Tuesday, April 12
Huntsville, TX
6:30 PM
Rice University
at
Sam Houston
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Owls Travel to Huntsville on Tuesday
4/11/2022 10:02:00 PM | Baseball
First pitch at 6:30
Rice closes out a stretch of four road games with a trip to Huntsville on Tuesday to wrap up the 2022 series with Sam Houston. First pitch is set for 6:30
How to Follow:
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Online / Rice Mobile App
Live Stats
Pitching Matchup
RHP Mark Perkins (1-0, 6.30) vs. RHP Logan Hewitt (1-1, 8.71)
Owl on the Hill
#32 Mark Perkins
6-1, 195, Fr. Houston, Texas)
Making his second straight midweek start, but his first appearance since March 30... Made the start vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2.1,1,3,3,3,2)... Left the game with a 2-1 lead and two runners on... Opened 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).
Rice-Sam Houston Did You Know?
Rice broke a streak of six consecutive wins by the road team in the series when the Owls defeated the Bearkats 13-5 on 3/16 at Reckling and the Owls will be looking for the first sweep of the season series since 2016... This will be the 15th game between the schools at Sam Houston's Don Sanders Stadium since it opened in 2006... Rice leads the series 9-5 and has won the last four games played in Huntsville...The Owls' last loss in Huntsville came in 2013... Four of the first five games at Don Sanders were decided by two runs or less, including three one-run games in which the winning runs were scored in the ninth... While normally broken up during the season, the schools played a home-and-home series on consecutive days in 2015... In the most recent game in Huntsville, Trei Cruz homered in the first and the Owls rolled to an 11-5 win.
RICE @Don Sanders Stadium (9-5)
4/2/2019 W 11 - 5
5/8/2018 W 5 - 3
3/28/2017 W 5 - 3
3/2/2016 W 8 - 3
3/25/2015 L 4 - 11
3/5/2014 W 8 - 5
3/26/2013 L 3 - 9
5/15/2012 W 5 - 0
3/30/2011 W 5 - 2
4/13/2010 W 8 - 7
3/3/2009 L 6 - 8
3/4/2008 L 12 - 13
2/27/2007 W 6 - 3
3/15/2006 L 8 - 9
Midweek Work
Tuesday's game will be the Owls' final mid-week game until they make the short trip to face Houston on May 4 in the second game of the Silver Glove Series. Rice is 4-4 this year in midweek games with the wins over HBU (twice), SFA and Sam Houston. The Owls were 5-1 last year in the non-conference midweek action.
Showtime
Four former Owls were on Opening Day rosters as Major League Baseball opened its 2022 season. Anthony Rendon is in his third season with the Los Angeles Angels and ninth overall after hitting .320 with a homer and four RBI this spring. Reliever Lucas Luetge returns for a second season in the Yankees bullpen and his fifth overall in the majors. Tyler Duffey is in his eighth season with Minnesota while his former Rice teammate, JT Chargois (who was also drafted by the Twins in second round by the Twins the same year they took Duffey in the fifth round) is back with Tampa after joining the Rays last season from Seattle before the trade deadline.
In the Pipeline
In addition to the four MLB Owls, 10 other former Owls opened their minor league seasons in the past week:
Jon Duplantier Oklahoma City LA Dodgers (AAA)
Tristan Gray Durham Tampa (AAA)
Glenn Otto Round Rock Texas (AAA)
Ford Proctor Durham Tampa (AAA)
Matt Canterino Wichita Minnesota (AA)
Dane Myers Erie Detroit (AA)
Ricky Salinas Chattanooga Cincinnati (AA)
Trei Cruz West Michigan Detroit (A)
Evan Kravetz Dayton Cincinnati (A)
Addison Moss Bowling Green Tampa (A)
Getting it Done in a Pinch
Rice pinch hitters are hitting .355 (11x31) their most pinch hits since they collected 19 in 2007 (19x57). Nathan Becker (3x5) leads the team, matching Ben Dukes (3x10) total as the team leader last year. On the other side of the diamond, Rice pitchers have held opposing pinch hitters to a .214 average so far (6x28).
Coming in Bunches
Rice has scored at least three runs in an inning 19 times in the last 17 games after doing it only six times in the first 16 games.
Doubling Up
Rice matched its season high with six doubles vs. A&M CC on Wednesday and now has 57 in the first 33 games. The Owls finished 2021 with 67 in 53 games last year.
Clearing the Bases
The Owls are hitting .327 with the bases loaded (16x49) 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.
