Since A&M has been here before, head coach Rob Childress was not shy in supporting his troops after last night's devastating loss.
"We've done it the last two weeks, so we might be right where we want to be," Childress said. "We've got something to draw on from the past two weeks. ... They know that they can do it, and it's going to be a tough test, no doubt about it."
Childress opted for the hot hand in choosing Thebeau, a righthander, over lefthander Kirkland Rivers, which probably would have forced Rice's top hitter - lefty-swinging Joe Savery - into the sixth spot in the lineup again. Instead, Rice will have its more standard order that includes Jared Gayhart second, Tyler Henley third and Savery fourth - all left-handed hitters.
Thebeau pitched a compete game on Monday, striking out a career-high 13 and allowing only two unearned runs. It was his first start since March 31, and he has allowed at least three runs in six of his nine starts this year.

Langwell, a sturdy transfer from Sam Houston State after missing last season with arm surgery, has come on down the stretch to step in as a starter and has not allowed a run in his last 21.2 innings. He was named to the all-Conference USA Tournament team and the all-Houston Regional team the past two weeks. Langwell really earned his keep in the C-USA Tournament when fifth-year senior Ryne Tacker, who had been terrific all year, went down injured in the first inning. Langwell threw 7.1 scoreless innings against Memphis to keep Rice in that game and stepped in last week with seven shutout innings against Prairie View.

Yesterday's game saw the Rice trio of Brian Friday, Jess Buenger and Aaron Luna go a combined 1-for-12. All three are in the top six hitters today. For A&M,. the bottom of the order went 0-for-11, and the Aggies struck out 14 times (I told you those strikeouts could be a problem). We'll see if A&M can get its running game going tonight. Childress also made a late lineup change, scratching Darby Brown (.322) in favor of Brodie Greene (.304) and shuffling his defense accordingly. Kyle Colligan (2-for-4 yesterday, .284) will lead off for the first time this season.

If you saw any of last night's game, even the highlights, you saw the emotion with which both teams played and with which Rice celebrated at the end of the game. Expect even higher emotions and a vociferous crowd for all nine innings today. I'll let you know how it comes out.