Friday, March 25
Huntington, WV
2:00 PM
Rice University
at
Marshall
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Owls Open C-USA Road Action in Huntington
3/24/2022 5:28:00 PM | Baseball
Series opens at 2 p.m. on Friday
Rice will play its first baseball game outside the city limits of Houston since February 20 this weekend when the Owls travel to Huntington, WV to face Marshall to open their 2022 Conference USA road schedule. The series opens at 2 p.m. on Friday followed by games on Saturday at noon and Sunday at 10 a.m.
How to Follow:
Watch: CUSAtv/YouTube
Listen: Online / Rice Mobile App
Live Stats
Weekend Pitching
Friday: RHP Cooper Chandler (0-4, 5.24) vs. RHP Jeffrey Purnell (3-0, 2.17)
Saturday: RHP Parker Smith (1-2, 3.96) vs. RHP Patrick Copen (1-1, 6.27)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Zac Addkison (0-1, 4.87)
Rice-Marshall Did You Know?
Rice and The Herd have met 30 times, with Rice leading the series 25-5, but Marshall has won three of the last four after sweeping the 2019 series in Huntington with three consecutive walk-off wins. The Owls lead the overall road series 11-4 thanks to an 11-1 record in games played in Charleston, WV, and have also taken both meetings in the Conference USA Tournament.
Rice vs. Marshall (25-5)
5/24/2019 Biloxi, Miss. W 6 - 3
5/18/2019 Huntington, WV L 4 - 5
5/17/2019 Huntington, WV L 3 - 4 (10)
5/16/2019 Huntington, WV L 4 - 5 (11)
5/18/2013 Reckling Park W 6 - 0
5/17/2013 Reckling Park W 13 - 0
5/16/2013 Reckling Park W 4 - 2
4/15/2012 Charleston, W.Va. W 3 - 1
4/14/2012 Charleston, W.Va. W 5 - 1
4/13/2012 Charleston, W.Va. W 9 - 0
4/3/2011 Reckling Park W 5 - 4 (10)
4/2/2011 Reckling Park W 9 - 6
4/1/2011 Reckling Park W 9 - 0
5/28/2010 Cougar Field W 18 - 0 (7)
5/9/2010 Charleston, W.Va. W 14 - 4
5/8/2010 Charleston, W.Va. L 3 - 4
5/7/2010 Charleston, W.Va. W 20 - 4
5/20/2009 Hattiesburg, Miss. W 13 - 0 (7)
4/19/2009 Reckling Park L 7 - 11
4/18/2009 Reckling Park W 10 - 3
4/17/2009 Reckling Park W 7 - 5
3/23/2008 Charleston, W.Va. W 7 - 1
3/22/2008 Charleston, W.Va. W 13 - 9
3/21/2008 Charleston, W.Va. W 6 - 1
4/1/2007 Reckling Park W 12 - 6
3/31/2007 Reckling Park W 5 - 3
3/30/2007 Reckling Park W 13 - 1
5/20/2006 Charleston, WV W 12 - 0 (7)
5/19/2006 Charleston, WV W 14 - 10
5/18/2006 Charleston, WV W 26 - 6
Bixby Family Head Coach José Cruz Jr.