Lights Out Linskey
Matthew Linskey is tied for fifth in C-USA with four saves, which is two shy of the Owls' team total from 2021... He has not allowed a run in his first 13 appearances, has struck out 34 in 14.2 innings (20.9 per nine innings). He worked a career- best three innings at LA Tech on Sunday, and struck out eight. On the season, he is holding opposing hitters to a .118 batting average (6x51) with five of the six hits coming wiht no one on base. Opposing hitters are hitting .077 (1x13) with runners on base.
Hot Corner
Jack Riedel has made eight starts and third and has at lest one hit in each start (14x28, .500). While his eight starts at third have not been consecutive, he ironically also has a current eight-game hitting streak with identical numbers (14x28, .500)... His current hitting streak includes five starts at third, two starts at first and one pinch-hitting appearance.
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 topped 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 11 of the last 17 games. In their last 183 innings (21 games), Owls pitchers have fanned 197.
Quick Hits
• Nathan Becker Leads the Owls with a .34 average and a .453 on base percentage and tied for third with a career-high 30 hits... He saw in on-base streak end on Sunday at 26 games, which wsa the longest streak by an Owl since 2017.
• Austin Bulman Leads the team with a career-best 12-game hitting streak, the longest by an Owl since Braden Comeaux (16) and Ford Proctor (14) in 2018... Also leads the Owls in doubles (10), homers (7), RBI (27) and total bases (66)... Slammed a pair of homers at Marshall in his return to his home state. Owls active career leader with 16 homers.
• Antonio Cruz Has seven hits in his last 29 at bats.... was 2x5 with two doubles (career best) and three RBI (tied career best) after entering the game vs. Texas A&M CC... Has scored five runs in his last seven games.
• Pierce Gallo Has hit in 15 of his last 18...Drove in a career-high four runs vs. Sam Houston and has driven in 17 runs in his last 18 games after driving in just one in the first 14.
• Guy Garibay Jr. Leads the team in hits (40), multi-hit games (12) and runs (27), seond with nine... 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 eight of his last 10 (.324, 12x37) while scoring seven runs, driving in three and stealing three bases... Three hits in a start vs. Sam Houston were his career-high.
• Hal Hughes Returned to action after recovering from a preseason injury and delivered an RBI single in his first at-bat (3/30 vs. A&M CC) and has hit in five of his first eight games.
• Justin Long leads the team with 21 walks, one shy of his total in 44 games as a freshman... 2x3 in each of the last two games vs.LA Tech, doubling his multi-hit total for the season.. 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 eight straight and in 15 of his last 18 games…. Has made eight starts and third and has at least one hit in each game (.500, 14x28).
• Aaron Smigelski Has doubled in three of his last four games... Drove in a career-high give while going 3x5 vs. HBU last Tuesday… Singled twice and drove in three runs in the Owls' 11-run fifth innings… Broke an 0x13 stretch with a double vs. A&MCC on 3/30... Collected a hit in 15 of the first 17 games of his college career (19x51), the first two as a pinch hitter and the last 13 as a starter... Has five homers in his last seven games at Reckling Park, including homers 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 Fourth on the team with six doubles and has eight extra base hits in his last 14 games after collecting none in his first 13 games.
Quick Pitches
• Thomas Burbank Picked up his first career win on Tuesday in a start vs. HBU (5,1,0,0,2,5).. Made his second appearance out of the bullpen on Sunday in the finale at Marshall and took the loss... Worked three innings in relief against Texas Tech on 3/11 and struck out a season-high four (3,2,1,1,1,4)... Made three starts on the weekend to open the year and has added three in midweek action.
• Brandon Deskins Worked 3.2 innings in relief vs. A&M CC, the longest relief stint by an Owl this year.
• Roel Garcia Worked a team-high 4.0 innings in relief vs. FAU on 4/2 (4,5,2,2,0,4) but was tagged with the loss... Picked up his first win of the year with three shutout innings in relief at Marshall on 3/26 (3,1,0,0,2,3)... Fanned six in two innings at LA Tech on 4/9... Opened the year with a relief outing at Texas and then made four weekend starts.... Walked four in 2.1 innings vs. Longhorns, but has walked only five in his last 23.1 innings while striking out 25... Struck out a career-high nine in four innings in a start vs. Texas Tech on 3/12 (4,2,2,0,1,9).
• Mark Perkins Made his starting debut in his last outing (vs. A&MCC on 3/30: 2.1,1,3,3,3,2).... 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).
• Parker Smith Has made six starts (three in the weekend rotation)... Worked a season-low one inning in his last start at Marshall (1,3,4,2,0,2)... 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 road roommates 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 as he and head coach Jose Cruz Jr. each earned their first collegiate wins. Smith prepped at Houston's Bellaire HS, the same school that sent Cruz to Rice in 1992.
• David Shaw Leads the team with 14 appearances.
• Tom Vincent Picked up his first career win in relief against Sam Houston.
