Rice University
UAB
Owls Open C-USA Play in Birmingham
3/16/2023 11:48:00 PM | Baseball
Three-game series opens on Friday
Owls Open Final C-USA Campaign in Birmingham
Rice opens its 17th and final season of Conference USA baseball this weekend when the Owls take on UAB for a three-game series in Birmingham. Friday's opener is set for 5 p.m.followed by a 2 p.m. matchup on Saturday and wrapping up with a noon game on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on CUSAtv while Garrett Jones will have the call on the Varsity Network and RiceOwls.com, pinch-hitting for JP Heath who will be with the Rice men's basketball team at the CBI.
How to Follow
Watch: CUSAtv
Listen: Online / Varsity Network Garrett Jones (play-by-play)
Live Stats: Sidearm.com
Pitching Matchup
Game One
RHP Parker Smith (1-1, 1.99/1.10), vs. RHP Brooks Walton (1-1, 4.91)
Game Two
TBA vs. RHP Blayze Berry (1-1, 3.86)
Game Three
TBA vs. LHP Carson Myers (0-1, 4.12)
Owl on the Hill
#26 Parker Smith
6-4 230 So. Houston, Texas
Making his fifth start of the year, all as the Friday starter...Earned the win in his last start, 5-1 over HCU on 3/10 (5,5,1,1,3,4)... Three walks were a season high... Making his second career start vs. UAB... Made his C-USA, took the loss in the final game of the '22 series (4,5,2,2,4,5)... Named to the 2023 Shriners College Classic All-Tournament team after he tossed six shutout innings against Texas Tech, which came into the game hitting .351 and scoring 12.1 runs per game (6,3,0,0,1,8).... Averaging 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings this year (22 in 22.2), compared with 4.8 as a freshman (23 in 43)... Went 5.2 innings against #2 Stanford on 2/24, allowed six hits, four runs (one earned), walked one, and struck out five… Worked six innings against Louisiana in his debut in the Friday starting slot (6,5,3,31,5)... Appeared in 13 games with 10 starts (tied for second on the team) in his freshman campaign… Finished the season with a 2-3 record and a 4.19 ERA, tops among the starters… Was 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA in four games (three starts) in Conference USA action… Winning pitcher in the Owls' first and last wins of 2022… Made his collegiate debut at Texas on 2/20 and his starting debut three days later against then-HBU… Worked six shutout innings, allowed a pair of hits and struck out four while throwing just 56 pitches to earn both his and his head coach Jose Cruz Jr.'s first career victories... Closed the season with a win at FIU in the season finale, (5.1, 3,1,0,1,0)… 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA in seven games (five starts) on the road while holding hitters to a .226 batting average.
For Openers
Rice has compiled a 272-155-3 as a member of Conference USA, but has a 7-9 mark in season openers, snapping a four-year losing streak in openers with an 8-7 win over UAB last year at Reckling Park. This will mark 12th time The Owls have opened C-USA play on the road (5-6)... This will be the first time Rice has opened consecutive seasons against the same school. Rice opened with Southern Miss three times (1-2) and Memphis, ODU and UTSA each twice (1-1 vs. each). The Owls have also opened C-USA seasons against Charlotte, ECU, FAU, LA Tech, UAB and UCF . Rice never faced, FIU, WKU or Middle Tennesse to open a C-USA season.
Last Year
Rice took the opener vs. the Blazers to give Jose Cruz Jr. a win in his first C-USA game as the Owls scored four in the seventh with two outs, to answer a six-run top of the seventh by the Blazers. Matthew Linskey fanned four of the five he faced to pick up the save. In game two, Rice took a 4-3 lead in game two and was tied 5-5 after five before UAB tacked on five more to take a 10-6 win. The Owls had a golden opportunity to take the series in the season finale last year, coming back from a 7-1 deficit to close to 9-8 and had runners at second and third with one out in the ninth but saw their hopes end on a foul pop to the catcher and a strikeout.
Finishing Strong
Rice ended the 2022 season by sweeping FIU in Miami, allowing the Owls to enter 2023 with a three-game conference winning streak overall and in C-USA road games.
The Road Ahead
This weekend's series is the middle three games of a five-game road trip for the Owls, who opened the trip with a 6-0 loss at Baylor on Tuesday night. The road stretch ends a week from Tuesday when they travel to College Station for the final of three games against Texas A&M.
Last Series: First Sweep at Home Since 2019
Rice rallied from a 4-0 deficit with seven runs after the sixth inning to defeat Houston Christian 7-6 on Sunday and complete the Owls' first sweep of a home weekend series since they took three from Louisiana Tech on April 26-28, 2019. Rice took the opener 5-1 behind the pitching of Parker Smith and Matthew Linskey who combined to hold HCU to six hits and one run while striking out nine. On Saturday, Rice saw an early 7-2 lead turn into a 10-7 deficit before scoring seven times on just two hits in the bottom of the eighth. Connor Walsh hit .667 over the three games (6x9) with a double, homer and five RBI, Drew Holderbach was 5x10 and scored seven runs and Ben Royo was 4x8 and drove in six.
