Wednesday, March 30
Houston, Texas
6:30 PM
Rice University
vs
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Islanders First of Five for Owls at Reckling
3/29/2022 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
First pitch at 6:30
Islanders Open Five-Game Homestand for Owls Rice returns to Reckling Park on March 30 to host Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the first game of a five-game homestand. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 with freshman RHP Mark Perkins facing Islanders LHP Cassius Shy.
How to Follow:
Watch: CUSAtv
Listen: Online / Rice Mobile App
Live Stats
Rice-Texas A&M CC Did You Know?
The Owls and Islanders have met 20 times through the years, first in a pair of home-and-home games in 1962 & 1963 and then with some regularity starting in 2006. That season the Owls traveled south for a single game on 2/28 for their first road game of the season, then returned to Corpus less that two weeks later to face the Islanders as well as TCU and Arizona State as part of the Corpus Christi Classic. They met each year from 2006-12 but had not faced each other since 2015 when they met in the Shriners' Classic at Minute Maid Park last year with the Owls winning 16-5. Roel Garcia picked up the win (5,5,4,4,1,3). Antonio Cruz, Will Karp and Bradley Gneiting each had three hits while Karp and Justin Dunlap each drove in three runs.
Texas A&M CC (20-0)
3/6/2021 Minute Maid Park W 16 - 5
5/6/2015 Reckling Park W 2 - 0
3/12/2014 Reckling Park W 12 - 10
3/7/2012 Reckling Park W 7 - 2
4/20/2011 Reckling Park W 7 - 5
4/14/2010 Reckling Park W 23 - 1 (7)
2/28/2010 Reckling Park W 7 - 2
4/29/2009 Reckling Park W 14 - 2
3/12/2008 Corpus Christi W 7 - 3
2/26/2008 Reckling Park W 11 - 7
3/11/2007 Corpus Christi W 2 - 1
2/25/2007 Reckling Park W 14 - 1
3/19/2006 Reckling Park W 3 - 0
3/18/2006 Reckling Park W 17 - 2
3/12/2006 Corpus Christi W 21 - 1 (7)
2/28/2006 Corpus Christi W 6 - 4
3/9/1963 Corpus Christi W 9 - 7
3/5/1963 Rice Baseball Field W 8 - 1
4/24/1962 Rice Baseball Field W 10 - 2
3/10/1962 Corpus Christi W 10 - 2
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.
Owl on the Hill
#32 Mark Perkins
(6-1, 195, Fr Houston, Texas)
Making his first career start after opening his career with six appearances out of the bullpen. Made his debut at Texas on 2/19 allowed two doubles in a walk without retiring a batter...Has allowed only one run in his last four appearances (5.2 IP, 1.59 ERA)... Picked up his first career win while working a career-long three innings vs. SFA on 3/15 (3,2,1,1,2,2).
Lights Out Linskey
Matthew Linskey is tied for the C-USA lead with four saves, which is two shy of the Owls' team total from 2021... He has not allowed a run in his first 11 appearances, has struck out 24 in 10.2 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .111 average.
Coming in Bunches
Rice has scored at least three runs in an innings in 14 times in the last nine 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. Marshall, the second time they have done so this year. The last time Rice pitchers top double figures in more than three consecutive games was from 4/13-26/19 (Charlotte, MTSU-3, LA Tech)... Owls pitchers have reached double digits in 10 of the last 13 games. In their last 117 innings (13 games), Owls pitchers have fanned 132.
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 .208 average so far (5x24).
Clearing the Bases
The Owls are hitting .333 with the bases loaded in the early going (12x36) 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
Rice's last grand slam on the road came on April 12, 2019 when Justin Collins and Andrew Dunlap each slammed one in the first inning at Charlotte.
