Sam Houston (2-1) at Rice (0-3)
Reckling Park (Houston)
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Tuesday, Feb. 20 | 6:30 PM | ESPN+
Projected Starters
SHSU: LHP Gavi Coldiron (2023 stats: 2-3, 6.71 ERA, 55.0 IP, 65 K, 26 BB)
RICE: RHP Ryland Urbanczyk (2023 stats: 0-1, 6.12 ERA, 25.0 IP, 22 K, 20 BB)
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats will go on the road for the first time in 2024 on Tuesday when they battle Rice at Reckling Park.
The game is set to be aired on ESPN+ with JP Heath on the call.
Sam Houston is coming off a statement series win on Opening Weekend, taking two of three games from Oklahoma State, a team ranked in the preseason top 25 in a pair of national polls to start the year.
Meanwhile, Rice dropped all three games at home to Notre Dame over the weekend, despite holding an early lead in all three contests.
SERIES NOTES vs RICE
- Sam Houston leads the all-time series 74-68-1 and is 35-35-1 on the road.
- The Kats and Owls have played every year since 1975, with the exception of the COVID-altered 2020 campaign.
- Sam Houston has dropped each of its last 4 meetings with the Owls, which is the longest winless streak for SHSU in the series since being swept in the home/home midweek series in both 2009 and 2010.
- The Kats will be searching for their first win at Reckling Park since a 10-9 victory in 2019.
BREAKING DOWN THE PITCHING MATCHUP
Senior lefty Gavi Coldiron will make his first appearance of the 2024 season after a 2023 which saw him punch out 65 hitters in 55.0 innings of work. The starting role will not be an unfamiliar spot as it will be his 13th career start, 11 of which came a year ago. He has made one career appearance vs Rice, a scoreless relief appearance spanning 2.0 innings in 2022.
Coldiron will be opposed by Owl sophomore righty Ryland Urbanczyk, who will also be making his 2024 debut. The big righty made a pair of starts as a true freshman in 2023, and 14 appearances overall. He was tabbed as one of the top 100 prospects in the State of Texas coming out of College Station High School, and the No. 30 right-handed pitcher in the state.
QUICK HITTERS
- Coltin Atkinson was named the CUSA Pitcher of the Week on Monday after striking out six and walking none in 5.0 innings of work on Opening Night vs Oklahoma State. He picked up the win, the 20th of his career, making him the first Kat since Hayden Wesneski in 2019 to reach 20 career wins.
- The Kats got back-to-back long relief outings from Logan Hewitt and Wyatt Tucker in wins over Oklahoma State last weekend. Hewitt got his work on Friday, earning the save with 4.0 shutout innings of relief with five strikeouts; a day later Tucker made his SHSU debut by going 4.0 shutout innings of his own with a pair of strikeouts and no walks.
- The Kats started a pair of true freshmen – Jace Martinez and Blake Brown – on the left side of the infield for all three games vs Oklahoma State. It marked the first time the Kats started a pair of freshmen on the infield on Opening Day since 2019 vs Manhattan when Reese Johnson got the start at shortstop and Colton Cowser opened his Bearkat career at third base.
- Walker Janek had a pair of RBI in the season opener vs OSU, giving him exactly 100 RBI for his collegiate career. He is joined by Easton Loyd (108) as Bearkats on the roster with 100+ RBI.
- Sam Houston will be going for a win in its midweek opener for the third straight year, having also beaten McNeese in 2023 and Oklahoma State in 2022.
- Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Bearkats enter 2024 having posted 12 consecutive seasons with a winning record, not putting up a losing mark since going 19-36 in 2010. That streak is the longest among teams in Conference USA and is second only to Texas A&M (16) among the 17 schools within the state of Texas playing Division I baseball.
- Sam Houston has won 102 games since the start of the 2021 season. Of teams in CUSA, only Dallas Baptist (125), Louisiana Tech (117) and Liberty (107) have won more during that span.
