Tuesday, May 21
Clearwater, Florida
12:05 PM
Rice University
vs
#9 East Carolina
AAC Tournament: Rice vs. #9 East Carolina
5/20/2024 9:13:00 PM | Baseball
Game starts 47 minutes after Game One
Owls Open AAC Tourney With East Carolina
Thanks to wins in four of their last six AAC series, Rice earned the eighth seed in the 2024 American Athletics Conference Baseball Championship sponsored by Regions Bank. The Owls are the eighth seed and will take on top-seed East Carolina in the second game of the tournament.
Postseason Owls
This will be the Owls' 26th appearance in a postseason conference baseball tournament, and the second in three seasons under head coach Jose Cruz Jr. Rice has won 11 postseason conference titles (seven C-USA, three WAC, and one SWC).
Postseason vs. the Pirates
Rice and East Carolina have met three previous times in postseason action, all at the C-USA Championship, with Rice winning the two of three. Rice won the initial meeting,16-8 in 2007 championship game. The Pirates eliminated the Owls the following year with a 4-3 win in New Orleans while Rice won the last meeting, winning 11-3 in the opening game of the 2010 tournament at Cougar Field in Houston.
On the Air
J.P. Heath returns for his 16th season behind the mic calling Rice baseball. All games of the tournament will be on ESPN+ other than the championship game which will be on ESPN News.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Online / Varsity Network
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Full Game Notes: RiceOwls.com
On the Air
J.P. Heath returns for his 16th season behind the mic calling Rice baseball and will have the call from Greenville
Pitching Matchups
Game One: LHP J.D. McCracken (4-7, 5.50/1.99) vs. LHP Ethan Norby (3-0, 3.67/1.4)
Game Two: RHP Parker Smith (4-5, 4.57 ERA/1.44) vs. TBA
Game Three: RHP Tucker Alch (1-3, 3.29/2.40) vs. TBATBA
Rice Recently
Jack Riedel's 15 home runs this year are the most by an Owl since the NCAA revised the standards for bats after the 2010 season. Anthony Rendon led the Owls with 26 home runs on his way to earning national Player of the Year honors in 2010 while Rick Hague was second with 16. He hit 10 homers at Reckling, the most since Rendon hit 11 at home in 2010. Riedel moved to within three of matching Mark Quinn's 1995 total of 18 as the 10th-best single-season mark in school history. Quinn smashed 18 homers in 1995 as a teammate of current Owls' head coach Jose Cruz Jr.
Doubling Up the Outs
Rice leads the AAC and tied for second nationally with 59 double plays in the first 56 games and Rice leads the AAC and ranks fourth nationally with 1.05 per game. The 59 twin killings are the most since the Owls had 69 in 64 games in 2013. 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 (1.08). They ranked sixth nationally in total double plays that year.
Centered
Owls centerfielders (Kyte McDonald and Ben Dukes) have combined to hit .336 (77x229) this season when starting at that position. McDonald was hitting .308 after the Wichita State series and Dukes has hit .365 (42x115) in 28 games since replacing McDonald, who was injured in practice the week following the WSU series.
Thanks to wins in four of their last six AAC series, Rice earned the eighth seed in the 2024 American Athletics Conference Baseball Championship sponsored by Regions Bank. The Owls are the eighth seed and will take on top-seed East Carolina in the second game of the tournament.
Postseason Owls
This will be the Owls' 26th appearance in a postseason conference baseball tournament, and the second in three seasons under head coach Jose Cruz Jr. Rice has won 11 postseason conference titles (seven C-USA, three WAC, and one SWC).
Postseason vs. the Pirates
Rice and East Carolina have met three previous times in postseason action, all at the C-USA Championship, with Rice winning the two of three. Rice won the initial meeting,16-8 in 2007 championship game. The Pirates eliminated the Owls the following year with a 4-3 win in New Orleans while Rice won the last meeting, winning 11-3 in the opening game of the 2010 tournament at Cougar Field in Houston.
On the Air
J.P. Heath returns for his 16th season behind the mic calling Rice baseball. All games of the tournament will be on ESPN+ other than the championship game which will be on ESPN News.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Online / Varsity Network
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Full Game Notes: RiceOwls.com
On the Air
J.P. Heath returns for his 16th season behind the mic calling Rice baseball and will have the call from Greenville
Pitching Matchups
Game One: LHP J.D. McCracken (4-7, 5.50/1.99) vs. LHP Ethan Norby (3-0, 3.67/1.4)
Game Two: RHP Parker Smith (4-5, 4.57 ERA/1.44) vs. TBA
Game Three: RHP Tucker Alch (1-3, 3.29/2.40) vs. TBATBA
Rice Recently
- After opening its first AAC season 1-8 through the first three weeks of conference action, Rice went 10-8 while winning four of the last six series.
- The Owls' 10-8 was tied for third with UAB, UTSA and Wichita State behind East Carolina (13-5) and Tulane (12-6) in the conference over the last six weekends
- The Owls have posted a 13-10 overall record over the last 23 games while hitting .277 (200x695) with 29 homers and stealing 26 bases in 33 attempts. Rice was 9-24 in the first 33 games, hitting .229 with 20 homers and 18 steals (in 29 attempts.
- Ben Dukes (.354; 34x96), Manny Garza (.351; 26x74, 5 HR & 12 RBI), and Pierce Gallo (.299; 26x87, 5 HR & 190 RBI) led the way at the plate over the last 23 games.
- In winning five straight vs. South Florida and UTSA, the Owls scored at least nine runs in each game for the first time since 2010 (March 28-April 4).
Jack Riedel's 15 home runs this year are the most by an Owl since the NCAA revised the standards for bats after the 2010 season. Anthony Rendon led the Owls with 26 home runs on his way to earning national Player of the Year honors in 2010 while Rick Hague was second with 16. He hit 10 homers at Reckling, the most since Rendon hit 11 at home in 2010. Riedel moved to within three of matching Mark Quinn's 1995 total of 18 as the 10th-best single-season mark in school history. Quinn smashed 18 homers in 1995 as a teammate of current Owls' head coach Jose Cruz Jr.
Doubling Up the Outs
Rice leads the AAC and tied for second nationally with 59 double plays in the first 56 games and Rice leads the AAC and ranks fourth nationally with 1.05 per game. The 59 twin killings are the most since the Owls had 69 in 64 games in 2013. 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 (1.08). They ranked sixth nationally in total double plays that year.
Centered
Owls centerfielders (Kyte McDonald and Ben Dukes) have combined to hit .336 (77x229) this season when starting at that position. McDonald was hitting .308 after the Wichita State series and Dukes has hit .365 (42x115) in 28 games since replacing McDonald, who was injured in practice the week following the WSU series.
Players Mentioned
RHP
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INF
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P
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