Baseball Begins Five-Game Road Swing

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Mar. 26 (Tues.) 6 pm; Rice at Texas State Watch online Live Stats

Rice Begins Five-Game Road Swing Tuesday At Texas State
The Rice baseball team, 9-17 overall and 1-5 in Conference USA, is on the road for five-straight games lasting until April 5. The Owls play at longtime foe Texas State on Tuesday (March 26). Start time against the Bobcats (15-9 overall) is set for 6 pm in San Marcos. Rice then plays a three-game C-USA weekend road series at Old Dominion March 29-31. Game times against the Monarchs (15-8, 1-5) are set for 5 pm Friday, 2 pm Saturday and 11 am in Sunday's series finale. All start times listed are Central Time.

Play-By-Play Audio On The Web
Every Rice baseball game is scheduled for a live audio broadcast on the Internet at RiceOwls.com. Tune-in to the broadcast's pregame show 15 minutes before first pitch. Veteran J.P. Heath returns to the booth for his 11th season as the Voice of the Owls. Note that different broadcasters are scheduled to call some of the upcoming games until the completion of the respective Rice men's and women's basketball seasons.

Live Stats Links Online at RiceOwls.com
Links to live play-by-play text and statistics from every game, home and away, are posted on RiceOwls.com. Look for the links on the Rice Athletics front page, the weekly series preview, and/or the baseball schedule page.

Watch League Games Online Via CUSAtv
All Conference USA league games are slated for a live online video broadcast via CUSAtv. The broadcast is a subscription-based service which matches the play-by-play audio with a video feed to create a television-like production on the Internet (either live or in an archived format). Games that have been selected for TV broadcasts can alter the online availability.

Head Coach Matt Bragga
A 19-year veteran of the head coaching ranks, Matt Bragga was named the 21st head coach in Rice baseball history on June 15, 2018. Bragga has spent the last 15 years as the Head Coach at Tennessee Tech, building that program into one of the best in the Ohio Valley Conference. The four-time OVC Coach of the Year led the Golden Eagles to three NCAA Tournament appearances, winning six OVC championships in the past 10 years while winning 40 or more games in four of the past six seasons. In 2018 he helped Tennessee Tech to its best season in school history, amassing a school and OVC-record 53 wins, the most in the country, while leading the team to the league's regular season title and its first-ever trip to the NCAA Super Regionals. The Jefferson, Ohio, native who played collegiately at Kentucky before a pro playing career, owns a Division I coaching record of 455-409-2. Bragga is aided by assistant coaches Cory Barton (Memphis, 2007, first year), Paul Janish (Rice, 2004; second year), and Connor Teykl (Rice, 2017; first year).

Matt Bragga Show Set For Monday Nights During The Season
The Matt Bragga Show, the live weekly Rice baseball show featuring the Owls' new head coach, debuted on March 18 at Christian's Tailgate Bar & Grill (located close to campus at 5114 Kirby). The show is available around the world on RiceOwls.com. Every Monday Coach Bragga reviews games from the previous weekend and previews upcoming series. In addition to discussions on college baseball's national rankings and chase for the C-USA championship, each week's show will include current members of the team, former Owl players and special guests. Fans can catch the show on their phone by downloading the "Tune In" app. The show is a unique opportunity for baseball fans to get direct insight from the Owls' head coach.

Two Owls Coaching On The Corners
There are two former Rice Owls on Matt Bragga's 2019 coaching staff. Former major leaguer and 2003 Rice National Champion Paul Janish is in his second year with the program. Janish (Wiess College) played professionally for 13 years with nine seasons in the major leagues, most recently in 2017 with the Baltimore Orioles. Rice graduate Connor Teykl (Baker College 2017) is in his first season as an assistant coach at his alma mater. As a four-year letterman from 2013 to 2016, Teykl helped lead the Rice baseball program to three Conference USA regular season championships and two league tournament titles. On game days Janish coaches at third base and Teykl coaches at first.

Probable Pitcher
Coach Bragga announced Tuesday's starting pitcher vs. Texas State as sophomore right-hander Kel Bordwine (1-2, 5.75). After a solid debut outing against Rhode Island on the opening weekend of the year, Bordwine made his first collegiate start against No. 24 Arizona (Feb. 20) where he worked 3.0 innings. Last week he started on the road against No. 14 Texas A&M (March 19). Bordwine now ranks fourth on the staff with three starts, all in midweek action. The Cypress, Texas, native has also pitched in relief against Oklahoma, Florida Atlantic and Sam Houston State to name just a few of elite programs and competitive situations he has already faced.

