Rice and Notre Dame will meet in baseball for the first time in a series of games when the schools open their seasons on Friday, February 16, 2024, at Reckling Park, the first three games of the Owls' 56-game schedule
, which was released on Wednesday.
The opening series with the Irish is part of a 3
1-game home schedule that features a single-game with defending National Champion LSU (February 28) followed by a three-game series with 2023 College World Series participant Stanford in the first eight home games of the year. The home slate includes a split series with Houston Christian that will see Rice host the first and third games while the middle game will be at Husky Field, and five weekend series against AAC foes.
In addition to LSU, Rice also has single home games in 2024 against Sam Houston (February 20), Prairie View (March 5), Incarnate Word (April 9), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (April 10) and Texas Southern (May 14).
Rice's 2024 road schedule opens with three games in Lafayette against Louisiana (February 23-25) as well as the Owls' first series in Honolulu against the University of Hawai'i since 2013 (March 8-11).
The 23 teams on this year's schedule averaged 32 wins last season and feature four NCAA regional qualifiers in addition to LSU and Stanford.
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on this request form.
Here's a quick look at the Owls' opponents in 2024:
Notre Dame
February 16-18 (Reckling Park)
- Head coach Shawn Stiffler is in his second year guiding the Irish, who were 30-24 in his first season (15-15 in the ACC).
- Rice and Notre Dame met twice in history, most recently in 2009 when they faced off in the opening game of the Rice Invitational as Ryan Berry tossed a two-hit shutout.
- The schools first met in 2002 when Notre Dame scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to eliminate Rice from the College World Series, 5-3.
Sam Houston
February 20 (Reckling Park); March 26 (Huntsville)
- Jay Siriani is entering his fifth season in Huntsville and is coming off a 38-win season, his best since taking over the program in 2020.
- Rice comes into 2024 riding a four-game winning streak over the Bearkats after sweeping the season series in 2022 & 2023.
Louisiana
February 23-26 (Lafayette, LA)
- Matt Deggs is in his fifth season guiding the Ragin' Cajuns and has taken them to the NCAA Regionals in each of the last two seasons while compiling a 78-47 record.
- Louisiana was 41-24 last season and reached the Sun Belt Tournament championship game. The Cajuns earned their first at-large berth in the NCAA Championship since 2013.
- This will be the Owls' first appearance in Lafayette since they were swept in a three-game series in 2021.
LSU
February 28 (Reckling Park)
- Jay Johnson is in his third season in Baton Rouge after a 54-17 campaign and College World Series title last season. Johnson is 3-1 in his career at Reckling Park in four games while guiding Arizona (2016 & 2019).
- While Rice and LSU have met 25 times in history (LSU leads 15-10), this will be the first meeting at Reckling since 2002, when Rice swept the Tigers in the Super Regional with a pair of shutouts (6-0 & 3-0).
- The last regular season meeting between the schools at Rice was at Cameron Field when they split a two-game series on February 25 &26).
Stanford
March 1-3 (Reckling Park)
- David Esquer heads into his seventh season after guiding his alma mater to a third consecutive CWS appearance in 2023. He has posted a 226-92 mark at Stanford and owns a career record of 751-570-2.
- Stanford was 44-20 last year, including a sweep of Rice at Sunken Diamond.
- This will be the first appearance at Reckling for the Cardinal since 2017, when the schools split a four-game series in Mark Marquess' final season as head coach.
Prairie View A&M
March 5 (Reckling Park)
- Auntwan Riggins returns for his eighth season leading the Panthers, who were 20-37 overall last year but 15-14 in SWAC action.
- Rice has won each of the 14 previous meetings between the schools, including an 18-5 win last year at Reckling Park.
- 11 of the 14 meetings have come in the regular season, and three in the opening round of NCAA regional action at Reckling (2006, 2007, 2012).
Hawai'i
March 8-11 (Honolulu, HI)
- Rich Hill is in his third season at Hawai'i and has led the Rainbow Warriors to its first two winning Big West seasons in his first two years.
- Hawai'i was 19-7 at home last year, closing the season with nine straight wins.
- Hill came to Hawai'i after 23 seasons as the head coach at San Diego, where he was 747-514-4, including a 3-4 mark against Rice in a home-and-home series in 2009 & 2010.
Houston Christian
March 15 & 17 (Reckling Park) March 16 Husky Field
- Lance Berkman is in his third season at HCU
- This will be the third time the schools have played a weekend series, but this year, the series will see two games played at Rice and one at HCU's Husky Field.
- Rice leads the all-time series 28-2 and has won the last eight.
Houston
March 20 (Reckling Park); March 19, April 2 (Schroeder Park)
- Todd Whitting returns for his 14th season leading the Cougars.
- Houston finished 2023 with a 36-23 record, the eighth time Whitting has led UH to at least 36 wins.
- The Cougars have won the last two Silver Glove Series, but Rice has an overall record of 18-7 since the series began in 1994.
Tulane
March 22-24 (Reckling Park)
- Jay Uhlman is in his second season as the head coach at Tulane, led the Green Wave to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the 2023 AAC Tournament title.
