2026 Rice Owls baseball team

2026 Rice Owls baseball
2026 Rice Owls baseball
Conference	American Conference
Record	35–24 (16–11 American)
Head coach	David Pierce (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	J.J. Altobelli (1st season); Mikey Hoehner (1st season); Conrad Ramquist (1st season);
Hitting coach	Clay Van Hook (1st season)
Pitching coach	Justin Aspegren (3rd season)
Home stadium	Reckling Park

2026 American Conference baseball standings
	Conf.						Overall
Team	W		L		T	PCT	W		L		T	PCT
UTSA ‍†‍‍	17	–	10	–	0	.630	38	–	20	–	0	.655
East Carolina ‍†‍‡‍^y	17	–	10	–	0	.630	36	–	22	–	1	.619
Rice ‍‍‍	16	–	11	–	0	.593	35	–	24	–	0	.593
UAB ‍‍‍	15	–	12	–	0	.556	32	–	26	–	0	.552
Memphis ‍‍‍	13	–	14	–	0	.481	24	–	34	–	0	.414
Florida Atlantic ‍‍‍	12	–	15	–	0	.444	28	–	28	–	0	.500
Wichita State ‍‍‍	12	–	15	–	0	.444	31	–	29	–	0	.517
Charlotte ‍‍‍	12	–	15	–	0	.444	28	–	28	–	0	.500
South Florida ‍‍‍	11	–	16	–	0	.407	32	–	21	–	0	.604
Tulane ‍‍‍	10	–	17	–	0	.370	25	–	31	–	0	.446

† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 26, 2026^[1] Rankings from D1Baseball

The 2026 Rice Owls baseball team represents Rice University during the 2026 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Owls play their home games at Reckling Park as a member of the American Conference. They are be led by second-year head coach David Pierce.

Previous season

The Owls are coming off a 17–40 (10–17) season, which saw head coach, José Cruz Jr. fired mid-season. The Owls did not qualify for the conference tournament.

Preseason

Coaches poll

The coaches poll was released on December 30, 2025. Rice was selected to finish seventh in the conference.^[2]

Coaches' Poll
Predicted finish	Team	Points
1	East Carolina	75 (4)
2	UTSA	70 (4)
3	Charlotte	62
4	Tulane	57
5	South Florida	54
6	Florida Atlantic	45
7	Rice	45
8	Wichita State	24
9	Memphis	19
10	UAB	16

Game log

2026 Rice Owls baseball game log (35–24)

Preseason: 3–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 2–0; Neutral: 0–0)

Preseason: 3–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 2–0; Neutral: 0–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Preseason	Amer.
October 11		at Louisiana*		Russo Park Lafayette, LA	W 6–4				2,563	1–0	—
October 11		at Louisiana*		Russo Park	W 6–5				2,714	2–0	—
October 26		McLennan CC		Reckling Park Houston, TX	L 2–3	Bowers	Urbanczyk	Doty	875	2–1	—
October 26		McLennan CC		Reckling Park	W 5–3	Sanders	Stribling	Fernandez	894	3–1	—
January 31		Rice Alumni		Reckling Park					933		—

Regular season: 34–22 (Home: 20–10; Away: 13–11; Neutral: 1–1)

