SAN ANTONIO — Rice scored three runs in the first inning and that helped the Owls hold off UTSA by a score of 7-4 on Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park.
Both teams scored in the opening stanza with the Owls jumping out to an early 3-1 lead.
The Roadrunners strung along three straight hits to open the game, which scored Jesse Baker on Bryan Arias' single.
Rice (17-26, 8-12 C-USA) plated runs in three consecutive at-bats in the first for the added cushion needed the rest of the way.
The Roadrunners (22-19, 10-10 C-USA) chipped away at Rice's lead with lone runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The Owls responded in two of three of those innings, doubling up UTSA in those outings.
In the fifth, Kevin Markham made it a one-run game after he doubled off the right field wall to score Chris Estrada.
Rice plated a pair of runs in the bottom half for a 5-2 advantage, but another UTSA run in the sixth made it 5-3 off a bases-loaded walk.
UTSA pulled within one run for the second time in the game in the seventh after Arias scored for the Roadrunners. After drawing a lead off walk, a wild pitch advanced Arias to second while a base hit placed him 90 feet from the plate. Mason George drove in Arias on his second hit of the game and it was 5-4 Rice.
The Owls came back with two runs in the home half to cap off their scoring for the final margin.
Baker had three hits, while George, Markham and C.J. Pickering each had two each.
Left-hander Nolan Trabanino was charged with the loss in his 6.1 innings of work. Trabanino allowed six runs on nine hits, struck out three and issued three walks.
Zach Esquivel was the pitcher of record for Rice in his 5.1 frames of action, while Kendal Jefferies registered his first save, striking out six.
Sunday's rubber game will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