• Garrett Zaskoda Matched his season high by working three innings vs. FAU on 4/1. Tied his career-high with four K's (in three innings) vs. Houston... Has worked at least an inning in 10 of 11 appearances.
How to Follow:
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Online / Rice Mobile App
Live Stats
Pitching Matchup
RHP Mark Perkins (1-0, 6.30) vs. RHP Logan Hewitt (1-1, 8.71)
Owl on the Hill
#32 Mark Perkins
6-1, 195, Fr. Houston, Texas)
Making his second straight midweek start, but his first appearance since March 30... Made the start vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2.1,1,3,3,3,2)... Left the game with a 2-1 lead and two runners on... Opened 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).
Rice-Sam Houston Did You Know?
Rice broke a streak of six consecutive wins by the road team in the series when the Owls defeated the Bearkats 13-5 on 3/16 at Reckling and the Owls will be looking for the first sweep of the season series since 2016... This will be the 15th game between the schools at Sam Houston's Don Sanders Stadium since it opened in 2006... Rice leads the series 9-5 and has won the last four games played in Huntsville...The Owls' last loss in Huntsville came in 2013... Four of the first five games at Don Sanders were decided by two runs or less, including three one-run games in which the winning runs were scored in the ninth... While normally broken up during the season, the schools played a home-and-home series on consecutive days in 2015... In the most recent game in Huntsville, Trei Cruz homered in the first and the Owls rolled to an 11-5 win.
RICE @Don Sanders Stadium (9-5)
4/2/2019 W 11 - 5
5/8/2018 W 5 - 3
3/28/2017 W 5 - 3
3/2/2016 W 8 - 3
3/25/2015 L 4 - 11
3/5/2014 W 8 - 5
3/26/2013 L 3 - 9
5/15/2012 W 5 - 0
3/30/2011 W 5 - 2
4/13/2010 W 8 - 7
3/3/2009 L 6 - 8
3/4/2008 L 12 - 13
2/27/2007 W 6 - 3
3/15/2006 L 8 - 9
Midweek Work
Tuesday's game will be the Owls' final mid-week game until they make the short trip to face Houston on May 4 in the second game of the Silver Glove Series. Rice is 4-4 this year in midweek games with the wins over HBU (twice), SFA and Sam Houston. The Owls were 5-1 last year in the non-conference midweek action.
Showtime
Four former Owls were on Opening Day rosters as Major League Baseball opened its 2022 season. Anthony Rendon is in his third season with the Los Angeles Angels and ninth overall after hitting .320 with a homer and four RBI this spring. Reliever Lucas Luetge returns for a second season in the Yankees bullpen and his fifth overall in the majors. Tyler Duffey is in his eighth season with Minnesota while his former Rice teammate, JT Chargois (who was also drafted by the Twins in second round by the Twins the same year they took Duffey in the fifth round) is back with Tampa after joining the Rays last season from Seattle before the trade deadline.
In the Pipeline
In addition to the four MLB Owls, 10 other former Owls opened their minor league seasons in the past week:
Jon Duplantier Oklahoma City LA Dodgers (AAA)
Tristan Gray Durham Tampa (AAA)
Glenn Otto Round Rock Texas (AAA)
Ford Proctor Durham Tampa (AAA)
Matt Canterino Wichita Minnesota (AA)
Dane Myers Erie Detroit (AA)
Ricky Salinas Chattanooga Cincinnati (AA)
Trei Cruz West Michigan Detroit (A)
Evan Kravetz Dayton Cincinnati (A)
Addison Moss Bowling Green Tampa (A)
Getting it Done in a Pinch
Rice pinch hitters are hitting .355 (11x31) their most pinch hits since they collected 19 in 2007 (19x57). Nathan Becker (3x5) leads the team, matching Ben Dukes (3x10) total as the team leader last year. On the other side of the diamond, Rice pitchers have held opposing pinch hitters to a .214 average so far (6x28).
Coming in Bunches
Rice has scored at least three runs in an inning 19 times in the last 17 games after doing it only six times in the first 16 games.
Doubling Up
Rice matched its season high with six doubles vs. A&M CC on Wednesday and now has 57 in the first 33 games. The Owls finished 2021 with 67 in 53 games last year.
Clearing the Bases
The Owls are hitting .327 with the bases loaded (16x49) 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.
Lights Out Linskey
Matthew Linskey is tied for fifth in C-USA with four saves, which is two shy of the Owls' team total from 2021... He has not allowed a run in his first 13 appearances, has struck out 34 in 14.2 innings (20.9 per nine innings). He worked a career- best three innings at LA Tech on Sunday, and struck out eight. On the season, he is holding opposing hitters to a .118 batting average (6x51) with five of the six hits coming wiht no one on base. Opposing hitters are hitting .077 (1x13) with runners on base.
