Owls Announce 2025 Baseball Schedule

Houston-Rice announced its 2025 baseball schedule on Friday, featuring the Owls opening the season outside the continental United States for the first time, seven 2024 NCAA qualifiers, four national seeds, and the two schools who met to decide the 2024 College World Series title.

The 56-game slate features 30 home games, including non-conference matchups with Pac-12 regular and postseason champion Arizona, Pac-12 tournament finalist USC, Southland Conference regular season champion Lamar, HCU, Incarnate Word, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Texas Southern, UTRGV as well as two of the three games in the 2025 Silver Glove Series against Houston.

The Owls will open the 2025 season against Villanova in Ponce, Puerto Rico on Valentine's Day in Rice's opening game of the Puerto Rico Baseball Challenge, followed by games vs. Michigan (February 15) and Virginia (February 16).

Rice returns home on February 18 to host Sam Houston, the first of 19 consecutive games in Houston that features weekend series at Reckling Park vs. USC (February 21-23), Yale (March 7-9) and HCU (March 14-16) as well as three games at the 2025 Astros Foundation Classic against Mississippi State (February 28), defending CWS champion Tennessee (March 1), and 2024 CWS finalist Texas A&M (March 2).

The Owls' second season of AAC baseball opens on the road at FAU (March 21-23) while the conference home opener will be against 2024 regular season champion East Carolina (March 28-30). Rice will also host a conference series against USF (April 11-13), Charlotte (May 2-4), and Wichita State (May 9-11).

The Owls' 2025 opponents posted a combined .544 winning percentage in 2024, including 13 who won at least 30 games last year.

2024 season ticket member renewals are currently underway. Any fans interested in becoming a 2025 season ticket member can indicate their interest on this request form.

Here's a quick look at the Owls' opponents in 2025:

Villanova - February 14 (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

Head coach Kevin Mulvey is in his ninth year guiding the Wildcats, who were 18-33 last season (8-13 in the Big East and were 3-10 against teams with a top 25 RPI.
This will be the first meeting between the schools in baseball.

Michigan - February 15 (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

Tracy Smith is entering his third season at Michigan and his 27^th as a head coach after guiding the Wolverines to a 32-28 record (14-10 in the Big Ten) and a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Tournament.
Rice leads the all-time series 2-0, winning 21-4 in 1996 and 5-1 in 1998 at Cameron Field

Virginia - February 16 (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

Brian O'Connor is in his 21^st season at Virginia and is a three-time national coach of the year honoree.
The Cavaliers were 46-17 last year and reached the College World Series for the seventh time in the last 16 years and third in the last four, sweeping Kansas State in the Super Regional.
Rice and Virginia have met twice previously, with the Cavaliers winning both games (3-0 in 2018 in Orlando, Florida and 3-2 in 1998 at Cameron Field.

Sam Houston - February 18 (Reckling Park); April 1 (Huntsville)

Jay Siriani is in his sixth season at Sam Houston and has posted a 141-105 record since taking over the program in 2020. He is 2-5 in his career vs. Rice (1-5 vs. Jose Cruz Jr.)
The Owls have won five of the last six in the series, including the last three at Reckling Park. From 2017-19, the schools split the two-game series each year, with each team winning the road game.

USC - February 21-23 (Reckling Park)

Andy Stankiewicz is entering his third season leading the Trojans, who were 31-28 last season (17-12 in their final season in the Pac-12), and saw their bid to reach the NCAA tournament end with a walk-off loss to Arizona in the championship game of the conference tournament.
Rice leads the all-time series 4-0, winning the initial game 12-1 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock in 2005 and then sweeping a three-game series at Reckling Park in 2011.

Arizona - February 26 (Reckling Park)

Three days after completing a series with USC, the Owls will host the other finalists in the 2024 Pac-12 championship game, as the Arizona Wildcats return to Reckling for the first time since 2019.
Chip Hale returns for his fourth season guiding his alma mater after leading the Wildcats to the Pac-12 championship in their final year in the conference. He has led Arizona to the NCAA tournament in his first three seasons.
The Wildcats lead the series 6-5, including a 4-2 mark at Reckling Park.

Mississippi State - February 28 (Daikin Park)

Chris Lemonis is in his seventh season leading the Bulldogs after taking them to the championship game of the Charlottesville Regional after reaching the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament before falling to Tennessee.
The schools have only met once, when the Bulldogs outlasted the Owls 15-14 in an elimination game at the 1998 NCAA Central Regional in College Station, rallying from a 13-5 deficit.

Tennessee - March 1 (Daikin Park)

Tony Vitello led Tennessee to its first NCAA title last May in his seventh season leading the Vols.
This will mark the second straight season the Owls have faced the defending CWS champions early the following year after facing LSU at the end of February in 2024.
This will be the second meeting between the Owls and Vols with Rice winning 11-1 at Minute Maid Park in 2012

Texas A&M - March 2 (Daikin Park)

The Owls and Aggies resume their series with a single game at Minute Maid Park in head coach Michael Earley's first season at the helm of the Texas A&M program.
The Aggies reached the championship series of the College World Series in 2024, taking the opening game over Tennessee before the Vols rallied to win the last two and win the national title.
The Owls and Aggies series dates back to 1915 when Rice defeated Texas A&M 3-2 in the Owls' first SWC baseball game.

Lamar - March 4 (Reckling Park)/March 25 (Beaumont)

Will Davis heads into his ninth year coming off a 44-15 season that saw the Cardinals' postseason hopes dashed by a loss in the Southland Conference tournament. They edged Nicholls by one game to take the regular season title with a 17-7 record but lost to McNeese in the semifinals of the tournament.
The teams split the series last year, with each winning on the road. Rice has won the last three in Beaumont, and its last loss was in 2017.

