Cienfuegos gets 3 Ks and gave up a single. Really looked sharp.

Lamar has a new RHP to open the 8th

It is wild, how many international players Lamar has. I’ve heard them announce players from Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and now the new pitcher is actually from Mexico, by way of El Paso community college.

Have a night, Paul Smith! Third hit of the night (2 singles and a double) drives in a run. Now 8-2. Owls on the corners with 2 outs in the 8th

Guy drives in another. Now 9-2 going to the bottom of the 8th

Raj to pitch the 8th. Lead of single. Pop up, but then a walk followed by a WP. Cardinals on 2nd and 3rd now with 1 out. Now another walk. Bases loaded. Not a great outing by Raj thus far.

FC drives in a run. Now 9-3 with runners on the corner at 2 outs. Nice K to end the inning. Good to see Raj recover. Nearly got a DP grounder to get out of it and then a nice K

Bensho in to pitch the 9th. Up 9-3

Still striking out way, way too frequently (11 tonight), but with Royo, Smith and Smiggy now in the lineup and all starting to heat up, we actually have a semblance of an offense.

I also hear that Reed Gallant is close to coming off the IR (after having a concussion after being hit in the head with a line shot during Spring intrasquads). He's not a savior, but he has a nice fastball and could be a solid, if inconsistent, 1 - 2 inning reliever, along with Cienfuegos. Any pitching depth we can add will help.

Bensho with two strikeouts against seldom used pinch hitters.

(03-28-2023 09:09 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Bensho with two strikeouts against seldom used pinch hitters.

better than giving up 2 runs to seldom used pinch hitters....

(03-28-2023 07:53 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Walt gets a lot of grief here (some he even probably realizes he deserves). But I do think he was clamoring most of February and early March that we need more Royo.

To paraphrase The Bruce Dickinson, ‘I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more Royo.’

Please, PLEASE do not encourage Walt. I come on here to see what fellow Owl FANS have to say and see if I can actually gain some valuable insights. I've never commented before, but I can't stand quietly by anymore.

Reading negative, often misinformed "analysis" from a miserable blowhard who thinks every thought he has must be expressed, clearly has never played baseball or any other team sport at a high level (or maybe any level), and doesn't seem to care about building positive energy around the program does nothing to enhance anyone's enjoyment of the Rice baseball experience.

Even when he stumbles on a reasonable observation (Yes, Royo is good!), the negativity with which he expresses himself only detracts from the experience of those of us who actually remain hopeful for good things to happen for our Owls.

Take a hint, Walt, there's a reason you sit alone when you come to games - you are insufferable.

I will now resume my silence... RFND!

(03-28-2023 10:00 PM)WiseOwl80 Wrote:  

(03-28-2023 07:53 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Walt gets a lot of grief here (some he even probably realizes he deserves). But I do think he was clamoring most of February and early March that we need more Royo.

To paraphrase The Bruce Dickinson, ‘I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more Royo.’

Please, PLEASE do not encourage Walt. I come on here to see what fellow Owl FANS have to say and see if I can actually gain some valuable insights. I've never commented before, but I can't stand quietly by anymore.

Reading negative, often misinformed "analysis" from a miserable blowhard who thinks every thought he has must be expressed, clearly has never played baseball or any other team sport at a high level (or maybe any level), and doesn't seem to care about building positive energy around the program does nothing to enhance anyone's enjoyment of the Rice baseball experience.

Even when he stumbles on a reasonable observation (Yes, Royo is good!), the negativity with which he expresses himself only detracts from the experience of those of us who actually remain hopeful for good things to happen for our Owls.

Take a hint, Walt, there's a reason you sit alone when you come to games - you are insufferable.

I will now resume my silence... RFND!

I agree, Mr. Greneburg has absolutely no clue what he's talking about and is constantly spewing negativity about our players... Hootem Owls!

(03-28-2023 10:45 PM)GoOwls67 Wrote:  

(03-28-2023 10:00 PM)WiseOwl80 Wrote:  

(03-28-2023 07:53 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Walt gets a lot of grief here (some he even probably realizes he deserves). But I do think he was clamoring most of February and early March that we need more Royo.

To paraphrase The Bruce Dickinson, ‘I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more Royo.’

Please, PLEASE do not encourage Walt. I come on here to see what fellow Owl FANS have to say and see if I can actually gain some valuable insights. I've never commented before, but I can't stand quietly by anymore.

Reading negative, often misinformed "analysis" from a miserable blowhard who thinks every thought he has must be expressed, clearly has never played baseball or any other team sport at a high level (or maybe any level), and doesn't seem to care about building positive energy around the program does nothing to enhance anyone's enjoyment of the Rice baseball experience.

Even when he stumbles on a reasonable observation (Yes, Royo is good!), the negativity with which he expresses himself only detracts from the experience of those of us who actually remain hopeful for good things to happen for our Owls.

Take a hint, Walt, there's a reason you sit alone when you come to games - you are insufferable.

I will now resume my silence... RFND!

I agree, Mr. Greneburg has absolutely no clue what he's talking about and is constantly spewing negativity about our players... Hootem Owls!

