Hefty Home Slate Highlights 2022 Baseball Schedule
11/4/2021 10:30:00 AM | Baseball
Most home games since 2000
While the 2021 baseball season has come to an end, the countdown to first pitch of the Jose Cruz Jr. era for Rice baseball is underway. The 2022 schedule was officially released on Thursday and Owls season ticket members are now able to renew their tickets and make their plans for the upcoming season.
The Owls are scheduled to play 34 of their 56 games at Reckling Park, the largest regular season home slate since Reckling Park first opened its gates in 2000. The non-conference schedule is headlined by a weekend series with 2021 Super Regional participant Texas Tech and weeknight games vs. regional rivals Baylor, Texas A&M, and Houston. The non-conference slate also includes weekend series vs. Lamar and Harvard, as well as weeknight matchups vs. Sam Houston, HBU, and Louisiana. In Conference USA play, the Owls will welcome UAB, FAU, UTSA, WKU and Middle Tennessee.
The 2022 campaign begins on the road Feb. 18 with opener of a three-game weekend series against longtime rival Texas, followed by a road game at HBU on February 23. Cruz's home debut is set for February 25 when the Owls open a three-game set with Lamar.
The annual three-game Silver Glove Series with Houston opens at Reckling on March 8, followed by a game at Schroeder Park on May 4 and a final game at Constellation Field on May 17.
2020 and 2021 season ticket members will receive renewal information by email and can renew season tickets by logging on at www.riceowls.com/myaccount. Seating will revert to our standard seat layout prior to COVID seating, and any accounts that placed a deposit during the summer will have the deposit amount automatically deducted on the invoice.
Any fans interested in becoming season ticket members can indicate their interest on this request form.
The Owls are scheduled to play 34 of their 56 games at Reckling Park, the largest regular season home slate since Reckling Park first opened its gates in 2000. The non-conference schedule is headlined by a weekend series with 2021 Super Regional participant Texas Tech and weeknight games vs. regional rivals Baylor, Texas A&M, and Houston. The non-conference slate also includes weekend series vs. Lamar and Harvard, as well as weeknight matchups vs. Sam Houston, HBU, and Louisiana. In Conference USA play, the Owls will welcome UAB, FAU, UTSA, WKU and Middle Tennessee.
The 2022 campaign begins on the road Feb. 18 with opener of a three-game weekend series against longtime rival Texas, followed by a road game at HBU on February 23. Cruz's home debut is set for February 25 when the Owls open a three-game set with Lamar.
The annual three-game Silver Glove Series with Houston opens at Reckling on March 8, followed by a game at Schroeder Park on May 4 and a final game at Constellation Field on May 17.
2020 and 2021 season ticket members will receive renewal information by email and can renew season tickets by logging on at www.riceowls.com/myaccount. Seating will revert to our standard seat layout prior to COVID seating, and any accounts that placed a deposit during the summer will have the deposit amount automatically deducted on the invoice.
Any fans interested in becoming season ticket members can indicate their interest on this request form.
Some fun facts about Rice's 2022 baseball opponents are as follows.
- The 2022 season marks the sixth year for David Pierce to serve as the Texas head coach, coming off his second trip to the CWS with the Longhorns.
- Texas posted a 50-17 record in 2021, the most by the Longhorns since they also won 50 in 2010. The win total was also a career-high for Pierce.
- The Longhorns saw seven players drafted in 2021, their most since 2017, but leading hitter Ivan Melendez, who led the team with a .319 average and 13 home runs, chose to return to school.
- Lance Berkman will join his former Rice teammate and fellow Owl All-American Jose Cruz Jr. in making his debut as a college head coach in 2022.
- Berkman welcomed 22 new players to the roster for the start of fall drills.
- While the teams have met 27 times in baseball, dating back to 1966, the game on February 23 will mark the first time since 1970 they have met on the HBU campus.
- The Cardinals and Owls had met every season from 1994 through 2019 before the streak was broken due to the pandemic, but this will be the first three-game series between the two since 1989.
- Head coach Will Davis is in his sixth season and led the Cardinals to a 25-23 mark last year, his best finish since they were 33-25 in his first season.
- Davis' 2021 recruiting class was tabbed as the 11th best junior college class in the country by TheJBB.net.
- The Owls and Bears face off for the first time at Reckling Park since 2011.
- The last two meetings (2013 & 2019) have been at Minute Maid Park.
- Head coach Steve Rodriguez is entering his seventh year in Waco. The 2017 Big XII Coach of the Year has posted a 171-118 record in six seasons.
- The Crimson return to the diamond as defending Ivy League champions after seeing their 2020 season cut short and the 2021 campaign canceled.
- Head coach Bill Decker has guided the Crimson since 2021 and had led Harvard to its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2005 in its last full season.
- This will be the first meeting between the schools since 2013. They have met seven times, including four games in 2002, which included both a three-game series during the season and an opening round game of the 2002 Rice Regional at the NCAA tournament.
- The battle for the Silver Glove resumes in 2022.
- Todd Whitting is in his 12th season of guiding his alma mater where he has posted a 345-263-1 mark.
- The Cougars are looking to bounce back from a 19-34 finish in 2021.
- The 2021 season is the 10th as head coach of his alma mater for Tim Tadlock.