Hot Corner
Jack Riedel has made eight starts and third and has at lest one hit in each start (14x28, .500). While his eight starts at third have not been consecutive, he ironically also has a current eight-game hitting streak with identical numbers (14x28, .500)... His current hitting streak includes five starts at third, two starts at first and one pinch-hitting appearance.
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 topped 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 11 of the last 17 games. In their last 183 innings (21 games), Owls pitchers have fanned 197.
Quick Hits
• Nathan Becker Leads the Owls with a .34 average and a .453 on base percentage and tied for third with a career-high 30 hits... He saw in on-base streak end on Sunday at 26 games, which wsa the longest streak by an Owl since 2017.
• Austin Bulman Leads the team with a career-best 12-game hitting streak, the longest by an Owl since Braden Comeaux (16) and Ford Proctor (14) in 2018... Also leads the Owls in doubles (10), homers (7), RBI (27) and total bases (66)... Slammed a pair of homers at Marshall in his return to his home state. Owls active career leader with 16 homers.
• Antonio Cruz Has seven hits in his last 29 at bats.... was 2x5 with two doubles (career best) and three RBI (tied career best) after entering the game vs. Texas A&M CC... Has scored five runs in his last seven games.
• Pierce Gallo Has hit in 15 of his last 18...Drove in a career-high four runs vs. Sam Houston and has driven in 17 runs in his last 18 games after driving in just one in the first 14.
• Guy Garibay Jr. Leads the team in hits (40), multi-hit games (12) and runs (27), seond with nine... 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 eight of his last 10 (.324, 12x37) while scoring seven runs, driving in three and stealing three bases... Three hits in a start vs. Sam Houston were his career-high.
• Hal Hughes Returned to action after recovering from a preseason injury and delivered an RBI single in his first at-bat (3/30 vs. A&M CC) and has hit in five of his first eight games.
• Justin Long leads the team with 21 walks, one shy of his total in 44 games as a freshman... 2x3 in each of the last two games vs.LA Tech, doubling his multi-hit total for the season.. 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 eight straight and in 15 of his last 18 games…. Has made eight starts and third and has at least one hit in each game (.500, 14x28).
• Aaron Smigelski Has doubled in three of his last four games... Drove in a career-high give while going 3x5 vs. HBU last Tuesday… Singled twice and drove in three runs in the Owls' 11-run fifth innings… Broke an 0x13 stretch with a double vs. A&MCC on 3/30... Collected a hit in 15 of the first 17 games of his college career (19x51), the first two as a pinch hitter and the last 13 as a starter... Has five homers in his last seven games at Reckling Park, including homers 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 Fourth on the team with six doubles and has eight extra base hits in his last 14 games after collecting none in his first 13 games.
Quick Pitches
• Thomas Burbank Picked up his first career win on Tuesday in a start vs. HBU (5,1,0,0,2,5).. Made his second appearance out of the bullpen on Sunday in the finale at Marshall and took the loss... Worked three innings in relief against Texas Tech on 3/11 and struck out a season-high four (3,2,1,1,1,4)... Made three starts on the weekend to open the year and has added three in midweek action.
• Brandon Deskins Worked 3.2 innings in relief vs. A&M CC, the longest relief stint by an Owl this year.
• Roel Garcia Worked a team-high 4.0 innings in relief vs. FAU on 4/2 (4,5,2,2,0,4) but was tagged with the loss... Picked up his first win of the year with three shutout innings in relief at Marshall on 3/26 (3,1,0,0,2,3)... Fanned six in two innings at LA Tech on 4/9... Opened the year with a relief outing at Texas and then made four weekend starts.... Walked four in 2.1 innings vs. Longhorns, but has walked only five in his last 23.1 innings while striking out 25... Struck out a career-high nine in four innings in a start vs. Texas Tech on 3/12 (4,2,2,0,1,9).
• Mark Perkins Made his starting debut in his last outing (vs. A&MCC on 3/30: 2.1,1,3,3,3,2).... 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).
• Parker Smith Has made six starts (three in the weekend rotation)... Worked a season-low one inning in his last start at Marshall (1,3,4,2,0,2)... 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 road roommates 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 as he and head coach Jose Cruz Jr. each earned their first collegiate wins. Smith prepped at Houston's Bellaire HS, the same school that sent Cruz to Rice in 1992.
• David Shaw Leads the team with 14 appearances.
• Tom Vincent Picked up his first career win in relief against Sam Houston.
• Garrett Zaskoda Matched his season high by working three innings vs. FAU on 4/1. Tied his career-high with four K's (in three innings) vs. Houston... Has worked at least an inning in 10 of 11 appearances.
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