Friday, May 10
Reckling Park
6:30 p.m.
Rice University
vs
Florida Atlantic
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Rice Wraps Up Inaugural AAC Home Schedule Against Florida Atlantic
5/9/2024 10:50:00 PM | Baseball
Key series in race to qualify for AAC Championship
Road Closes Out AAC Home Schedule with Florida Atlantic
Rice closes out the home portion of its first season in the AAC this weekend when it welcomes Florida Atlantic to Reckling Park. FAU is one of three teams tied for fourth in the conference at 10-11 while Rice is tied with two others for seventh at 9-12 with two weeks remaining. The top eight teams will advance to the AAC Championship, which begins on May 24 in Clearwater, Florida. The series opens at 6:30 on Friday followed by a 2:00 p.m. game on Saturday and closing with a 1:00 p.m. finale on Sunday. The homestand concludes on Tuesday with the first-ever morning midweek game at Reckling as Rice hosts Texas Southern in the first Grand Slam School Day.
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 calling Rice baseball and will have the simulcast call for each game of the homestand aside from Sunday when he will join Enrique Cruz for the call on ESPN+ while Jason Metko takes over on radio
Pitching Matchups
Power Plant
Jack Riedel's 14 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. Riedel moved to within four 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.
Holding Down the Hits
Rice ranks second in the AAC and 29th nationally allowing only 8.36 hits per nine innings,.. Owls' hurlers have allowed 408 hits in 439 innings and are looking to complete a season with more innings pitched than hits allowed for the first time since 2016, when the Rice pitching staff finished the season ranked 23rd overall with 7.99 hits per nine innings.
Glued to Their Seats at Reckling
Nine of the last 12 games at Reckling Park have been decided by two runs or less, six of them by one run… The Owls are 5-3 in games decided in two runs or less over the last 15 contests after going 2-10 to start the season… The Owls split a pair of 15-inning games, both by 4-3 scores in a matter of eight days, losing to Memphis and defeating UAB… Rice has not played multiple games of 15 innings or more since 2013 when they played a 17-inning game at Hawai'i and matched that with an epic 17-inning loss to North Carolina State in the Super Regional.
Rice closes out the home portion of its first season in the AAC this weekend when it welcomes Florida Atlantic to Reckling Park. FAU is one of three teams tied for fourth in the conference at 10-11 while Rice is tied with two others for seventh at 9-12 with two weeks remaining. The top eight teams will advance to the AAC Championship, which begins on May 24 in Clearwater, Florida. The series opens at 6:30 on Friday followed by a 2:00 p.m. game on Saturday and closing with a 1:00 p.m. finale on Sunday. The homestand concludes on Tuesday with the first-ever morning midweek game at Reckling as Rice hosts Texas Southern in the first Grand Slam School Day.
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 calling Rice baseball and will have the simulcast call for each game of the homestand aside from Sunday when he will join Enrique Cruz for the call on ESPN+ while Jason Metko takes over on radio
Pitching Matchups
- Friday: RHP Parker Smith (4-4, 4.04/1.46) vs. RHP C.J. Williams (5-3, 2.84/1.23)
- Saturday: J.D. McCracken (4-5, 5.00/1.74) vs. LHP Trey Beard (2-3, 5.47 /1.56)
- Sunday: Tucker Alch (0-3, 2.88/1.36) vs. TBA
- Rice has won eight of the last 12 AAC games while picking up wins in three consecutive conference series for the first time since 2017.
- Rice has hit .279 over the last 16 games (148x527) while the pitching staff has a combined 4.62 ERA and .258 opponents' batting average the defense has fielded at a .978 clip.
- In the first 33 games of the year, the Owls were hitting .223, the staff ERA was 5.50 and the fielding percentage was .968.
- 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).
Power Plant
Jack Riedel's 14 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. Riedel moved to within four 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.
Holding Down the Hits
Rice ranks second in the AAC and 29th nationally allowing only 8.36 hits per nine innings,.. Owls' hurlers have allowed 408 hits in 439 innings and are looking to complete a season with more innings pitched than hits allowed for the first time since 2016, when the Rice pitching staff finished the season ranked 23rd overall with 7.99 hits per nine innings.
Glued to Their Seats at Reckling
Nine of the last 12 games at Reckling Park have been decided by two runs or less, six of them by one run… The Owls are 5-3 in games decided in two runs or less over the last 15 contests after going 2-10 to start the season… The Owls split a pair of 15-inning games, both by 4-3 scores in a matter of eight days, losing to Memphis and defeating UAB… Rice has not played multiple games of 15 innings or more since 2013 when they played a 17-inning game at Hawai'i and matched that with an epic 17-inning loss to North Carolina State in the Super Regional.