Rice University’s baseball team will continue its eight-game homestand by hosting the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Roadrunners, defending American Conference champions, in a series that begins Thursday, Apr. 2. The games have been moved up by one day to accommodate the Easter holiday. The rivalry will start on Thursday at 6:35 p.m., followed by another game at the same time on Friday and concluding with a Sunday finale at 1:05 p.m.
The matchup is notable as Rice aims to build on its strong home performance this season. The Owls are currently 10-4 at Reckling Park and have won each of their three weekend series this year, extending a streak of six consecutive home series wins dating back to last season. Rice has not had a winning season at home since finishing 15-13-1 in 2018.
Broadcast coverage for the games includes J.P. Heath calling action on RiceOwls.com and the Varsity Network app for Thursday and Saturday, while Jason Metko covers Friday’s game. ESPN+ broadcasts will feature Matt Pedersen, Kyle Rogers, Abby Christopherson (Thursday), Heath, Enrique Cruz, Alexis Pedraza (Friday), and Sam Kaman joining Rogers and Pedraza for Sunday’s finale.
Pitching matchups are set for Thursday with Tanner Wiggins starting for Rice against Ryan Self from UTSA; starters for Friday and Saturday remain to be announced.
In conference play over two-plus seasons in the American Conference, Rice holds a record of 24-36 overall but has qualified for the conference championship tournament each year. At home within conference play they are even at 15-15 overall and have won seven out of ten home series during this period.
Historically, Rice leads UTSA in their all-time meetings with an edge of 30-25 despite losing the last five encounters. Their first meeting was in 1994; since then they have faced off regularly both as non-conference opponents and since becoming conference rivals in 2014.