One of the cornerstones of Rice's rise to prominence in college baseball, José Cruz Jr. was named the 22nd head baseball coach at Rice on June 9, 2021. Cruz returned to the Owls from the Detroit Tigers, where he was in his first season with the club as a coach, focusing on hitting instruction and working with the outfielders under manager A.J. Hinch. He is the first former Rice player to be named as the Owls head baseball coach since Harold Stockbridge (1949-52). Cruz's association with Rice began in 1992 when he chose to remain home and sign with the Owls after leading Houston's Bellaire High School to the top ranking in the country in 1992. The signing of the local standout, whose father, Jose Cruz Sr., remains one of the most popular players in Houston Astros history, was a turning point in legendary coach Wayne Graham's efforts to attract top talent to Rice. Cruz shared national freshman of the year honors from Collegiate Baseball and one year later was the consensus conference player of the year and first-team All-America. In his final season at Rice, Cruz hit .377 in 1995 with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs before Seattle made him the third overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft. He made his major league debut with Seattle on May 31, 1997 but was traded to Toronto at the trade deadline. He went on to finish second to Nomar Garciaparra in the 1997 American League Rookie of the Year voting, slamming 26 homers and driving in 68 runs in a combined 104 games. He played the next five years with the Blue Jays, twice topping 30 home runs and he became a member of the 30-30 Club in 2001. He became a free agent after the 2002 season and signed with San Francisco where he helped lead the Giants to the playoffs, hitting .250 with 20 homers and 68 RBI and winning a Gold Glove. He went on to play five additional seasons with the Rays, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Dodgers and Padres before retiring as a member of the Houston Astros in 2008. While he was with the Astros, Cruz was reunited with a pair of former Rice teammates (Lance Berkman and Tim Byrdak), the first time three Owls were teammates at the major league level.
Cruz is aided by associate head coach and fellow former Owl, Paul Janish (Rice, 2004; fifth year), first year pitching coach Colter Bostick (St. Mary's 2014) and Trevor Putzig (Tenn Tech, 2018; second year).
Houston All the Way
Jose Cruz Jr. is one of three former Owls to have played baseball at the high school, college and Major League levels in Houston. Philip Barzilla was the first to do so, playing at Dulles HS and Rice before appearing in one game with the Astros in 2006. Cruz joined the Astros in 2008 and Lance Pendleton (Kingwood HS) become the most recent, appearing with the Astros in 2011.
Owls on the Hill
#43 Cooper Chandler (6-2, 200, Graduate Student Frisco, Texas)
Making his sixth start (all in the Friday slot, but first during the day)... Matched the longest outing by an Owls starter this year, tossing six shutout innings vs. UAB in his last start (6,5,0,0,2,7)... Seven strikeouts were his season high and his most since he fanned a career-high10 in his second start for Pepperdine in 2020... Seventh in C-USA with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings and leads the Owls with 29... Started the season opener at Texas and the home opener vs. Lamar... Leads the team with 22 K's this year... Returned home to Texas for his final collegiate season after posting a 12-5 record and 3.17 ERA over 147.2 innings (98 strikeouts/45 walks) for the Waves and earning Freshman All-American honors in 2018. He pitched in six games with three starts last season at Pepperdine.
#26 Parker Smith (6-3, 230, Freshman Houston, Texas)
Making his sixth start, third in the weekend rotation and first in the Saturday slot... Struck out a career-high five in 4 innings vs. UAB in his C-USA debut (4,5,2,2,4,5)... Has posted a 34.08 ERA in his five starts, tops on the staff.. Made his collegiate debut in relief against Texas on 2/20 (2,2,1,1,0,0) and followed that with a midweek start at HBU in the first meeting between former Rice and Astros teammates José Cruz Jr. and Lance Berkman. Smith worked six shutout innings in which he allowed a pair of hits and struck out four while throwing just 56 pitches. Smith prepped at Houston's Bellaire HS, the same school that sent Cruz to Rice in 1992.
In Good Company
Aaron Smigelski homered twice on Sunday vs. UAB, the second time in the last three games the freshman has homered in consecutive at-bats in a game. The last Owl to have multiple games with at least two home runs in the same season was Anthony Rendon in 2010. Rendon had three, two-homer games during the regular season and added a three-home run game against Rider in the Austin Regional on his way to winning the Dick Howser Trophy and being named player of the year by Baseball America and Rawlings Sporting Goods.
Coming in Bunches
Rice has scored at least three runs in an innings 11 times in the last six games after doing it only six times in the first 16 games.
Midweek Magic
Rice is 3-3 this year in midweek games with the wins over HBU, SFA and Sam Houston. The Owls were 5-1 last year in the non-conference midweek action.
