HOUSTON ? Three early-inning runs by Louisiana quieted the Reckling Park crowd, but the 13th-ranked Rice Owls responded with four runs in the second and seven more in the seventh to prevail past the Ragin' Cajuns 17-6 Wednesday night.
Rice (14-6) forced Louisiana (6-12) starter Michael Cook (Lafayette, La.) from the game in the second inning, handing the freshman his first loss of the season. Cook (2-1) lasted just 1 1/3 innings and was touched for six runs on five hits. Louisiana's bullpen had its second straight rough outing as four Cajuns relievers were tagged for Rice's last 11 runs. Rice reliever Will McDaniel (1-0) earned the victory in relief.
The 17 runs scored by the Owls are a season-high allowed by the Ragin' Cajuns and the most since May 12, 2001, when UL allowed 16 runs in a 20-16 win over New Mexico State.
Seven of Louisiana's nine starters tallied a hit, while five recorded at least two hits, including Thad Griffen (Lake Charles, La.) going 2-for-3 with a double. Scott Hawkins (Collierville, Tenn.) and Matt Hicks (Houston, Texas) each drove in two runs on a pair of hits.
All but one Rice batter notched a hit. The Owls' 1-5 hitters accounted for nine of their 17 hits.
Three different Cajuns reached base in the first inning as Louisiana took an early 1-0 lead on the 13th-ranked Owls. Josh Logan (Magee, Miss.) ripped a lead-off single to left field. Two batters later, Nolan Gisclair (Marrero, La.) dropped a bloop single into shallow center field before Hawkins singled up the middle, scoring Logan for a 1-0 lead.
Louisiana's lead didn't hold up in the bottom of the first. Aaron Luna delivered a two-run, two-out home run to straightaway center field for a 2-1 Rice advantage.
Trailing by one, the Cajuns matched Rice's two-run frame with two runs of their own to regain a one-run lead in the second inning. Tyler Benzel (Groveland, Fla.) struck out to open the second inning, but reached base on a wild pitch that skirted past the catcher. Griffen put runners at first and second after reaching on a Rick Hague fielding error.
Logan then drove in the equalizing run with an infield RBI single. Matt Goulas' (New Iberia, La.) RBI single to left field plated Griffen for a 3-2 Cajuns lead.
Cook's one-run lead disappeared in the second inning. As a result, the freshman struggled, surrendering four runs before being replaced by Gregory Harmon (Crowley, La.) with one out in the second. Harmon was able to curtail any further damage by the Owls, retiring the next to batters with Rice holding a 6-3 lead.
In the fourth, Griffen snapped his 0-for-20 streak at the plate with a lead-off single through the left side. William Long (Valrico, Fla.) followed with a single deep in the right field corner, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. However, Lucas Luetge knocked out the next three Cajuns batters to halt Louisiana's rally efforts.
Rice batted around in its half of the fourth inning, exploded for seven runs and a 13-3 lead. Rice's seven-run frame marked the first time a Cajuns opponent had scored in the fourth inning since March 9 by Arkansas State.
Louisiana added two runs in the fifth when Hicks' delivered Luetge's 2-0 offering over the fence in left field. Hicks' home run cut the deficit to eight runs, 13-5, while extending Louisiana's streak to four consecutive games with at least one homer.
The sixth of Louisiana's runs came across to score in the sixth. Hawkins' roped a stand-up double to the left-center gap to score Gisclair, cutting Rice's lead to 13-6.
Rice widened the gap in the sixth, increasing its lead back to 11 runs, 17-6.
Louisiana returns to Sun Belt Conference action Friday when the Ragin' Cajuns travel to Little Rock, Ark., to clash with the UALR Trojans for a three-game set. Game one will begin with a 6 p.m. first pitch at Gary Hogan Field.
Rice 17, Louisiana-Lafayette 6 (Mar 19, 2008 at Houston, Texas)
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Louisiana-Lafayette. 120 021 000 - 6 14 1 (6-12)
Rice................ 240 704 00X - 17 17 1 (14-6)
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Pitchers: Louisiana-Lafayette - Cook, Michael; Harmon, Gregory(2); Glass, Buddy(4);
Broussard, Matt(4); Bulliard, Randall(6). Rice - Lucas Luetge; Will McDaniel(5);
Mark Haynes(6); Jonathan Runnels(7); Bryan Price(9).
Win-Will McDaniel(1-0) Loss-Cook, Michael(2-1) T-3:23 A-2611
HR UL - Hicks, Matt (3).
HR RICE - Aaron Luna (2).
Harmon, G faced 4 batters in the 4th.
Haynes faced 1 batter in the 7th.
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