- The Green Wave were 15-38 entering the tournament but scored 49 runs in five games during the tournament to take the title.
- The defending AAC tournament champs will be the Owls' opponent in their first AAC series.
- Rice leads the overall series 30-8 since 1990, including a 10-2 mark in games at Reckling Park.
Wichita State
March 28-30 (Wichita, KS)
- Brian Green was named the Shockers new head coach on June 5, 2023
- Green made the move to Wichita after four seasons at Washington State, where he increased his win total each season.
- The Shockers were 29-23 in 2023, their most wins since 2010.
Memphis
April 5-7 (Reckling Park)
- Matt Riser is in his first season at Memphis after 10 seasons at Southeastern Louisiana, where he compiled a 320-224, including a 3-4 record vs. Rice (2-1 at Reckling Park).
- Rice won three of four vs. SE Louisiana in NCAA regional action in 2016 & 2017 while dropping two of three in a home series in 2017.
- This will be Memphis' first appearance at Reckling Park since 2013, when the Tigers took two of three in the regular season but lost to Rice at the C-USA tournament. Rice leads the all-time series 22-9, including an 8-4 record at Reckling
Incarnate Word
April 9 (Reckling Park)
- Ryan Schotzberger is entering his fifth season with the Cardinals, who were 28-26 last year and earned the second seed at the Southland Conference Tournament, their highest seed since joining the conference.
- Rice leads the all-time series 5-1, but the Cardinals won the most recent meeting last season.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
April 10 (Reckling Park)
- Scott Malone is in his 17th season leading the Islanders' program.
- They were 24-30 last season, including a 12-12 conference record.
- Rice leads the all-time series 20-1, including a 13-1 record at Rice, after dropping a 12-10 decision last season.
UAB
April 12-14 (Reckling Park)
- Billy Mohl is in his seventh season leading the Bulls, who were 21-39 last season.
- Mohl led USF to its first appearance in the NCAA Super Regionals in 2021 after winning the AAC Tournament and the Gainesville Regional.
- Rice and USF have met once in baseball, with Rice winning 6-2 in 2002 at Reckling Park as part of the Rice Invitational.
USF
April 19-21 (Tampa, FL)
- Billy Mohl is in his seventh season leading the Bulls, who were 21-39 last season.
- Mohl led USF to its first appearance in the NCAA Super Regionals in 2021 after winning the AAC Tournament and the Gainesville Regional.
- Rice and USF have met once in baseball, with Rice winning 6-2 in 2002 at Reckling Park as part of the Rice Invitational.
UTSA
April 26-28 (Reckling Park)
- Former Owl Patrick Hallmark is in his fifth season with the Roadrunners, who were 38-19 last season, their second-consecutive 38-win season.
- The Roadrunners reached the C-USA championship game in 2022, their first appearance since 2014.
- Rice leads the all-time series 28-20, including a 19-11 record at Reckling Park.
Lamar
May 1 (Beaumont); May 8 (Reckling Park)
- Will Davis is in his eighth season at Lamar, guiding the Cardinals to a 32-23 record in 2023.
- Rice won both games of the series last year and has won the last three overall.
- The Owls lead the all-time series 83-50, including a 54-22 mark at Rice.
Charlotte
May 3-5 (Charlotte, NC)
- Robert Woodward is in his fifth season at Charlotte after leading the 49ers to a C-USA tournament title last season at Reckling Park.
- Charlotte was 36-28 last season and was 2-2 at the Clemson Regional, eliminating the hosts before falling to Tennessee in the title game.
- Charlotte leads the overall series 13-12, but Rice holds a 7-5 lead in games played in Charlotte.
Texas A&M
May 7 (College Station)
- Jim Schlossnagle is in his third year guiding the Aggies and his 22nd as a head coach.
- Texas A&M finished the season 38-27 last year and reached the NCAA tournament after earning a spot in the College World Series in 2022.
- The Aggies took all three games vs. Rice last year, winning at Reckling Park and home in addition to at Minute Maid Park.
FAU
May 10-12 (Reckling Park)
- John McCormack is heading into his 15th season guiding FAU's baseball fortunes, finishing over .500 for the 15th consecutive season (34-25) in 2023.
- FAU leads the all-time series with Rice 16-14, including a 6-5-1 record at Reckling Park.
Texas Southern
May 14 (Reckling Park)
- Michael Roberston has led the Tigers since 2008 them to a 31-22 record in 2023.
- This will be the first meeting between the schools since 2017 in the Baton Rouge Region and since 2012 in the regular season.
- The Owls lead the all-time series 26-4, including a 23-3 record at Rice.
East Carolina
May 16-18 (Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium)
- Cliff Godwin enters his 10th year with the Pirates, coming off a 47-19 effort in 2023 that included an AAC regular season title and a berth in the Charlottesville Regional championship game.
- Godwin has led the Pirates to the NCAA tournament five times and captured five AAC regular season titles.
- This will be the first meeting between the schools since Rice took two of three in 2016.
- Rice leads the overall series 24-9, including a 13-5 record at Reckling Park.