Punchouts
Owls pitching topped double figures in strikeouts in three consecutive games vs, Houston & Texas Tech for the first time since they did it in each game of the series vs. Southern last year (March 19-21) and have reached double digits in seven of the last 10 games. In their last 90 innings (10 games), Owls pitchers have fanned 99.
Getting it Done in a Pinch
Rice pinch hitters are 9x21 so far this year and have already surpassed their total from 2021 (7x36) and are the most for the Owls since they had nine in 2019. The last season Rice reached double figures in pinch hits was when the Owls were 10x45 in 2015... Nathan Becker (3x4) leads the team, matching Ben Dukes (3x10) total as the team leader last year. One the other side of the diamond, Rice pitchers have held opposing pinch hitters to a .227 average so far (5x22).
Clearing the Bases
The Owls are hitting .364 with the bases loaded in the early going (12x33) including three grand slams. The Owls have hit their last five slams at Reckling Park:
Quick Hits
• Nathan Becker has reached base in a career-best 17 consecutive games, the longest streak by an Owl since Branden Comeaux's 20-game streak in 2019. Three times he has extended his streak with a pinch hit single.
• Austin Bulman is second on the team with 15 hits and 10 walks, tied for second with 10 runs and two homers and third with hits (14) and is second with 10 RBI and eight walks.
• Antonio Cruz has three hits in his last two starts (8 AB) and also scored four runs in his last three games.
• Pierce Gallo d has a seven-game hitting streak to tie Drew Woodcox for the longest active streak on the squad... He drove in a career-high four runs vs. Sam Houston and has driven in a run win six of his last seven games (12 total).
• Guy Garibay Jr. Leads the team hits (27), runs (17), doubles (6) and RBI (198). Collected a career-best four hits vs. SFA and matched it the next night vs. Sam Houston... He is hitting .480 in his last six games (12x25)....After hitting his first career homer at Louisiana on 2/28/21 he has hit his last nine homers at Reckling Park.
• Johnny Hoyle Has collected seven hits in 13 at bats in the last four games along with four runs, three RBI and three stolen bases... Three hits in a start vs. Sam Houston were his career high.
• Justin Long leads the team with 14 walks... Picked up his first multi-RBI game of the year vs. Sam Houston driving in a pair on a sac fly when his bases-loaded drive to center was snagged by the diving Bearkats centerfielder.
• Jack Riedel has hit in eight of his last 10.
• Aaron Smigelski has hit in 15 of his first 17 games of his college career (19x51), the first two as a pinch hitter and the last 13 as a starter... He has five homers in his last six games and homered in three consecutive at bats (his last vs. SFA and his first two vs. UAB)... His first homer against the Blazers was measured by StatCast at 444 feet, the longest by an Owl.
• Connor Walsh leads the Owls with four steals.
• Drew Woodcox Has hit in seven straight (.351, 13x37) while also scoring nine runs and driving in seven... He is slugging .623 after collecting seven extra base hits in his streak (5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR)... He did not having an extra-base hit in his first 46 at-bats.
In Check
Texas Tech came into Reckling Park hitting .285 as a team and had slugged 18 homers in its first 14 games, but the Owls held them to a .254 average on the weekend and surrendered only one home run. The Owls held the Red Raiders, who had scored 12 runs in the first inning over their first 14 games, to one unearned run in the first inning of the three games.
Quick Pitches
• Matthew Linskey Has not allowed a run in his first nine appearances and has struck out 20 in 8.2 innings,.. Tied for fourth in C-USA with three saves, including a career-long 1.2 inning effort vs. UAB in the conference opener.
• Mark Perkins Picked up his first career win with a career-long three innings against SFA on 3/15. After being touched for a pair of doubles and walking a batter without recording an out in his debut at Texas, he's allowed two runs in 7.2 innings (five appearances).
• Tom Vincent Picked up his first career win in relief against Sam Houston.
