run on base in the ninth.

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