HOUSTON — David Pierce has been hired as the next baseball coach at Rice, the school announced on Monday.

Pierce, who served as an assistant coach at Rice for nine seasons under Wayne Graham before becoming a head coach at Sam Houston, Tulane and Texas, replaces José Cruz Jr., who was let go last week.

Pierce, 62, will start right away and coach the Owls (4-16) on Friday as they open the American Athletic Conference season at Florida Atlantic.

“Rice represents a very special place for my family and me, and I am truly honored to have this opportunity to return,” said Pierce, who grew up in Houston. “I owe a great deal of my success as a head coach to my time at Rice, and I firmly believe we have all the elements in place to add to the great tradition here.

“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. I can’t wait to get on the field.”

Pierce was part of a strong era in Rice baseball under Graham. The Owls won the College World Series in 2003 and reached Omaha four other times in that span.

After leaving Rice, Pierce led Sam Houston, Tulane, and Texas to 11 regionals, four super regionals, and three College World Series while compiling a .646 winning percentage (494-271) in 13 seasons as a head coach.

Pierce was 297-162 in eight seasons at Texas and made three trips to the College World Series but didn’t win a national title. He was let go last summer and the Longhorns replaced him with Jim Schlossnagle. He had been working as an assistant at Texas State.

Pierce first coached at Rice as an assistant under David Hall in 1991, the year before Wayne Graham was named head coach, and then returned to South Main to coach under Graham in 2003. He served as hitting coach from 2003-05 before taking over as pitching coach from 2006-11.

Before his second stretch at Rice, Pierce spent two seasons as the hitting coach at the University of Houston, helping UH to a pair of postseason appearances, including an NCAA Super Regional showing in 2002. The Cougars hit .310 that season, the fifth-best single-season performance in team history.

Before coaching at the college level, Pierce coached at Episcopal, St. Pius X and Dobie.

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