February: 5–6 (Home: 5–3; Away: 0–3; Neutral: 0–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	Amer.
February 13	ESPN+	Northwestern*		Reckling Park Houston, TX	W 7–6	Sharp (1–0)	Hliboki (0–1)	Sanders (1)	1,627	1–0	—
February 14	ESPN+	Northwestern*		Reckling Park	W 3–2	Arnett (1–0)	Kouser (0–1)	Wiggins (1)	1,627	2–0	—
February 15	ESPN+	Northwestern*		Reckling Park	L 6–17	Kouser (1–1)	Diaz (0–1)	—	1,334	2–1	—
February 17		Louisiana*		Reckling Park	L 0–3	Pruitt (1–0)	Blank (0–1)	Brasch (1)	1,327	2–2	—
February 18	ESPN+	Purdue*		Reckling Park	W 5–2	Arnett (2–0)	Klug (1–1)	Thames (1)	1,315	3–2	—
February 20	B1G+	at USC*		Dedeaux Field Los Angeles, CA	L 0–5	Edwards (2–0)	Sharp (1–1)	Lauridsen (1)	1,118	3–3	—
February 21	B1G+	at USC*		Dedeaux Field	L 1–4	Govel (2–0)	Urbanczyk (0–1)	Troy (3)	1,097	3–4	—
February 22	B1G+	at USC*		Dedeaux Field	L 2–4	Johnson (2–0)	Sanders (0–1)	Troy (4)	1,265	3–5	—
February 24	ESPN+	Houston Christian*		Reckling Park	L 8–11	Norton (1–0)	Thames (0–1)	Feltman (1)	1,342	3–6	—
February 27	ESPN+	Harvard*		Reckling Park	W 11–7	Sharp (2–1)	Colasante (0–2)	Fuentes (1)	1,908	4–6	—
February 28	ESPN+	Harvard*		Reckling Park	W 2–1	Diaz (1–1)	McHugh (0–1)	Atchley (1)	1,493	5–6	—

March: 13–6 (Home: 5–1; Away: 7–4; Neutral: 1–1)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	Amer.
March 1	ESPN+	Harvard*		Reckling Park	W 9–0	Sanders (1–1)	Abler (0–1)	—	1,363	6–6	—
March 4	ESPN+	at Lamar*		Vincent–Beck Stadium Beaumont, TX	W 4–1	Fuentes (1–0)	Fritcher (0–1)	Thames (2)	961	7–6	—
March 6		at Abilene Christian*		Crutcher Scott Field Abilene, TX	W 5–4	Diaz (2–1)	Whiteaker (1–2)	Wiggins (2)	443	8–6	—
March 7		at Abilene Christian*		Crutcher Scott Field	W 8–6	Thames (1–1)	Coe (0–1)	—	401	9–6	—
March 8	WACI	at Abilene Christian*		Crutcher Scott Field	L 1–4	McGarrh (2–1)	Sanders (1–2)	Wallace (1)	408	9–7	—
March 10	B12N+	at Houston*		Schroeder Park Houston, TX	L 1–13⁽⁸⁾	Cooper (1–0)	Arnett (2–1)	—	1,024	9–8	—
March 13		vs. St. Mary's (CA)*		Brazzell Field Phoenix, AZ	W 6–5	Traeger (1–0)	Gardini (0–2)	—	101	10–8	—
March 13	MWN	at Grand Canyon*		Brazzell Field	W 16–5	Diaz (3–1)	Ahern (1–3)	—	336	11–8	—
March 14	MWN	at Grand Canyon*		Brazzell Field	W 13–2	Urbanczyk (1–1)	Frey (0–4)	—	251	12–8	—
March 15		vs. St. Mary's (CA)*		Brazzell Field	L 8–11	Romero (1–0)	Atchley (0–1)	—	106	12–9	—
March 17	ESPN+	UTRGV*		Reckling Park	W 7–3	Atchley (1–1)	Vercoe (0–3)	—	1,371	13–9	—
March 20	ESPN+	at South Florida		Red McEwen Field Tampa, FL	W 5–4	Wiggins (1–0)	Alicea (4–1)	Atchley (2)	675	14–9	1–0
March 21	ESPN+	at South Florida		Red McEwen Field	L 0–2	Senay (4–0)	Urbanczyk (1–2)	Sutton (4)	568	14–10	1–1
March 22	ESPN+	at South Florida		Red McEwen Field	L 2–7	Smith (3–1)	Sanders (1–3)	—	534	14–11	1–2
March 25	ESPN+	at Houston Christian*		Husky Field Houston, TX	W 10–7	Atchley (2–1)	Kendall (0–2)	—	377	15–11	—
March 27	ESPN+	Florida Atlantic		Reckling Park	L 2–6	Litman (4–2)	Wiggins (1–1)	Kilny (1)	1,429	15–12	1–3
March 28	ESPN+	Florida Atlantic		Reckling Park	W 5–2	Thames (2–1)	Adetuyi (1–2)	—	1,620	16–12	2–3
March 29	ESPN+	Florida Atlantic		Reckling Park	W 8–1	Urbanczyk (2–2)	Grant (1–2)	—	1,293	17–12	3–3
March 31	ESPN+	UTRGV*		Reckling Park	W 6–4	Atchley (3–1)	Gonzalez (0–1)	Arnett (1)	1,202	18–12	—

