Rice Set for 18th Appearance at Minute Maid This Weekend

Owls Set for 18th Appearance at Minute Maid Park
Rice wraps up a stretch of seven games away from Reckling Park this weekend by taking on three longtime rivals from the days of the Southwest Conference at the Shriner's Children's College Classic. The Owls will be making their 18th appearance at the weekend event hosted by the Houston Astros.

Away For A While
Rice opened its road stretch with three games at #2 Stanford last weekend and then completed a season sweep over Sam Houston with a win in Huntsville on Tuesday Night. The seven-game stretch is the Owls' longest stretch of games away from home this season.

How to Follow:
Watch: AT&T SportsNet SW/Astros.com
Listen: Online / Varsity Network
Live Stats: Texas Tech / Texas A&M / TCU
Tickets: Astros.com

Pitching Matchup
Friday (Texas Tech)
RHP Parker Smith (0-0, 4.50) vs. RHP Brendan Girton (2-0, 1.64)
Saturday (Texas A&M)
TBA vs. LHP Troy Wansing (0-1, 5.19)
Sunday (TCU)
TBA vs. TBA

Owl on the Hill
#26 Parker Smith
6-4 230 So. Houston, Texas
Making his third start of the year and third as the Friday starter.   Went 5.2 innings against Stanford in his last start, 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)... Matched his career-high with five strikeouts, three of them in three shutout innings after giving up three runs in the third... Making his second career start vs. Texas Tech… Started the series finale last year, his first start in the weekend rotation (4.1, 8, 3, 3,1,3)… Left with a 4-3 lead, but Tech scored the last four runs to take the series, 7-3… 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 HBU… Worked six shutout innings, allowed a pair of hits and struck out four while throwing just 56 pitches to earn both his and 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.

Last Time Out: Season Sweep of Bearkats
Benjamin Rosengard's fourth-inning, opposite-field grand slam, Rice's first on the road in nearly four years, keyed a six-run fourth and set the course for an 11-4 win for Rice of Sam Houston at Don Sanders Stadium on Tuesday night. Rosengard, who was making his second straight start in place of Guy Garibay Jr. in right, became the first Owl to hit a slam on the road since Justin Collins and Andrew Dunlap each hit one in the same inning at Charlotte on 4/12/19. The four RBI matched his season total last year in 18 games. Sam Houston struck back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Rice scored five runs over the next two innings on the way to the Owls' fourth consecutive win in the series and their sixth straight at Don Sanders Stadium. Rice has swept the series with Sam Houston in consecutive years for the first time since winning all three in 1996 and both games in 1997 & 1999. Rice bashed five doubles in the game, nearly doubling the Owls' season total in the first seven games. Tom Vincent, J.D. McCracken, Matthew Linskey, Krishna Raj, and Ryland Urbanczyk combine to hold a Sam Houston offense that came into the game hitting .337 to just three hits. Linskey picked up the win by working 3.1 innings in relief.

By Any Means
Rosengard's grand slam gave the Owls 14 RBI with the bases loaded this season, eight of them courtesy of four base hits (three singles and a home run) six without putting the ball in play. Aaron Smigelski has been hit by a pitch with the bases loaded three times in five plate appearances with the bases full (twice on Tuesday night at Sam Houston). Manny Garza has also driven in one run with an HBP while Jack Riedel and Trey Duffield have each drawn walks with the bases loaded.

Downtown Games
This is Rice's 18th appearance in a weekend series of games at Houston's major league home. The Owls made their debut at Enron Field in 2001, sweeping games against Baylor, Texas, and Texas Tech. They returned in 2002 to Astros Park and this will be their 16th appearance at Minute Maid Park. Rice participated in the first 14 series of games before not appearing in 2015. They also did not appear in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Rice has faced Baylor nine times in the series (Rice leads 6-3), but Texas Tech will match that total this year (Rice leads the series 7-1). The Owls have played Texas A&M (4-3) and Texas (2-5) seven times, TCU five (4-1) and Texas State twice (0-2). Rice has played single games with Alabama (0-1), Arkansas (0-1), Kansas State (1-0), Kentucky (1-0), Louisiana (0-1), North Carolina (0-1), Oklahoma (1-0), Oklahoma State (1-0), Tennessee (1-0), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (1-0), UCLA (1-0), and Vanderbilt (0-1).

Up Next
The Owls open a five-game homestand on Tuesday when they host UTRGV. Texas A&M follows with a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday and the Houston Christian and Rice will meet in three games next weekend.

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