Homestand Continues vs. UTSA

Thursday, April 2

Houston, Texas

6:35 pm

Rice University

UTSA

Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics

4/1/2026 10:05:00 PM | Baseball

Thursday-Saturday series

By: Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)

HOMESTAND CONTINUES WITH UTSA: Rice's eight-game homestand continues as the Owls look to continue their hot start at home by hosting defending American Conference champions UTSA in a series moved up one day to accommodate the Easter holiday. The I-10 rivalry opens on Thursday at 6:35, followed by another 6:35 meeting on Friday followed by the finale of the series at 1:05 on Sunday.

ON THE AIR: J.P. Heath will call the action on RiceOwls.com and the Varsity Network app on Thursday and Saturday while Jason Metko will have the call on Friday.   Matt Pedersen, Kyle Rogers and Abby Christopherson will handle the broadcast duties on ESPN+ on Thursday, Heath, Enrique Cruz and Alexis Pedraza will call the action on Friday, and Sam Kaman, Rogers, and Pedraza have the finale.

HOT LINKS
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: Statbroadcast

PITCHING PROBABLES:
Thursday: Tanner Wiggins (1-1, 3.60) vs. Ryan Self (0-0, 5.87)
Friday: TBA vs. TBA
Saturday: TBA vs. TBA

HOME FRONT: Rice is 10-4 this season at Reckling Park and has won each of its three weekend series this year and six consecutive dating back to 2025. The Owls have not posted a winning season at home since they were 15-13-1 in 2018. In the 178 home games between 2019 and David Pierce's first home game as the Bixby Family Head Baseball Coach, Rice posted a .393 home winning percentage (70-108). The Owls are 18-12 (.600) at home under Pierce and have won their last six home series (USF, Charlotte & Wichita State in 2025, Northwestern, Harvard & Florida Atlantic in 2026).

AMERICAN WAY: Rice is 24-36 in two-plus seasons in the American Conference and has qualified for the conference championship tournament in each season. Rice is 7-3 in home series in the conference and has a 15-15 overall record in that stretch.   The Owls are 9-21 on the road in the conference, winning one road series each year. They swept all three games against USF in Tampa in 2024, registering their first win, series win, and series sweep as conference members.

EARLY SUCCESS: Rice's 8-1 win to clinch the series over Florida Atlantic improved the Owls' season record to 17-12and put them five games over .500 for the first time in since the 2016 season when they finished 38-24. The Owls have reached 17 wins in less than 30 games for the first time since 2016 when they started 17-10. They are looking for their 18th in the fewest games since 2016 (18-10

OWLS AND ROADRUNNERS: The schools have met 55 times overall since the series began in 1994, with a 7-1 win by Rice at Cameron Field, followed by a 21-1 Roadrunner win in San Antonio. Rice holds an overall edge of 30-25, but UTSA has won the last five in the series. The Owls lead the series at Reckling 16-12 and 21-12 at Rice. The schools first met as conference foes in 2014, and Rice took two of three from UTSA in the regular season and then defeated the Roadrunners 11-5 in the CUSA tournament final to complete a sweep of the conference titles on the way to hosting an NCAA Regional.