2021 Rice Owls baseball team


The 2021 Rice Owls baseball team represented Rice University in the sport of baseball for the 2021 college baseball season. The Owls competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and in Conference USA West Division. They played their home games at Reckling Park in Houston, Texas. The team was coached by Matt Bragga, who was in his third season with the Owls.

2021 Rice Owls baseball
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionWest Division
Record23–29–1 (11–20–1 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home stadiumReckling Park
Uniform
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Conference USA baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
East
Charlotte x‍‍‍y 24 8 0   .750 40 21 0   .656
No. 16 Old Dominion ‍‍y 22 10 0   .688 44 16 0   .733
Florida Atlantic ‍‍‍ 18 14 0   .563 32 25 0   .561
Western Kentucky ‍‍‍ 15 17 0   .469 27 29 0   .482
FIU ‍‍‍ 11 19 0   .367 20 31 0   .392
Marshall ‍‍‍ 6 26 0   .188 10 35 0   .222
West
No. 22 Louisiana Tech x‍‍‍y 22 8 0   .733 42 20 0   .677
No. 23 Southern Miss ‍‍‍y 22 9 0   .710 40 21 0   .656
UTSA ‍‍‍ 14 17 0   .452 22 26 0   .458
Middle Tennessee ‍‍‍ 12 19 1   .391 24 29 1   .454
Rice ‍‍‍ 11 20 1   .359 23 29 1   .443
UAB ‍‍‍ 11 21 0   .344 18 36 0   .333
x – Division champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 7, 2021[1]
Rankings from D1Baseball

For the first time since joining Conference USA in 2005, Rice did not qualify for this season's conference tournament. The Owl's broke their 14-year appearance in the tournament. On May 24, 2021, Rice announced that coach Bragga was relieved from his coaching duties.[2]

Preseason

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C-USA media poll

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The Conference USA preseason poll was released on February 11, 2021 with the Owls predicted to finish in third place in the West Division.[3]

Media poll (West)
Predicted finish Team 1st Place Votes
1 Southern Miss 10
2 Louisiana Tech 2
3 Rice -
4 Middle Tennessee -
5 UTSA -
6 UAB -

Preseason All-CUSA team

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  • Braden Comeaux – Infielder

Schedule and results

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2021 Rice Owl baseball game log
Regular season (23–29–1)
Schedule Source:[5]

*Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.

References

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  1. ^ "2021 Baseball Standings". conferenceusa.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  2. ^ McIlvoy, Randy (May 24, 2021). "Rice AD announces coaching change for baseball program: Matt Bragga let go after three seasons". KPRC-TV. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "2021 Baseball Preseason Poll and Awards".
  4. ^ a b Herrera, Ryan (February 18, 2021). "Weather postpones Rice athletic events". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "Owls Announce Baseball Schedule" (Press release). Rice University Department of Athletics. January 19, 2021.
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Rice Baseball