Last Time Out: Rice Defeats UTSA Sunday, 8-6
HOUSTON – With no shortage of drama, the Rice baseball team held off a ninth inning rally by visiting UTSA to claim an 8-6 Conference USA victory over the Roadrunners Sunday afternoon at Reckling Park... Holding a two run lead, UTSA brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate with one away in the top of the ninth inning. Rice junior right-hander Garrett Gayle, however, revved up a pair of strikeouts to end the threat and preserve the 8-6 margin. Gayle notched his first save of the season and the third of his collegiate career. The clutch performance was a second straight solid relief outing for the Cypress, Texas, native after he posted five strikeouts in 2.2 scoreless innings on the road at No. 14 ranked Texas A&M last Tuesday... The Rice hitters meanwhile came alive for eight runs on 11 hits. UTSA was first on the scoreboard with a run in the third inning, but the Owls quickly answered with three in the bottom of the frame on the strength of a two-out bases loaded double by Cade Edwards. The Roadrunners tied the score 3-3 with a two-run homer in the fourth, but Rice continued to fight... The Owls regained the lead with a run in the fifth and added another in the sixth before batting around in three-run seventh to make the score 8-3. Edwards finished the day going 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Eight different Rice players hit safely and seven scored in the game. The Owls were able to score on five of UTSA's eight pitchers who saw action, but the Roadrunners would not go away so easily. UTSA scored three times in the eighth to pull within two before attempting the final rally in the ninth.

Here's Who's Hot
Andrew Dunlap has been red hot. The Owl veteran is 11-for-25 (.440) with three home runs, nine RBI and seven runs scored in the last seven games. He also has a double for an .840 slugging percentage and has been reaching base at a .533 pace over the last seven outings. When going back over the last 18 games, Dunlap is 26-of-68 (.382) with six home runs and five doubles for a steady .750 slugging percentage... Not only did junior second baseman Cade Edwards extend his hitting streak to six games Sunday vs. UTSA, he matched his career-high with three base hits in that series finale. Over the last six games Edwards is 9-for-23 (.391) with three doubles, a triple and a home run for a .739 slugging percentage... Sophomore outfielder Dominic Cox chipped-in a nice contribution the final two games of the UTSA series, going a combined 3-for-7 (.429) with a double, two walks and three runs scored.

20 Career Homers For Andrew Dunlap
Andrew Dunlap's Saturday (March 23) home run vs. UTSA was his team-leading sixth of the season and the 20th of his collegiate career. That's the most homers for an active Rice player, and the most by an Owl since Michael Ratterree reached 31 in 2013. So far Dunlap has belted eight home runs at Reckling Park and 12 other four-baggers at eleven different ballparks. The non-Reckling round-trippers includes: UTSA, U.H., Western Kentucky, Charlotte, LSU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, FAU, Texas A&M, Minute Maid Park and UAB (twice).

Cruzin' Among The C-USA Leaders
Sophomore shortstop Trei Cruz has jumped out to rank among the C-USA statistical leaders in a host of categories. Cruz shares the conference lead in triples (3). The respected hitter is third in the league in walks (18) and fifth in RBI (24). Cruz is also tied for fourth in home runs (5), tied for fifth in total bases (53) and tied for eighth in runs scored (21). He is second overall in total plate appearances (121).

Winning Is Always In Fashion
For the fashion-minded, Rice's 2019 W-L records while wearing the various uniforms is as follows:
4-4 in blue Old English jersey with pinstripe pants
1-1 in blue 'flag' jersey with pinstripe pants
2-4 in all-pinstripes
1-2 in blue 'flag' jersey with white pants
1-3 in all-white
0-1 in blue Old English jersey with white pants
0-1 in blue & gray "R" jersey with gray pants
0-1 in all-gray

Oklahoma Boy, Cinderella Story
Consider the true college baseball tale of Rice senior Daniel Russell. Four years ago Russell played high school baseball in his hometown of Stillwater, Okla., then enrolled at Rice and pursue a double-major in History and Religious Studies. Russell completed 3.5 at Rice (plus the 2018 fall semester) as an exemplary student. He then decided for the final half of his senior year he would serve the baseball program as a much-needed bullpen catcher for the Owls' 2019 season. The role was set up as bullpen catcher-only, but sometimes life throws you a curve. A month into the season Russell has not only worked his way into playing in five Division I games, he's collected three base hits in six at bats (.500), has two RBI and scored a run. The former bullpen catcher has also drawn a walk and been hit by a pitch for a .625 on-base percentage.

Comeaux Named Bragan Slugger Award Watch List
Braden Comeaux been named to the initial watch list for the 2019 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award. From its headquarters in the DFW Metroplex, the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation has combined a passion for baseball and providing youngsters with the incentive and opportunity to pursue a college education for more than 25 years. One position player from a Division I baseball school in the five-state region of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico will be presented with the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award. Since its inception in 2017 the award is based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity. The winner of the award will be announced in May and honored at a gala in the fall. This year Comeaux is hitting .317 with five doubles, 17 runs scored and three stolen bases in 20 games. As one of just four Owls to start all 59 of Rice's games last spring, Comeaux finished third on the team, and tied for ninth in Conference USA overall, with 76 hits. He shared the team lead and tied for eighth in the conference, in at bats (238) and ranked eleventh in C-USA in total plate appearances (278). The Lake Charles, La., native hit safely in a team-best 16-consecutive games during one stretch and he collected two or more hits in a game 22 times.

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Kel Bordwine

Braden Comeaux

Dominic Cox

Trei Cruz

Andrew Dunlap

Cade Edwards

Garrett Gayle

Daniel Russell

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