Rice Owls men’s baseball will begin the 2026 Silver Glove Series against Houston on March 9, continuing a stretch of nine consecutive and 12 out of 13 games away from Reckling Park. The team is set for a four-game series in Phoenix, Arizona, facing Saint Mary’s and Grand Canyon from March 13 to 15. Rice will return home on St. Patrick’s Day to host UTRGV before heading back on the road to start American Conference play at USF from March 20 to 22.
The upcoming game will be broadcast with J.P. Heath calling the action on RiceOwls.com and the Varsity Network app, while Matt Pedersen and Kyle Rogers will provide coverage on ESPN+. Probable pitchers for the opener are right-handed pitcher Jeremiah Arnett (2-0, 3.45 ERA) for Rice and right-handed pitcher Caden Cooper (0-0, 3.38 ERA) for Houston.
The Silver Glove Series began in 1998, with Rice winning the series in 18 of the previous 28 seasons and holding a record of 62-40 over Houston. Of the first hundred games played in this rivalry, thirty-six have been decided by two runs or less, with Rice leading those close contests by a margin of twenty-two to fourteen. There have been fourteen shutouts in Silver Glove history—nine by Rice and four by Houston—with the most recent being a one-run Cougar victory at home in April of 2018.
After Houston left Conference USA prior to the 2014 season, the three-game series alternated between campuses with final games held at Constellation Field through 2019. Since the Astros purchased Sugarland Skeeters as their Triple-A base in 2022, all games have returned solely to each campus.
Historically, when David Pierce was part of both programs’ coaching staffs, results were closely contested: Houston and Rice split six games when Pierce was with the Cougars; as an assistant at Rice, his teams went ten-six against Houston; overall during his time at Rice staff, they posted a thirty-nine-eight record versus Houston.
Rice recently improved its season record to nine wins and six losses after an eight-six comeback win over Abilene Christian University. This marks their best start since reaching three games above .500 at this point for the first time since finishing thirty-three-thirty-one in the Baton Rouge Regional elimination round in 2017. A win tonight would give them double-digit victories earlier than any season since their sixteenth game in 2015.