• Garrett Zaskoda Matched his career-high with four K's (in three innings) vs. Houston... Has worked at least an inning in eight of nine appearances.
How to Follow:
Watch: CUSAtv/YouTube
Listen: Online / Rice Mobile App
Live Stats
Weekend Pitching
Friday: RHP Cooper Chandler (0-4, 5.24) vs. RHP Jeffrey Purnell (3-0, 2.17)
Saturday: RHP Parker Smith (1-2, 3.96) vs. RHP Patrick Copen (1-1, 6.27)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Zac Addkison (0-1, 4.87)
Rice-Marshall Did You Know?
Rice and The Herd have met 30 times, with Rice leading the series 25-5, but Marshall has won three of the last four after sweeping the 2019 series in Huntington with three consecutive walk-off wins. The Owls lead the overall road series 11-4 thanks to an 11-1 record in games played in Charleston, WV, and have also taken both meetings in the Conference USA Tournament.
Rice vs. Marshall (25-5)
5/24/2019 Biloxi, Miss. W 6 - 3
5/18/2019 Huntington, WV L 4 - 5
5/17/2019 Huntington, WV L 3 - 4 (10)
5/16/2019 Huntington, WV L 4 - 5 (11)
5/18/2013 Reckling Park W 6 - 0
5/17/2013 Reckling Park W 13 - 0
5/16/2013 Reckling Park W 4 - 2
4/15/2012 Charleston, W.Va. W 3 - 1
4/14/2012 Charleston, W.Va. W 5 - 1
4/13/2012 Charleston, W.Va. W 9 - 0
4/3/2011 Reckling Park W 5 - 4 (10)
4/2/2011 Reckling Park W 9 - 6
4/1/2011 Reckling Park W 9 - 0
5/28/2010 Cougar Field W 18 - 0 (7)
5/9/2010 Charleston, W.Va. W 14 - 4
5/8/2010 Charleston, W.Va. L 3 - 4
5/7/2010 Charleston, W.Va. W 20 - 4
5/20/2009 Hattiesburg, Miss. W 13 - 0 (7)
4/19/2009 Reckling Park L 7 - 11
4/18/2009 Reckling Park W 10 - 3
4/17/2009 Reckling Park W 7 - 5
3/23/2008 Charleston, W.Va. W 7 - 1
3/22/2008 Charleston, W.Va. W 13 - 9
3/21/2008 Charleston, W.Va. W 6 - 1
4/1/2007 Reckling Park W 12 - 6
3/31/2007 Reckling Park W 5 - 3
3/30/2007 Reckling Park W 13 - 1
5/20/2006 Charleston, WV W 12 - 0 (7)
5/19/2006 Charleston, WV W 14 - 10
5/18/2006 Charleston, WV W 26 - 6
Bixby Family Head Coach José Cruz Jr.
One of the cornerstones of Rice's rise to prominence in college baseball, José Cruz Jr. was named the 22nd head baseball coach at Rice on June 9, 2021. Cruz returned to the Owls from the Detroit Tigers, where he was in his first season with the club as a coach, focusing on hitting instruction and working with the outfielders under manager A.J. Hinch. He is the first former Rice player to be named as the Owls head baseball coach since Harold Stockbridge (1949-52). Cruz's association with Rice began in 1992 when he chose to remain home and sign with the Owls after leading Houston's Bellaire High School to the top ranking in the country in 1992. The signing of the local standout, whose father, Jose Cruz Sr., remains one of the most popular players in Houston Astros history, was a turning point in legendary coach Wayne Graham's efforts to attract top talent to Rice. Cruz shared national freshman of the year honors from Collegiate Baseball and one year later was the consensus conference player of the year and first-team All-America. In his final season at Rice, Cruz hit .377 in 1995 with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs before Seattle made him the third overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft. He made his major league debut with Seattle on May 31, 1997 but was traded to Toronto at the trade deadline. He went on to finish second to Nomar Garciaparra in the 1997 American League Rookie of the Year voting, slamming 26 homers and driving in 68 runs in a combined 104 games. He played the next five years with the Blue Jays, twice topping 30 home runs and he became a member of the 30-30 Club in 2001. He became a free agent after the 2002 season and signed with San Francisco where he helped lead the Giants to the playoffs, hitting .250 with 20 homers and 68 RBI and winning a Gold Glove. He went on to play five additional seasons with the Rays, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Dodgers and Padres before retiring as a member of the Houston Astros in 2008. While he was with the Astros, Cruz was reunited with a pair of former Rice teammates (Lance Berkman and Tim Byrdak), the first time three Owls were teammates at the major league level.
