HOUSTON – Now entering his 25th season at the helm of the Rice baseball program, Owls head coach Wayne Graham has started the fall training program and announced the team’s upcoming 2016 schedule.
Rice returns six offensive starters in the batting order and eight veteran pitchers who helped lead the 2015 squad to a 37-22 record and the Conference USA regular season title. Under the direction of coach Graham, the Owls have won or shared a conference regular season or tournament title in each of the last 20-straight seasons. Fans can get a special fall preview of the 2016 baseball team on October 17 (Saturday) when the Owls host Lamar in an exhibition game at Reckling Park.
The official 2016 spring schedule is challenging slate of 54 regular season games, including 31 at Reckling Park (the most since 2012) and another five in the greater Houston area.
The Owls open the spring slate at home on Feb. 19 with a three-game weekend series against Pac-12 power Arizona. Rice then hosts familiar foes Dallas Baptist and Texas State before heading downtown to Minute Maid Park to play in the annual College Classic Tournament on Feb. 26-28. In what could possibly be the nation’s best collegiate tournament of the early season, and played in the fantastic major league home of the Houston Astros, the Owls are scheduled to face Arkansas, TCU and Louisiana-Lafayette (respectively) in this year’s College Classic.
Rice in fact has two meetings with TCU, a back-to-back participant in the previous two College World Series. The Horned Frogs visit Reckling Park on March 15, while another familiar longtime rival Texas A&M plays a single game at Rice on April 5.
The talented lineup of teams also visiting Reckling Park in 2016 are Houston, East Carolina, UCF, Florida Atlantic, UAB, Old Dominion, Western Kentucky, Charlotte, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Lamar.
Rice road games are at Southern Miss, UTSA, Middle Tennessee, Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Lamar, Texas State, Sam Houston State and Houston. The Owls play a total of three games against crosstown rival Houston where the annual Silver Glove Trophy will be on the line. The first is at U.H. on March 22 with a second at Reckling Park on May 10. The series finale is set for May 17 at neutral Constellation Field, the minor league home of the Sugar Land Skeeters.
