ABILENE, Texas (Interstat) — The Rice Owls and Abilene Christian Wildcats will meet for the second straight evening Saturday at Kimbrell Arena, with both teams looking to gain momentum in non-conference play.

First pitch is scheduled for Saturday afternoon under clear skies with a game-time temperature of 82 degrees.

Rice (7-6) opened the two-game set with a shutout victory Friday night. The Owls have won three of their last four, relying on strong pitching. In their most recent win, 4-1 at Lamar on Wednesday, three Rice pitchers combined to allow just one hit.

A key arm for the Owls is Jeremiah Arnett, who started that Lamar game. Over his last three outings, Arnett has a 3.86 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 13.2 innings, including 4.1 hitless innings of relief against the Cardinals.

Abilene Christian (6-5) is coming off a potent offensive display, a 20-10 win over Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday. Designated hitter Diego Cardenas powered that victory, going 3 for 5 with two home runs and a staggering nine RBIs. Cardenas has three homers and 13 RBIs in his last four games played, though he was held hitless in Friday’s series opener.

The Wildcats’ offense has been volatile, scoring 12 or more runs four times this season but also being shut out twice.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, the projected final score is Abilene Christian 6, Rice 5.

Following Saturday’s contest, the teams will conclude the series Sunday afternoon in Abilene.