Rice squeaked out a 3-2 win over Prairie View A&M to win their opening game of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The game became tied at two when Rice scored in the bottom of the third inning when Michael Ratteerree hit a RBI triple to score J.T. Chargois. After that the pitchers on both sides stepped up and the game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning.
Prairie View had relief pitcher Daniel Castillo in the game and Rice center fielder Michael Fuda led off the inning strong by hitting the eventual game-winning run by hitting a solo home run off of Simms to give Rice a 3-2 lead.
To close out the game Rice had Tyler Duffey pitch the final two innings to earn the save. Duffey pitched two great innings by allowing no hits and striking out three batters.
Read more about the Houston Regional right here at SB Nation Houston.