I also agree here. Walton needs to take a step back and realize what he is doing. Nothing but negativity does not being a positive vibe. Be positive and figure it out one time. Walt’s opinion doesn’t matter in the slightest as he does not know what he is talking and no one takes what he says seriously. Clearly needs to realize what he says has no reflection on the team whatsoever. RFND

Thought I'd bring some positive vibes to the party. This is the first time Rice has been over .500 this late in the season since 2017. And really, 2017 was a bit of an odd year. We were actually 7-18 after 25 games, and didn't climb over .500 until we were 29-28. This is our best 25 game record since 2016 when we were 15-10 after 25.

So, I'll go with guarded optimism. We're clearly better than last year (8-17 after 25). Let's see if we can build on some early season success.

(03-28-2023 11:26 PM)picrig Wrote:  Thought I'd bring some positive vibes to the party. This is the first time Rice has been over .500 this late in the season since 2017. And really, 2017 was a bit of an odd year. We were actually 7-18 after 25 games, and didn't climb over .500 until we were 29-28. This is our best 25 game record since 2016 when we were 15-10 after 25.

So, I'll go with guarded optimism. We're clearly better than last year (8-17 after 25). Let's see if we can build on some early season success.

Agree and we are beating the teams we should beat.

Time for my $.02 worth on Walt.

All sports lend themselves to second guessing the coach's choices - baseball, I think, more than most.

We have had the critiques of Hatfied's offense - and that of Bailiff and Bloomgren. And their defenses, game plans, and recruiting.

We are currently critiquing the Pera coaching.

I am not well versed enough in baseball to critique Walt's critiques. He does seem to be a bit surer of himself than most critiquers. Not at all sure that's a crime.

But I am happy to have him here as a fan, supporting the athletics programs at Rice top to bottom, with his money, his attendance, and his involvement. In all ways he is working for the betterment of Rice's athletics.

Thanks Walt.

(03-29-2023 06:45 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-28-2023 11:26 PM)picrig Wrote:  Thought I'd bring some positive vibes to the party. This is the first time Rice has been over .500 this late in the season since 2017. And really, 2017 was a bit of an odd year. We were actually 7-18 after 25 games, and didn't climb over .500 until we were 29-28. This is our best 25 game record since 2016 when we were 15-10 after 25.

So, I'll go with guarded optimism. We're clearly better than last year (8-17 after 25). Let's see if we can build on some early season success.

Agree and we are beating the teams we should beat.

And let's not forget we played one of the most difficult early season OOC schedules in the country. Defense is light years better than last year, led by C Garza and 1B Holderbach. Heck, we're even consistently hitting the cut-off man. Offense is more balanced (as opposed to relying on the same 3 - 4 players as we did the past several years), though there is still considerable room for improvement. Pitching has struggled or been inconsistent outside of Smith, Linskey and Raj, but the reality is that we've been without 3 guys who were projected to be major contributors this year (Stratton, Durke, Davis).
What's encouraging is that McCracken appears to be settling in and Brogdon flashed his pre-injury form for the first time in 2 years on Sunday. His has arguably the best stuff on the staff. Put him in as our Sunday starter and gradually build up his pitch count and arm strength so he can eventually give us 5+ innings.

Hitting: Compared to last year (full year statistics), our team batting average is still down a little (0.242 vs 0.251) but it has gone up in the last week. Our runs per game is up a little (5.6 vs 5.2).

Pitching: Compared to last year, our team ERA is down a good bit (5.14 vs 6.04) and our runs allowed is down (5.4 vs 7.3).

Overall, the team has been much more fun to watch. We've held on to a lead more often than not and we've had some exciting come backs even though we have not always pulled out the win.

Surprised to see how well Lamar was doing this year. Wasn't able to watch the stream. Dominant win.

(03-29-2023 08:25 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Time for my $.02 worth on Walt.

All sports lend themselves to second guessing the coach's choices - baseball, I think, more than most.

We have had the critiques of Hatfied's offense - and that of Bailiff and Bloomgren. And their defenses, game plans, and recruiting.

We are currently critiquing the Pera coaching.

I am not well versed enough in baseball to critique Walt's critiques. He does seem to be a bit surer of himself than most critiquers. Not at all sure that's a crime.

But I am happy to have him here as a fan, supporting the athletics programs at Rice top to bottom, with his money, his attendance, and his involvement. In all ways he is working for the betterment of Rice's athletics.

Thanks Walt.

Thank you OO. Well said.

(03-29-2023 09:47 AM)temchugh Wrote:  Hitting: Compared to last year (full year statistics), our team batting average is still down a little (0.242 vs 0.251) but it has gone up in the last week. Our runs per game is up a little (5.6 vs 5.2).

Pitching: Compared to last year, our team ERA is down a good bit (5.14 vs 6.04) and our runs allowed is down (5.4 vs 7.3).

Overall, the team has been much more fun to watch. We've held on to a lead more often than not and we've had some exciting come backs even though we have not always pulled out the win.

Stats obviously don't work like this, but for context, I think the pitching has been generally better than the 5.14 ERA would indicate. If you remove our first 4 Saturday games (maybe we're past this) where we gave up double digit runs each time, the team ERA is 4.08 in the other 21 games.

Or, if you look at the distribution of runs allowed per game....

Runs Per Game / % in '22 / % in '23 (to date)

0 - 3 / 23% / 28%
4 - 6 / 20% / 24%
7 - 9 / 32% / 32%
10+ / 27% / 16%

So last year we were giving up 7+ runs almost 60% of the time. This year it's below 50%. So improvement there as well.