April: 6–10 (Home: 1–4; Away: 5–6; Neutral: 0–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	Amer.
April 2	ESPN+	UTSA		Reckling Park	W 3–2⁽¹⁰⁾	Sharp (3–1)	Simmons (6–2)	—	1,519	19–12	4–3
April 3	ESPN+	UTSA		Reckling Park	L 0–8	Myles (4–1)	Sanders (1–4)	—	1,476	19–13	4–4
April 4	ESPN+	UTSA		Reckling Park	L 0–13⁽⁷⁾	Gutierrez (1–0)	Thames (2–2)	—	1,516	19–14	4–5
April 7	ESPN+	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi*		Reckling Park	W 18–4	Atchley (4–1)	Shea (1–3)	—	1,543	20–14	—
April 10	ESPN+	at Charlotte		Hayes Stadium Charlotte, NC	W 7–5	Wiggins (2–1)	Cooper (3–2)	—	607	21–14	5–5
April 11	ESPN+	at Charlotte		Hayes Stadium	W 6–2	Sanders (2–4)	Taylor (4–4)	Thames (3)	659	22–14	6–5
April 12	ESPN+	at Charlotte		Hayes Stadium	W 3–2	Urbanczyk (3–2)	Carson (2–2)	Thames (4)	674	23–14	7–5
April 15	ESPN+	Sam Houston*		Reckling Park	W 5–3	Atchley (5–1)	Alarid (0–2)	Blank (1)	1,336	24–14	—
April 17	ESPN+	Memphis		Reckling Park	L 1–4	Howell (4–5)	Sharp (3–2)	Fair (7)	1,808	24–15	7–6
April 18	ESPN+	Memphis		Reckling Park	L 6–10	Case (3–6)	Sanders (2–5)	Fair (8)	1,534	24–16	7–7
April 19	ESPN+	Memphis		Reckling Park	L 5–6⁽¹⁰⁾	Rushing (1–2)	Thames (2–3)	—	1,579	24–17	7–8
April 21	ESPN+	Houston*		Reckling Park	L 3–4	Roman (2–0)	Blank (0–2)	—	2,258	24–18	—
April 24	ESPN+	at Wichita State		Eck Stadium Wichita, KS	L 1–5	Cuccias (4–2)	Wiggins (2–2)	—	2,621	24–19	7–9
April 25	ESPN+	at Wichita State		Eck Stadium	W 3–2	Sanders (3–5)	Sharp (0–2)	Thames (5)	1,689	25–19	8–9
April 26	ESPN+	at Wichita State		Eck Stadium	L 3–13	Hayashi (1–1)	Urbanczyk (3–3)	—	1,433	25–20	8–10
April 28	ESPN+	Lamar*		Reckling Park	W 6–5	Diaz (4–1)	Fritcher (3–4)	Sharp (1)	1,642	26–20	—

