Friday, March 22
Reckling Park
6:30 p.m.
Rice University
vs
Tulane
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Owls Open AAC Era Against Tulane
3/21/2024 9:23:00 PM | Baseball
First pitch at 6:30 p.m.
Owls and Green Wave Renew Series
Rice and Tulane meet for the first time since 2014 this weekend, opening up with a 6:30 game on Friday, followed by 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Rice leads the overall series 30-8, including a 13-2 record at Rice (10-2 at Reckling Park). The Owls swept the most recent series, in 2014 in New Orleans and bring a three-game winning streak into the weekend. The Green Wave won the most recent game at Reckling, 7-6 in 2013. The schools have met 35 times in the regular season (Rice leads 29-6), 27 times in conference games (Rice leads 23-4), 11 times in non-conference games (Rice leads 7-4), and three times in postseason play (Tulane leads 2-1 after winning the 2005 Super Regional in New Orleans and advance to the College World Series. The teams won a combined 12 C-USA tournament titles (Rice 7, Tulane 5) but never faced each other at the C-USA championship. Tulane won five of the first 10 C-USA tournaments, while Rice won seven in its first 12 years in the conference.
Watch ESPN+
Listen: Online / Varsity Network
Live Stats: Sidearm
Full Game Notes: RiceOwls.com
On the Air
J.P. Heath returns for his 16th season behind the mic full-time with the conclusion of the men's basketball season. All three games will be carried on ESPN+ with Randy McIlvoy & Kyle Rogers on Friday, Jason Metko and Austin Davis on Saturday, and Heath and Kyle Rogers on Sunday. Metko will fill in for Heath on radio on Sunday.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Parker Smith (2-2, 3.60/1.40) vs. LHP Luc Fladda (0-0, 3.63/1.34)
Saturday: LHP TJ.D.McCracken (2-1, 3.90/1.30) vs. RHP Chandler Welch (2-0, 2.54/1.41)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Will Clements (1-1, 5.30/1.77)
In the AAC Stats
Kyte McDonald is tied for the AAC lead with two triples... Jack Riedel is tied for 4th with six home runs... Nathan Becker fourth with 20 walks, tied for fourth with .95 walks per game tied for seventh with seven doubles... J.D. McCracken is tied for third with 30 innings and ninth with 31 strikeouts.... Davion Hickson is tied for fourth with three saves... Manny Garza leads the AAC with seven runners caught stealing, second with 179 total chances, and third with 159 putouts... Treyton Rank is tied for the AAC with 18 double plays.
Doubling Up the Outs
The Owls lead the AAC and rank ninth nationally with 22 double plays in the first 21 games. They rank 14th nationally with 1.05 per game. They finished 199th in the nation last year with 33 twin killings and 230th overall with an average of .57 per game. The last time the Owls averaged more than a double play per game was 2013 when they turned 69 in 66 games (1.08). They ranked sixth nationally in total double plays that year and 10th in average per game.
Conference Firsts
The series with Tulane opens the AAC era for Rice Baseball and the Owls have opened play in each conference at home. Here are a few nuggets unearthed regarding the Owls' previous inaugural conference games:
SWC: Rice defeated Texas A&M 3-2, on March 26, 1915, scoring the winning run with one out in the ninth. Rice's John Hathorn outdueled Aggie legend Pat Olsen, striking out 10 while Olsen fanned 13 Owls. Rice's first SWC hit was by Wilson Betts and he scored Rice's first run on a hit by George Journeay in the first inning. After A&M tied the game 2-2 in the 8th, Rice won it in the ninth when Clinton Wooten led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice by JW McFarland. The win was the first of only two for the Owls that season, the second coming by an identical 3-2 score over Trinity on May 13, with McFarland again delivering the winning hit.
WAC: Rice defeated TCU 11-6 on February 28, 1997, at Cameron Field, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first thanks to Lance Berkman's 13th homer of the young season. Freshman pitcher Mario Ramos started and picked up the win. The Owls went on to reach the College World Series for the first time at the end of the year. Berkman slugged 41 homers and drove in 134 runs in 63 games to earn national player of the year honors from the NCBWA.
C-USA: East Carolina rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to defeat the Owls 4-3 on March 24, 2006 at Reckling Park. Rice had taken a lead in the bottom of the first as Tyler Henley drove in Rice's first run with the Owls' first C-USA hit. Current Dodgers' bench coach Danny Lehman's two-run single put Rice back up 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. The following day, the Owls bounced back to win 8-5, thanks in part to Aaron Luna's home run to support Craig Crow's winning effort on the mound and the Owls took the series 5-0 on Sunday thanks to a combined six-hit shutout by Joe Savery and Bryce Cox.