Cruz is aided by associate head coach and fellow former Owl, Paul Janish (Rice, 2004; fifth year), first year pitching coach Colter Bostick (St. Mary's 2014) and Trevor Putzig (Tenn Tech, 2018; second year).
Houston All the Way
Jose Cruz Jr. is one of three former Owls to have played baseball at the high school, college and Major League levels in Houston. Philip Barzilla was the first to do so, playing at Dulles HS and Rice before appearing in one game with the Astros in 2006. Cruz joined the Astros in 2008 and Lance Pendleton (Kingwood HS) become the most recent, appearing with the Astros in 2011.
Owls on the Hill
#43 Cooper Chandler (6-2, 200, Graduate Student Frisco, Texas)
Making his sixth start (all in the Friday slot, but first during the day)... Matched the longest outing by an Owls starter this year, tossing six shutout innings vs. UAB in his last start (6,5,0,0,2,7)... Seven strikeouts were his season high and his most since he fanned a career-high10 in his second start for Pepperdine in 2020... Seventh in C-USA with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings and leads the Owls with 29... Started the season opener at Texas and the home opener vs. Lamar... Leads the team with 22 K's this year... Returned home to Texas for his final collegiate season after posting a 12-5 record and 3.17 ERA over 147.2 innings (98 strikeouts/45 walks) for the Waves and earning Freshman All-American honors in 2018. He pitched in six games with three starts last season at Pepperdine.
#26 Parker Smith (6-3, 230, Freshman Houston, Texas)
Making his sixth start, third in the weekend rotation and first in the Saturday slot... Struck out a career-high five in 4 innings vs. UAB in his C-USA debut (4,5,2,2,4,5)... Has posted a 34.08 ERA in his five starts, tops on the staff.. Made his collegiate debut in relief against Texas on 2/20 (2,2,1,1,0,0) and followed that with a midweek start at HBU in the first meeting between former Rice and Astros teammates José Cruz Jr. and Lance Berkman. Smith worked six shutout innings in which he allowed a pair of hits and struck out four while throwing just 56 pitches. Smith prepped at Houston's Bellaire HS, the same school that sent Cruz to Rice in 1992.
In Good Company
Aaron Smigelski homered twice on Sunday vs. UAB, the second time in the last three games the freshman has homered in consecutive at-bats in a game. The last Owl to have multiple games with at least two home runs in the same season was Anthony Rendon in 2010. Rendon had three, two-homer games during the regular season and added a three-home run game against Rider in the Austin Regional on his way to winning the Dick Howser Trophy and being named player of the year by Baseball America and Rawlings Sporting Goods.
Coming in Bunches
Rice has scored at least three runs in an innings 11 times in the last six games after doing it only six times in the first 16 games.
Midweek Magic
Rice is 3-3 this year in midweek games with the wins over HBU, SFA and Sam Houston. The Owls were 5-1 last year in the non-conference midweek action.
Punchouts
Owls pitching topped double figures in strikeouts in three consecutive games vs, Houston & Texas Tech for the first time since they did it in each game of the series vs. Southern last year (March 19-21) and have reached double digits in seven of the last 10 games. In their last 90 innings (10 games), Owls pitchers have fanned 99.