Houston - March 5, April 16 (Reckling Park); April 8 (Schroeder Park)

Todd Whitting returns for his 15th season leading the Cougars.
Houston finished 2024 with a 26-28 record, including a 7-21 mark in its initial season in the Big 12.
The Cougars have won the last three Silver Glove Series, but Rice has an overall record of 62-36 since the series began in 1998.

Yale - March 7-9 (Reckling Park)

Brian Hamm is entering his third season as the Fay Vincent '31 Head Coach of Yale Baseball after the Bulldogs tied for third in the Ivy League last season with an 11-10 record in league play.
This will be the first meeting between Rice and Yale in baseball and the Bulldogs will become the fourth Ivy League team to face the Owls, who are 13-4 all-time vs. the league (Columbia, 1-0; Cornell. 3-1; Harvard, 8-3).

Texas A&M Corpus Christi - March 10 (Reckling Park)

Scott Malone is in his 18^th season of leading the Islanders, who were 22-35 last season, including a win over Texas in Austin.
Rice is 21-1 all-time in the series, including a 5-3 win last year at Reckling Park.

HCU - March 14,16 (Reckling Park) 15 (Husky Field)

Clay Vanderlaan takes over as the head coach for the Huskies after three season as an assistant coach at HCU.
The four-game series with the Huskies will feature a doubleheader on Saturday at HCU's Husky Field in addition to single games on Friday and Sunday at Reckling Park.
Rice leads the all-time series 31-4 and has won the last 11 between the schools.

Incarnate Word - March 18 (Reckling Park)

Ryan Shotzberger is now in his sixth season leading the Cardinals, who ended the 2024 season 26-31.
Rice leads the overall series, but UIW has won the last two.

FAU - March 21-23 (Boca Raton)

John McCormack returns for his 17^th season as the Owls' head coach and his 35^th season as a part of the program.
FAU leads the all-time series between the schools 17-16-1, but Rice snapped a nine-game winless streak last season and took two of three to win the season series for the first time since 2015.

Texas Southern - March 26 (Reckling Park)

Michael Robertson is in his 17^th year guiding the Tigers after leading them to a Western Division title in 2024.
Rice leads the all-time series 27-4 after winning 16-5 last season in the first regular season game between the schools since 2012.

East Carolina - March 28-30 (Reckling Park)

Cliff Godwin will bring the Pirates to Reckling Park for the first time since 2016 with a five-game winning streak in the series after sweeping three games in Greenville last year as well as fighting off the Owls twice the AAC Championship.
Rice leads the series 24-14, including a 13-5 mark at Reckling Park.

UTRGV - April 2 (Reckling Park)

Derek Matlock returns for his eighth season in the Vaqueros' dugout coming off a season that saw them win at least 29 games for the fifth straight season, highlighted by their first win over Texas since 1971.
The series, which resumed in 2023 after a 31-year break, is split 29-29-1, with the Owls having won the last two.

Tulane - April 4-6 (New Orleans)

Jay Uhlman has led the Green Wave to back-to-back AAC tournament titles in his first two full seasons as head coach.
Rice will be returning to New Orleans for the first time since 2014 in Tulane's final season in Conference USA, looking to extend a four-game winning streak on the Green Wave's home field. The Owls lead the all-time series 31-10.

USF - April 11-13 (Reckling Park)

Mitch Hannahs takes over the Bulls program after leading his alma mater (Indiana State) to four NCAA appearances in the last five years, including a trip to the Super Regional in 2023.
Rice began its late-season surge last season by sweeping all three games in Tampa in the first series between the schools and leads the all-time series 4-0.

Memphis - April 17-19 (Memphis)

Matt Riser is in his second season at Memphis after 10 seasons at Southeastern Louisiana and led the Tigers to a sweep of the series at Reckling last season.
This will be Rice's first appearance in Memphis since 2012, when the Owls took two of three in the regular season but lost to the Tigers at the C-USA tournament. Rice leads the all-time series 22-12, including a 9-3 mark in Memphis.

UAB - April 25-27 (Birmingham)

Casey Dunn is back for his fourth season with the Blazers after reaching 600 career wins last season.
Rice has won six of the last seven in the series and leads the all-time series 40-18, including a 9-0 shutout last season at the AAC tournament, the first nine-inning shutout in a conference postseason game in school history.
In the Owls' last trip to Birmingham, Rice put together its first sweep of an opening conference series eight years to improve to 16-9.

Charlotte - May 2-4 (Reckling Park)

The 49ers return to Recking for the first time since the 2023 Conference USA tournament when they defeated Dallas Baptist to win the title.
Robert Woodard is in his sixth season leading Charlotte and has a 12-3 mark against Rice, pushing the 49ers into the lead in the season series (15-13).

Prairie View A&M - May 7 (Reckling)

Auntwan Riggins is back for his 10^th season leading the Panthers after posting a 28-27 mark in 2024 (17-10 in the SWAC).
Rice leads the all-time series 15-0, including a 6-1 last year at Reckling Park.

Wichita State - May 9-11 (Reckling Park)

Brian Green is in his second season at Wichita State after guiding the Shockers to the AAC tournament championship game last year.
This will be the Shockers' first appearance at Reckling since the 2003 NCAA Regional, where the Owls won both meetings, the second a 5-2 decision to win the Regional as the first step on Rice's march to the College World Series title.

UTSA - May 15-17 (San Antonio)

Pat Hallmark will be back for his sixth season with the Roadrunners after guiding them to a second-place finish in his first AAC regular season.
Rice captured the season series for the first time since 2018 overall and 2017 at Reckling Park by taking two of three last season and leads the all-time series 30-21, with the Roadrunners holding a 9-8 advantage in San Antonio

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