#3 Rice returns to Reckling to face struggling Tulane

Owls look to wrap up CUSA regular season title against Green Wave

CUSA Fans sports writer Joey Whelan brings us a preview of the weekend C-USA baseball series pitting the Tulane Green Wave against the Rice Owls.

Rice can clinch the regular season title this weekend against Tulane at Reckling Park in Houston. PHOTO: Bob Powell

Date: Friday, May 11 - Sunday, May 13

Times: 7:00 p.m.; 2:00 p.m.; 1:00 p.m. (CT)

Location: Houston, TX; Reckling Park (3,500)

After having last weekend off, Rice (38-11, 16-2) returns home to Reckling Park for a three-game series with C-USA foe Tulane. The Green Wave picked up a 2-1 victory over UAB in the nightcap of a Sunday double header in their last game, ending a six-game skid. With the win Tulane reached 30 wins for the 14 th straight season, and improved to 9-12 in conference play, putting them two games behind Southern Miss for fifth place.

While offense has been a strong point for Tulane for the majority of the season, (they are batting .290, and four players have four home runs and at least 25 RBIs) the bats have been struggling lately. The Green Wave has been held to four runs of less in eight of their last eleven games.

While the offense has been cooling for Tulane, the bats couldn’t be any hotter for Rice. The Owls are currently riding an eleven-game winning streak and have won 19 of their last 20 games. They have been held to less than five runs only once over that stretch.

The Tulane pitching staff has been very inconsistent of late. Ace starter Sean Morgan has had a couple of shaky outings his last few times out on the mound, while the bullpen has also been unreliable at times. Only Shooter Hunt has managed to stay steady during this current rough stretch for the Green Wave. Even with these inconsistencies, Tulane still has a very strong 3.85 team ERA as anything below four in college baseball is considered good.

As has been the case offensively for Rice during its impressive win streak, the Owl’s pitching staff has been stellar. Rice’s opponents have scored an average of just two runs per game in the last eleven games.

Tulane @ Rice Prediction:

This is a match up of two teams moving in opposite directions. Rice is about as hot as a team can be right now, just plowing through its conference schedule. On the other hand, Tulane has been inconsistent. With Rice’s pitching staff on a roll and the Tulane bats cold right now, the pressure should be off the Owl bats to put up big runs. Rice will roll again, sweeping the series.