Rice has fired José Cruz Jr., just four weeks in the college baseball season, the school announced Thursday.
Cruz, in his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater, was off to a 2-14 start, including getting outscored 41-10 by powerhouses Texas A&M, Tennessee and Mississippi State in the Astros Foundation Classic at Daikin Park two weeks ago. The Owls also were routed by Houston 18-1 last week and got swept at home by Yale over the weekend.
Cruz, 50, went 63-126 (.333) overall and matched that winning percentage in conference, going 29-58 in league play.
Cruz, the son of the Astros’ fan favorite, was one of the top college baseball players in the country when he played for the Owls from 1993-95, leading them to the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. He was drafted No. 3 overall out of Rice and played 12 seasons in the big leagues.
“I do not take lightly the dismissal of a legendary Owl such as Coach Cruz.” Rice athletic director Tommy McClelland said. “However, I came to the decision that it was in the best interest of our student-athletes and our baseball program to make a coaching change now while there is so much of the season remaining.”
Matt Bragga took over for Graham, but went 51–76–1 in three seasons and was fired and replaced by Cruz, who had spent one season as an assistant hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers before getting his first head coaching gig.
A big issue for Rice has been the inability to attract and develop top talent since Graham’s departure. In Graham’s time at Rice, he coached 13 players who went on to become first-round picks in the MLB Draft, including the likes of Lance Berkman and Anthony Rendon. Rice hasn’t had a first-round pick since Graham left, producing just five players who were picked in the first five rounds of the draft.
Pitching coach Parker Bangs, 37, will serve as interim coach while Rice begins a search for its next skipper. Bangs was hired by Cruz in 2022 after spending four seasons as the pitching coach at Davidson.
“Rice baseball remains one of the preeminent programs in the country,” McClelland said. “With the support of President (Reginald) DesRoches and our Board of Trustees, I am confident that we will hire a coach who will return this program to the place where it belongs, at the forefront of college baseball.”
The Owls play a four-game series against Houston Christian this weekend before opening American Athletic Conference play next week with a series at Florida Atlantic.
