Houston, Tex. - Rice starter J.D. McCracken held Wichita State without a hit for the first five innings, lifting the Owls to a 9-3 win on Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park.
The Shockers (15-34, 7-16) fell behind 6-0 in the first four innings, allowing one in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth on a three-run homer from Michael Zito. A sacrifice fly from Josh Livingston, RBI groundout from Kaleb Duncan and Rice throwing error pulled the Shockers back within 6-3 at the seventh inning stretch, but the Owls (17-34, 10-13) got the three runs right back in the home half of the inning on a sacrifice fly and two-out, two-run double from Aric Anderson for the final margin.
McCracken (4-4) earned the win for Rice with 7.0 strong innings, holding WSU to just three hits while striking out four. Reliever Garrett Stratton retired all six hitters he faced to close out the win.
Brady Hamilton (2-7) took the loss for Wichita State, allowing six hits and six runs over 5.0 innings.
The Shockers and Owls conclude the series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm CT.