HOUSTON (Interstat) — Tanner Wiggins pitched seven shutout innings and Paul Smith drove in four runs as Rice throttled Tulane 12-0 on Thursday afternoon at M.O. Campbell Center in an American Athletic Conference matchup.

Wiggins allowed three hits, struck out one and did not walk a batter in his third consecutive win. The right-hander improved to 7-2 on the season after surrendering four earned runs on zero hits against East Carolina on May 8 and eight earned runs on 13 hits against UAB on May 2. Smith went 4 for 4 with a home run, his 12th of the season, and four RBIs. Colin Robson added three hits and an RBI, while Zachary Daigre and Cole Green each had three hits. Garet Boehm drove in two runs, and Kutter-Gage Webb plated three runs on two sacrifice flies. JC Davis collected two hits and an RBI.

Tulane managed only three hits: a single by Jackson Wachs in the first inning and two singles by Jaxon Johnson in the second and seventh innings. The Green Wave fell to 25-29 overall and 11-13 in conference play. Rice improved to 32-22 and 16-8.

Rice took control in the first inning. With one out, Daigre singled up the middle. Robson was hit by a pitch, and Davis bunted for a single, scoring Daigre. Smith singled to right field, plating Robson, and Davis advanced to third. After Boehm struck out, Webb lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Davis for a 3-0 lead.

The Owls added a run in the third inning. Smith reached on a bunt single, advanced to second on a Boehm sacrifice bunt, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Webb’s second sacrifice fly.

The game broke open in the fourth. Robson singled, Davis singled, and Smith doubled down the right field line, scoring Robson. Boehm followed with a triple to center field, driving in Davis and Smith. Webb’s third sacrifice fly of the game scored Boehm, pushing the lead to 8-0.

Rice sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth inning, scoring four more runs. Green singled, moved to second on a Rios sacrifice bunt, and scored on a bunt single by Robson. Robson stole second and Daigre stole third before Davis grounded out, driving in Daigre. Smith then homered to left field, scoring Robson and capping the scoring at 12-0.

Tulane starter J.D. Rodriguez took the loss, allowing five earned runs on no hits in 3 1/3 innings with one strikeout and four walks. The lack of hits in his line stemmed from several Rice runs scoring on sacrifice flies, walks and errors that did not count as hits. Reese Toporek relieved Rodriguez and gave up seven runs on eight hits in 1 2/3 innings. Jude Abbadessa pitched a scoreless sixth inning, allowing no hits.

Wiggins retired the side in order in the first, third, fourth and sixth innings. He faced only one batter over the minimum through four frames. The Green Wave put two runners on base in the second inning on Johnson’s single and a walk to Cade Harrison, but Chun grounded out to end the threat. Wiggins yielded a two-out single to Johnson in the seventh but induced a popout to end his outing at 81 pitches.

The most critical sequence occurred in the fourth inning when Rice turned a 4-0 lead into an 8-0 cushion. After a flyout to start the inning, five consecutive Owls reached base, including three hits that produced four runs. The burst effectively ended any competitive chance for Tulane, which had not scored more than three runs in any of its previous nine road games.

Rice has now won three of its last four games overall and eight of 11 at home. Tulane has dropped three of its last four and is 7-14 away from home. The series continues with a doubleheader Friday and a single game Saturday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a 7-4 Rice victory, but the final result exceeded that margin significantly. Interstat’s ELO system gave Tulane a 56.60 percent probability to win entering the game.