Quick Hits
• Nathan Becker Leads the Owls with a .391 average, second with 25 hits and a .531 on base percentage... Has reached base in a career-best 20 consecutive games, the longest streak by an Owl since Branden Comeaux's 20-game streak in 2019. The last time an Owl reached in more than 20 straight was in 2018 when Ryan Chandler reached in each of the final 23 games of the season. Three times he has extended his streak with a pinch hit single.
• Austin Bulman Tied for the team lead in homers (6) and total bases (48). Slammed a pair of homers at Marshall in his return to his home state. Six homers this season are one shy of his career-high of seven last year (in 141 at bats). Owls active career leader with 15 homers.
• Antonio Cruz Has three hits in his last two starts (8 AB) and also scored four runs in his last three games.
• Pierce Gallo Has hit in nine of his last 10 and is hitting a team-best .375 in C-USA games... He drove in a career-high four runs vs. Sam Houston and has driven in 14 runs in his last 10 games after driving in just one in the first 14.
• Guy Garibay Jr. Leads the team in hits (30), runs (19), doubles (6) and is tied for the lead with 20 RBI. Collected a career-best four hits vs. SFA and matched it the next night vs. Sam Houston... 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 hit in a career-best seven straight games (.440, 11x25) while scoring six runs, driving in three and stealing three bases... Three hits in a start vs. Sam Houston were his career-high.
• Justin Long leads the team with 19 walks, two shy of his total in 44 games as a freshman... Was 3x6 with five walks in the series at Marshall... 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 nine of his last 12 games.
• Aaron Smigelski Collected a 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 at Reckling Park 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 Was 4x12 with a triple and three RBI in the series with Marshall... Leads the Owls with four steals.
• Drew Woodcox Has hit in his last seven games at Reckling (.351, 13x37) while also scoring nine runs and driving in seven.
Quick Pitches
• Matthew Linskey Leads C-USA with five saves... Has not allowed a run in his first 11 appearances, has struck out 24 in 10.2 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .111 average. Five saves are one shy of the Owls' team total for 2021 and the most by an Owl since Kendal Jefferies had six in 2019
• 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).
• David Shaw Worked 2.2 hitless shutout innings in a pair of appearances at Marshall.
• Tom Vincent Picked up his first career win in relief against Sam Houston... Has not allowed a run in five of his last six appearances, including none in his last three (4 innings).
• 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
Listen: Online / Rice Mobile App
Live Stats
Rice-Texas A&M CC Did You Know?
The Owls and Islanders have met 20 times through the years, first in a pair of home-and-home games in 1962 & 1963 and then with some regularity starting in 2006. That season the Owls traveled south for a single game on 2/28 for their first road game of the season, then returned to Corpus less that two weeks later to face the Islanders as well as TCU and Arizona State as part of the Corpus Christi Classic. They met each year from 2006-12 but had not faced each other since 2015 when they met in the Shriners' Classic at Minute Maid Park last year with the Owls winning 16-5. Roel Garcia picked up the win (5,5,4,4,1,3). Antonio Cruz, Will Karp and Bradley Gneiting each had three hits while Karp and Justin Dunlap each drove in three runs.
Texas A&M CC (20-0)
3/6/2021 Minute Maid Park W 16 - 5
5/6/2015 Reckling Park W 2 - 0
3/12/2014 Reckling Park W 12 - 10
3/7/2012 Reckling Park W 7 - 2
4/20/2011 Reckling Park W 7 - 5
4/14/2010 Reckling Park W 23 - 1 (7)
2/28/2010 Reckling Park W 7 - 2
4/29/2009 Reckling Park W 14 - 2
3/12/2008 Corpus Christi W 7 - 3
2/26/2008 Reckling Park W 11 - 7
3/11/2007 Corpus Christi W 2 - 1
2/25/2007 Reckling Park W 14 - 1
3/19/2006 Reckling Park W 3 - 0
3/18/2006 Reckling Park W 17 - 2
3/12/2006 Corpus Christi W 21 - 1 (7)
2/28/2006 Corpus Christi W 6 - 4
3/9/1963 Corpus Christi W 9 - 7
3/5/1963 Rice Baseball Field W 8 - 1
4/24/1962 Rice Baseball Field W 10 - 2
3/10/1962 Corpus Christi W 10 - 2
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.