Rice and Tulane meet for the first time since 2014 this weekend, opening up with a 6:30 game on Friday, followed by 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Rice leads the overall series 30-8, including a 13-2 record at Rice (10-2 at Reckling Park). The Owls swept the most recent series, in 2014 in New Orleans and bring a three-game winning streak into the weekend. The Green Wave won the most recent game at Reckling, 7-6 in 2013. The schools have met 35 times in the regular season (Rice leads 29-6), 27 times in conference games (Rice leads 23-4), 11 times in non-conference games (Rice leads 7-4), and three times in postseason play (Tulane leads 2-1 after winning the 2005 Super Regional in New Orleans and advance to the College World Series. The teams won a combined 12 C-USA tournament titles (Rice 7, Tulane 5) but never faced each other at the C-USA championship. Tulane won five of the first 10 C-USA tournaments, while Rice won seven in its first 12 years in the conference.
Watch ESPN+
Listen: Online / Varsity Network
Live Stats: Sidearm
Full Game Notes: RiceOwls.com
On the Air
J.P. Heath returns for his 16th season behind the mic full-time with the conclusion of the men's basketball season. All three games will be carried on ESPN+ with Randy McIlvoy & Kyle Rogers on Friday, Jason Metko and Austin Davis on Saturday, and Heath and Kyle Rogers on Sunday. Metko will fill in for Heath on radio on Sunday.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Parker Smith (2-2, 3.60/1.40) vs. LHP Luc Fladda (0-0, 3.63/1.34)
Saturday: LHP TJ.D.McCracken (2-1, 3.90/1.30) vs. RHP Chandler Welch (2-0, 2.54/1.41)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Will Clements (1-1, 5.30/1.77)
In the AAC Stats
Kyte McDonald is tied for the AAC lead with two triples... Jack Riedel is tied for 4th with six home runs... Nathan Becker fourth with 20 walks, tied for fourth with .95 walks per game tied for seventh with seven doubles... J.D. McCracken is tied for third with 30 innings and ninth with 31 strikeouts.... Davion Hickson is tied for fourth with three saves... Manny Garza leads the AAC with seven runners caught stealing, second with 179 total chances, and third with 159 putouts... Treyton Rank is tied for the AAC with 18 double plays.
Doubling Up the Outs
The Owls lead the AAC and rank ninth nationally with 22 double plays in the first 21 games. They rank 14th nationally with 1.05 per game. They finished 199th in the nation last year with 33 twin killings and 230th overall with an average of .57 per game. The last time the Owls averaged more than a double play per game was 2013 when they turned 69 in 66 games (1.08). They ranked sixth nationally in total double plays that year and 10th in average per game.
Conference Firsts
The series with Tulane opens the AAC era for Rice Baseball and the Owls have opened play in each conference at home. Here are a few nuggets unearthed regarding the Owls' previous inaugural conference games:
SWC: Rice defeated Texas A&M 3-2, on March 26, 1915, scoring the winning run with one out in the ninth. Rice's John Hathorn outdueled Aggie legend Pat Olsen, striking out 10 while Olsen fanned 13 Owls. Rice's first SWC hit was by Wilson Betts and he scored Rice's first run on a hit by George Journeay in the first inning. After A&M tied the game 2-2 in the 8th, Rice won it in the ninth when Clinton Wooten led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice by JW McFarland. The win was the first of only two for the Owls that season, the second coming by an identical 3-2 score over Trinity on May 13, with McFarland again delivering the winning hit.
WAC: Rice defeated TCU 11-6 on February 28, 1997, at Cameron Field, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first thanks to Lance Berkman's 13th homer of the young season. Freshman pitcher Mario Ramos started and picked up the win. The Owls went on to reach the College World Series for the first time at the end of the year. Berkman slugged 41 homers and drove in 134 runs in 63 games to earn national player of the year honors from the NCBWA.
C-USA: East Carolina rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to defeat the Owls 4-3 on March 24, 2006 at Reckling Park. Rice had taken a lead in the bottom of the first as Tyler Henley drove in Rice's first run with the Owls' first C-USA hit. Current Dodgers' bench coach Danny Lehman's two-run single put Rice back up 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. The following day, the Owls bounced back to win 8-5, thanks in part to Aaron Luna's home run to support Craig Crow's winning effort on the mound and the Owls took the series 5-0 on Sunday thanks to a combined six-hit shutout by Joe Savery and Bryce Cox.
Players Mentioned
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