Getting it Done in a Pinch
Rice pinch hitters are 9x21 so far this year and have already surpassed their total from 2021 (7x36) and are the most for the Owls since they had nine in 2019. The last season Rice reached double figures in pinch hits was when the Owls were 10x45 in 2015... Nathan Becker (3x4) leads the team, matching Ben Dukes (3x10) total as the team leader last year. One the other side of the diamond, Rice pitchers have held opposing pinch hitters to a .227 average so far (5x22).
Clearing the Bases
The Owls are hitting .364 with the bases loaded in the early going (12x33) including three grand slams. The Owls have hit their last five slams at Reckling Park:
- Nathan Becker, 5th inning vs. SFA 3/15
- Guy Garibay Jr. 2nd inning vs. SFA 3/15
- Austin Bulman, 8th inning vs. Lamar 2/27
- Hal Hughes. 1st inning vs. Charlotte 5/16/21
- Connor Walsh, 8th inning vs. Southern 3/19/21
Quick Hits
• Nathan Becker has reached base in a career-best 17 consecutive games, the longest streak by an Owl since Branden Comeaux's 20-game streak in 2019. Three times he has extended his streak with a pinch hit single.
• Austin Bulman is second on the team with 15 hits and 10 walks, tied for second with 10 runs and two homers and third with hits (14) and is second with 10 RBI and eight walks.
• Antonio Cruz has three hits in his last two starts (8 AB) and also scored four runs in his last three games.
• Pierce Gallo d has a seven-game hitting streak to tie Drew Woodcox for the longest active streak on the squad... He drove in a career-high four runs vs. Sam Houston and has driven in a run win six of his last seven games (12 total).
• Guy Garibay Jr. Leads the team hits (27), runs (17), doubles (6) and RBI (198). Collected a career-best four hits vs. SFA and matched it the next night vs. Sam Houston... He is hitting .480 in his last six games (12x25)....After hitting his first career homer at Louisiana on 2/28/21 he has hit his last nine homers at Reckling Park.
• Johnny Hoyle Has collected seven hits in 13 at bats in the last four games along with four runs, three RBI and three stolen bases... Three hits in a start vs. Sam Houston were his career high.
• Justin Long leads the team with 14 walks... Picked up his first multi-RBI game of the year vs. Sam Houston driving in a pair on a sac fly when his bases-loaded drive to center was snagged by the diving Bearkats centerfielder.
• Jack Riedel has hit in eight of his last 10.
• Aaron Smigelski has hit in 15 of his first 17 games of his college career (19x51), the first two as a pinch hitter and the last 13 as a starter... He has five homers in his last six games and homered in three consecutive at bats (his last vs. SFA and his first two vs. UAB)... His first homer against the Blazers was measured by StatCast at 444 feet, the longest by an Owl.
• Connor Walsh leads the Owls with four steals.
• Drew Woodcox Has hit in seven straight (.351, 13x37) while also scoring nine runs and driving in seven... He is slugging .623 after collecting seven extra base hits in his streak (5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR)... He did not having an extra-base hit in his first 46 at-bats.
In Check
Texas Tech came into Reckling Park hitting .285 as a team and had slugged 18 homers in its first 14 games, but the Owls held them to a .254 average on the weekend and surrendered only one home run. The Owls held the Red Raiders, who had scored 12 runs in the first inning over their first 14 games, to one unearned run in the first inning of the three games.
Quick Pitches
• Matthew Linskey Has not allowed a run in his first nine appearances and has struck out 20 in 8.2 innings,.. Tied for fourth in C-USA with three saves, including a career-long 1.2 inning effort vs. UAB in the conference opener.
• Mark Perkins Picked up his first career win with a career-long three innings against SFA on 3/15. After being touched for a pair of doubles and walking a batter without recording an out in his debut at Texas, he's allowed two runs in 7.2 innings (five appearances).
• Tom Vincent Picked up his first career win in relief against Sam Houston.
• Garrett Zaskoda Matched his career-high with four K's (in three innings) vs. Houston... Has worked at least an inning in eight of nine appearances.
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