May: 8–2 (Home: 6–0; Away: 2–2; Neutral: 0–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	Amer.
May 1	ESPN+	UAB		Reckling Park	W 16–9	Wiggins (3–2)	Ingram (2–4)	—	1,867	27–20	9–10
May 1	ESPN+	UAB		Reckling Park	W 12–2⁽⁷⁾	Sanders (4–5)	Samuelson (4–3)	—	1,867	28–20	10–10
May 3	ESPN+	UAB		Reckling Park	W 10–3	Urbanczyk (4–3)	Hicks (2–4)	—	1,323	29–20	11–10
May 8	ESPN+	at East Carolina		Clark–LeClair Stadium Greenville, NC	W 10–5	Sharp (4–2)	Webb (6–5)	—	4,173	30–20	12–10
May 9	ESPN+	at East Carolina		Clark–LeClair Stadium	W 5–3	Sanders (5–5)	Norby (5–3)	Thames (6)	4,462	31–20	13–10
May 10	ESPN+	at East Carolina		Clark–LeClair Stadium	L 0–3	Rose (3–1)	Urbanczyk (4–4)	Hoagland (1)	4,087	31–21	13–11
May 12	B12N+	at Houston*		Schroeder Park	L 3–14	Solis (3–2)	Arnett (2–2)	—	849	31–22	—
May 14	ESPN+	Tulane		Reckling Park	W 12–0⁽⁷⁾	Wiggins (4–2)	Rodriguez (5–3)	—	1,835	32–22	14–11
May 15	ESPN+	Tulane		Reckling Park	W 10–6	Thames (3–3)	Larson (2–3)	—	1,738	33–22	15–11
May 16	ESPN+	Tulane		Reckling Park	W 6–5⁽¹¹⁾	Kuhn (1–0)	Devenney (0–1)	—	1,424	34–22	16–11

Postseason: 1–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0; Neutral: 1–2)

American tournament: 1–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0; Neutral: 1–2)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	ACT Record	Source
May 21	ESPN+	vs. (7) Wichita State	(3)	BayCare Ballpark Clearwater, FL	W 5–4	Fetchel (1–0)	Hamilton (3–8)	—		35–22	1–0	Report
May 22	ESPN+	vs. (2) East Carolina	(3)	BayCare Ballpark	L 3–4	Towers (7–3)	Sanders (5–6)	Norby (1)		35–23	1–1	Report
May 22	ESPN+	vs. (4) UAB	(3)	BayCare Ballpark	L 6–9	Miller (5–0)	Thames (3–4)	—		35–24	1–2	Report

Legend: = Win = Loss = Canceled
Bold = Rice team member
Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.^[3]

Schedule Notes

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** — = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
Coaches'^[4]	—	—*	—	—	—	—	—	—
Baseball America^[5]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
NCBWA†^[6]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
D1Baseball^[7]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Perfect Game^[8]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

† NCBWA ranks 30 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 25 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

References

↑ "Baseball Standings". theamerican.com. American Conference. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
↑ "East Carolina Named American Baseball Preseason Favorite". theamerican.org. December 30, 2025. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
↑ "2026 Rice Baseball Schedule". riceowls.com. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
↑ "NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
↑ "College Baseball Top 25 Rankings". www.baseballamerica.com. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
↑ "NCBWA > News > Top 30 Poll". www.sportswriters.net. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
↑ "Rankings Archives • D1Baseball". d1baseball.com. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
↑ "Rankings | Perfect Game USA". perfectgame.org. Retrieved January 26, 2025.

[1] "Baseball Standings". theamerican.com. American Conference. Retrieved May 26, 2026.

[2] "East Carolina Named American Baseball Preseason Favorite". theamerican.org. December 30, 2025. Retrieved March 30, 2026.

[3] "2026 Rice Baseball Schedule". riceowls.com. Retrieved May 14, 2026.

[4] "NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 26, 2025.

[5] "College Baseball Top 25 Rankings". www.baseballamerica.com. Retrieved January 26, 2025.

[6] "NCBWA > News > Top 30 Poll". www.sportswriters.net. Retrieved January 26, 2025.

[7] "Rankings Archives • D1Baseball". d1baseball.com. Retrieved January 26, 2025.

[perfect_game-8] "Rankings | Perfect Game USA". perfectgame.org. Retrieved January 26, 2025.

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Rice Owls baseball
Venue	Cameron Field (1978–1999) Reckling Park (2000–present)
Rivalries & tournaments	Silver Glove Series (Houston) Houston College Classic
People	Head Coaches
Seasons	1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
National championships in bold; College World Series appearances in italics