Owl on the Hill
#32 Mark Perkins
(6-1, 195, Fr Houston, Texas)
Making his first career start after opening his career with six appearances out of the bullpen. Made his debut at Texas on 2/19 allowed two doubles in a walk without retiring a batter...Has allowed only one run in his last four appearances (5.2 IP, 1.59 ERA)... Picked up his first career win while working a career-long three innings vs. SFA on 3/15 (3,2,1,1,2,2).
Lights Out Linskey
Matthew Linskey is tied for the C-USA lead with four saves, which is two shy of the Owls' team total from 2021... He has not allowed a run in his first 11 appearances, has struck out 24 in 10.2 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .111 average.
Coming in Bunches
Rice has scored at least three runs in an innings in 14 times in the last nine 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. Marshall, the second time they have done so this year. The last time Rice pitchers top double figures in more than three consecutive games was from 4/13-26/19 (Charlotte, MTSU-3, LA Tech)... Owls pitchers have reached double digits in 10 of the last 13 games. In their last 117 innings (13 games), Owls pitchers have fanned 132.
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 .208 average so far (5x24).
Clearing the Bases
The Owls are hitting .333 with the bases loaded in the early going (12x36) 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
Rice's last grand slam on the road came on April 12, 2019 when Justin Collins and Andrew Dunlap each slammed one in the first inning at Charlotte.
Quick Hits
• Nathan Becker Leads the Owls with a .391 average, second with 25 hits and a .531 on base percentage... Has reached base in a career-best 20 consecutive games, the longest streak by an Owl since Branden Comeaux's 20-game streak in 2019. The last time an Owl reached in more than 20 straight was in 2018 when Ryan Chandler reached in each of the final 23 games of the season. Three times he has extended his streak with a pinch hit single.
• Austin Bulman Tied for the team lead in homers (6) and total bases (48). Slammed a pair of homers at Marshall in his return to his home state. Six homers this season are one shy of his career-high of seven last year (in 141 at bats). Owls active career leader with 15 homers.
• Antonio Cruz Has three hits in his last two starts (8 AB) and also scored four runs in his last three games.
• Pierce Gallo Has hit in nine of his last 10 and is hitting a team-best .375 in C-USA games... He drove in a career-high four runs vs. Sam Houston and has driven in 14 runs in his last 10 games after driving in just one in the first 14.
• Guy Garibay Jr. Leads the team in hits (30), runs (19), doubles (6) and is tied for the lead with 20 RBI. Collected a career-best four hits vs. SFA and matched it the next night vs. Sam Houston... 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 hit in a career-best seven straight games (.440, 11x25) while scoring six runs, driving in three and stealing three bases... Three hits in a start vs. Sam Houston were his career-high.
• Justin Long leads the team with 19 walks, two shy of his total in 44 games as a freshman... Was 3x6 with five walks in the series at Marshall... 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 nine of his last 12 games.
• Aaron Smigelski Collected a 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 at Reckling Park 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 Was 4x12 with a triple and three RBI in the series with Marshall... Leads the Owls with four steals.
• Drew Woodcox Has hit in his last seven games at Reckling (.351, 13x37) while also scoring nine runs and driving in seven.
Quick Pitches
• Matthew Linskey Leads C-USA with five saves... Has not allowed a run in his first 11 appearances, has struck out 24 in 10.2 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .111 average. Five saves are one shy of the Owls' team total for 2021 and the most by an Owl since Kendal Jefferies had six in 2019
• 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).
• David Shaw Worked 2.2 hitless shutout innings in a pair of appearances at Marshall.
• Tom Vincent Picked up his first career win in relief against Sam Houston... Has not allowed a run in five of his last six appearances, including none in his last three (4 innings).
• 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
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