With the C-USA crown on the line this weekend, the monumental series between No. 5 Rice and No. 16 UCF got off to a hot start, but then was washed out.
Lightning and heavy rain suspended Thursday's opening game in the top of the fifth inning with UCF holding an 8-3 lead. The Knights scored five runs in the third and three in the fourth to jump out to an 8-0 lead. Rice scored three runs in the top of the fifth before the suspension. The game will continue at 3 p.m. on Friday and the second game will begin one hour after the completion of the first.
Matthew Reckling gave up five runs (four earned) in two innings in the start. Zech Lemond gave up three unearned runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Two errors by Rice have resulted in a total of four unearned runs.
Michael Aquino went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored to lead Rice at the plate. Jeremy Rathjen went 1-for-3 with an RBI.