Rice baseball veteran David Pierce hired as head coach

By Riya Misra     3/17/25 6:40pm

David Pierce, assistant baseball coach at Texas State University, will take over as Rice’s new head coach this week, just days after former coach José Cruz Jr. was fired. This is a homecoming for Pierce, who worked at Rice from 2003 to 2011 under the late Wayne Graham. In 2003, Pierce helped Graham lead the team to their first and only national title.

After departing Rice, Pierce head coached at Sam Houston State University, Tulane University — where he coached the team to their first NCAA championship in a decade — and the University of Texas at Austin. Pierce went 295-162 in his eight-year tenure at UT Austin, leading the team to three appearances in the College World Series, before he was fired in June 2024 after a “dissatisfying end to the season.” Two months later, he joined TXST’s staff.

Pierce will be formally introduced at a press conference on March 19, and will coach the Owls’ conference opener against Florida Atlantic University on March 21.

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“I did not want to wait until the end of the season because I believed that we have great potential and a lot of baseball in front of us this year,” Pierce said in a Rice Athletics press release. “I can't wait to get on the field with these players and coaches and prepare for the start of conference play on Friday.” 

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