Owls Open Road Swing Tuesday Night At Texas

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April 9 (Tues.) 6:30 pm; Rice at Texas Watch online Live Stats

Rice Begins Road Swing Tuesday Night At Texas; Owls Return To C-USA Action Friday At Charlotte
The Rice baseball team, 14-20 overall, begins a four-game road swing Tuesday (April 9) against longtime foe Texas. First pitch against the Longhorns (21-13) is set for 6:30 pm at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. Rice then returns to Conference USA league play with a three-game weekend series at Charlotte (April 12-14). Game times against the 49ers (12-18-1) are set for 5 pm on both Friday and Saturday, followed by an 11 a.m. first pitch in Sunday's series finale. All times listed are Central Time.

Watch Tuesday's Game On The Longhorn Network
Tuesday's game at Texas is slated for a live broadcast on The Longhorn Network. Broadcasters Lowell Galindo and Keith Moreland have the call from UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

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.

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.

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 460-412-2. 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.

News & Notes From Previous Appearance (DH Saturday vs. FIU)
HOUSTON – Visiting Florida International won both games of a Conference USA double-header Saturday at Reckling Park, taking the first game 13-7 and the nightcap 5-2.
Hitting Streak: Sophomore Trei Cruz extended his hitting streak to nine games, the longest of his collegiate career.
Two Two-Hit Games: Junior Aaron Beaulaurier had two hits in both the games Saturday to finish a combined 4-for-7 (.571) with a triple (.857 SLG%) and a walk (.625 OB%).
Cruz Batting For Cruz: True freshman Antonio Cruz pinch hit for older brother Trei in game one and lined a RBI double off the wall in left-center. Rookie Cruz then started as the DH in game two and went 1-for-3.
Season-Long Outing: For the second time in as many outings junior Jackson Parthasarathy worked 7.0 innings, matching the longest outing of his career. The right-hander from Austin fired 7.0 frames at Old Dominion (March 30) and matched that total starting game two of the twinbill (April 6). Parthasarathy has walked only two batters in his last 16.2 innings.

Here's Who's Hot
In Saturday's double-header vs. FIU senior Andrew Dunlap went 4-for-8 with a double and two RBI, but there is a little more to his hot streak than that. When going back over the last 26 games, Dunlap is 38-of-101 (.376) with ten home runs, a triple and seven doubles for an eye-opening .762 slugging percentage. He's also been reaching base at a .484 pace over the last 26 games... Keep an eye on Aaron Beaulaurier heating up over the last five games. The junior outfielder is a combined 10-for-20 with two doubles and a triple (.700 SLG%), and he has scored six runs in the last five games... Sophomore Trei Cruz has a career-best nine-game hitting streak, but he also has provided an even bigger offensive punch over the past five games. Cruz is a combined 9-for-21 (.381) with a double, triple and home run (.667 SLG%). He's scored six times with four RBI in that stretch... Junior third baseman Braden Comeaux went 4-for-12 (.333) in the FIU series with three RBI and three runs scored. Comeaux has been hitting .351 conference-only games this season.

Rice vs. Ranked Foes
Facing nationally ranked teams is nothing new for Rice. The Owls have played 15 games against nine ranked opponents. Rice has posted two victories against ranked teams this season (Big 12 foes Baylor and TCU).

24 Career Homers For Andrew Dunlap
Andrew Dunlap launched another home run on April 5 vs. FIU, his team-leading tenth homer of the season and the 24th of his collegiate career. That's the most home runs for an active Rice player, and the most by an Owl since Michael Ratterree reached 31 in 2013. So far Dunlap has belted nine home runs at Reckling Park and 15 other four-baggers at 12 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, UAB (twice) and Old Dominion (three times).

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 is tied for second in the league in triples (4), and third overall in both at bats (135) and total plate appearances (161). The former Houston prep star is fifth in total bases (71) and tied for sixth in both home runs (6) and RBI (28). Cruz is tied for seventh in the league in runs scored (28) and he ranks tenth in walks (21).

Power Surge
Rice already has 11 triples this year to match its full-season total from a year ago. The Owls have also hit almost as many home runs this year (30) as the team did all of last season (35). The team is close to matching its 2018 home run total in just 60-percent of the at-bats.

Winning Is Always In Fashion
For the fashion-minded, Rice's 2019 W-L records while wearing the various uniform combinations is as follows:
2-1 in blue & gray "R" jersey with gray pants
5-5 in blue Old English jersey with pinstripe pants
1-1 in all-gray
2-3 in all-white
2-4 in all-pinstripes
1-2 in blue 'flag' jersey with pinstripe pants
1-2 in blue 'flag' jersey with white pants
0-1 in blue Old English jersey with white pants
0-1 in blue & gray "R" jersey with pinstripe pants

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 pursued a double-major in History and Religious Studies. Russell completed three years 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 To 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 .322 with eight doubles, 28 runs scored and three stolen bases playing in 28 of the Owls' 34 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.

20th Year At Reckling Park
Other schools have tried to follow Rice baseball's lead, building bigger and more expensive stadiums, but Reckling Park remains among the best venues in college baseball. The 2019 season is now the Owls' 20th at the stadium. Rice has won an eye-opening 76 percent of its more than 630 games at Reckling Park since opening for the 2000 season.

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