- Tech finished 2021 with a 39-17 record and earned the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to host a Super Regional before falling to Stanford.
- Consensus All-American Jace Jung (.337/.462/.697) will be the cornerstone of the Red Raiders attack. He smashed 21 homers and drove in 67 runs to lead the team.
- Johnny Cardenas heads into his 14th season with the Lumberjacks.
- SFA finished the 2021 season with a 20-31 record overall and 17-22 in Southland action.
- This will be the first meeting between the schools since 2015.
- Jay Sirianni enters his third season at the helm of the Bearkats squad after serving as the pitching coach the previous five years.
- Sam Houston finished last season 30-25, missing a return to the NCAA tournament by one game after falling to McNeese State 2-1 in the Southland Conference championship game.
- The Bearkats are faced with replacing outfielder Colton Cowser, who became the highest drafted player in school history when Baltimore selected him with the fifth overall pick in the MLB Draft.
- Casey Dunn joins the Blazers in 2022 after a successful coaching stint at the helm of the Samford University program for the past 17 seasons, including three NCAA tournament appearances.
- The Blazers were 18-36 last season, dropping their season finale to their new head coach, 9-4 vs. Samford.
- Rice took three of four from the Blazers last season in Birmingham.
- Jim Schlossnagle opens his first season with the Aggies after 18 seasons at TCU where he compiled a 734-346 record (5-12 vs. Rice).
- He takes over an Aggie team that finished 29-27 (9-21 in the SEC) last season, including a 2-1 loss to Rice at Blue Bell Park
- The schools met in back-to-back Super Regionals at Reckling Park in 2007 & 2008 with the Owls advancing to the College World Series each time.
- Head coach Jeff Waggoner (2016 C-USA Coach of the Year) is in his 16th year with the program.
- Offensive standouts Luke Edwards (.331) and Ryan Leitch (10 HR in 32 games) are back to pace The Herd.
- This will mark the second time the Owls and Herd have met in Huntington, with Marshall having swept the initial three-game series in 2019.
- Head Coach Scott Malone enters his 15th season at the helm of the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi baseball program for the 2022 season.
- The Islanders were 25-29 last season, but were 20-14 in Southland Conference action.
- Rice has won all 20 games against the Islanders.
- Head coach John McCormack returns for his 13th year as the head coach and his 31st year with the program overall.
- The fifth seed in the C-USA tournament, FAU eliminated conference regular season champion and 16th ranked Charlotte in the loser's bracket.
- Nolan Schanuel was named Freshman All-America (by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game) as well as Second Team ABCA All-Region.
- Lane Burroughs heads into his sixth season coming off a milestone year for the Bulldogs, who hosted an NCAA Regional and reached the C-USA Championship game for the first time in school history in 2021 and topped 40 wins for the sixth time in school history.
- Taylor Young, who was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and earned third-team All-American honors, returns for a fifth season.
- C-USA All-Freshman selection Cole McConnell was fifth in the conference with a .347 average.
- UTSA is under the direction of former Rice letterman and assistant coach Pat Hallmark, who is in his third season leading the Roadrunners.
- The Roadrunners ranked among the nation's top-25 in 2021 in a bevy of categories including ninth in runs per game (7.9), 18th in average (.302), 19th in slugging percentage (.480) and 21st in on-base percentage (.396).
- The Owls hold a 12-7 lead in the series at Reckling Park.
- Scott Berry enters his 13th year at Southern Miss and is coming off his seventh NCAA tournament appearance.
- He needs 34 wins to become the winningest coach in school history
- Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Ben Ethridge will be counted on to offset the loss of a pair of all-conference pitchers (Walker Powell & Hunter Stanley)
- John Pawlowski enters his seventh season at WKU.
- The Hilltoppers earned the third seed at the C-USA tournament last season.
- OF Jackson Gray was a second team All-Conference USA selection and named to the ABCA/Rawlings Midwest All-Region Second Team.
- Robert Woodard was named the Keith LeClair Coach of the Year in C-USA after guiding the 49ers to a 40-win season, a C-USA season title and a return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011 in his first full season as head coach.
- 2021 C-USA Player of the Year Austin Knight headlines the returners for the 49ers on offense while all-conference pick Christian Lothes heads the returning pitchers.
- Lothes and Will Butcher were C-USA All-Freshman team selections.
- Matt Deggs enters his third season as head coach after guiding them to the semifinals of the Sun Belt tournament last year.
- The Ragin Cajuns finished 32-23 in 2021, including a sweep of Rice in late February.
- The Owls will be looking to break a seven-game losing streak vs. Louisiana. Their last win came in 2011 when they took a 2-1 decision in Lafayette.
- Jim Toman is in his fourth season leading the Blue Raiders.
- The pitching staff must overcome the loss of RHP Aaron Brown, who was taking in the ninth round of the MLB Draft by Houston.
- The Owls have won seven of nine in the series at Reckling, including the last four in a row.
- Mervyl Melendez enters his sixth season leading the Panthers
- First baseman Adrian Figueroa was named by Collegiate Baseball to its freshman All-America team after hitting .324 and starting all 51 games.
- Former Florida Marlins star Jeff Conine was named the Associate Head Coach in June.
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