Owls Host Defending National Champs on Wednesday

Rice opens a five-game homestand by welcoming defending national champion LSU to Reckling Park for the first time in 22 years in a 7 p.m. matchup. The Owls will then host 2023 CWS participant Stanford over the weekend before wrapping the home stand with a game with Prairie View the following Tuesday.

Watch ESPN+
Listen: Online / Varsity Network
Live Stats: SideArm
Full Game Notes: RiceOwls.com

On the Air
All Rice games are available over the internet at RiceOwls.com and on the Varsity Network app. J.P. Heath is back for his 16th season calling games with an assist for the LSU game by Jason Metko when Heath is across the parking lot calling the Rice men's basketball vs. Temple. Wednesday's game will be carried on ESPN+ with Randy McIlvoy handling the play-by-play and Kyle Rogers providing the color commentary.

Owls and Tigers
Rice and LSU have met a total of 29 times overall since they first met in 1914 (when Rice won the initial meetings, 5-3 and 9-6). They have played 15 times in the regular season and another 14 in NCAA tournament play. LSU leads the overall series 17-12 (10-5 in the regular season, 7-7 in the postseason). This is the first meeting between the schools since LSU eliminated Rice in the 2017 Regional in Baton Rouge; the first in the regular season since Rice defeated LSU 6-3 in the Wally Pontiff Jr. Foundation Classic at Zephyr Field in Metairie, La.; and the first at Reckling Park since the 2002 Super Regional.

Postseason Memories
Rice earned its first-ever berth in postseason play in 1995 with a berth in the NCAA Regional hosted by LSU. Rice head coach Jose Cruz Jr. was a consensus All-American that season and helped the Owls reach the finals of the regional, thanks to defeating LSU 15-7 in the winner's bracket and then eliminating the Tigers the following day before losing to eventual national champion Cal-State Fullerton. Cruz hit .438 over the five games, including .500 in the two games vs. LSU (4x8). Two years later, the schools met in Omaha in the Owls' College World Series debut, with LSU rallying for three runs in the 8th to defeat the Owls 5-4. The Tigers went on to outscore their remaining opponents 36-20 on their way to repeat as champions. They next met in 2002 when the Owls were the top seed in the NCAA tournament and hosted LSU at Reckling Park for the Super Regional. Rice held the Tigers scoreless in the only games played at Reckling in the series, winning the opener 6-0 on a three-hit shutout by Steven Herce and closed them out the next day on a five-hit shutout by Justin Crowder. Rice eliminated LSU in 2005 with a pair of wins at Alex Box Stadium, rallying from down 4-2 to advance to the Super Regional. Three years later, LSU eliminated Rice from the College World Series, scoring four times in the bottom of the ninth. The following year, LSU swept the Owls in the Super Regional in Baton Rouge. Seven years later, Rice returned to Alex Box in a rain-plagued regional and after dropping the winner's bracket game on Sunday, forced a deciding winner-take-all game on Tuesday with a 10-6 win, the Owls most recent in the series. Dane Myers made the start in the game and Glenn Otto picked up the win in relief. LSU eliminated the Owls the following day. In the most recent meeting between the two, LSU shut out the Owls 5-0 to eliminate Rice in its most recent NCAA tournament game.

Pitching Matchup
RHP Robert Fernandez (0-0, 0.00/1.50) vs. LHP Kade Anderson (1-0, 2.15/1.50)

Owl on the Hill
#53 Robert Fernandez
6-0 200 Jr. Miami, Florida (Belen Jesuit)
Making his second appearance and first career start... Made his debut with two scoreless innings vs. Sam Houston on 2/20 (2, 3,2,0,0,2)... Made two appearances as a sophomore (3.1,4,4,2,1,4) and 12 as a freshman (18.1, 27,19,17,10,16)... Played at Belen Jesuit Prep for coach Gerard Albert but missed most of his senior year recovering from an injury, but did strike out seven in 6.1 innings and saw his junior year limited to eight games due to the pandemic.

Last Week: Streaks Extended and Ended
Rice extended its winning streak over Sam Houston to five with a 7-3 win on February 20 thanks to a five-run eighth inning. The winning streak vs. the Bearkats is the Owls' longest streak Sam Houston since they took 12 straight between 1995 and 1999. The Owls took two of three at Louisiana over the weekend. Their 2-1 win on Friday snapped a three-game losing streak in Lafayette and was the Owls' first win there since 2011. On Saturday, J.D. McCracken threw the Owls' first complete game since 2019 to allow the Owls to clinch their first series win at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results