Diamond Niners Blanked by Red-Hot Rice 8-0

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For just the fourth time this season, the Charlotte 49ers were unable to cross the plate in an 8-0 defeat at the hands of Rice on Saturday afternoon. The Niners managed just five hits in the loss and left nine more runners on base.

"We can't have starting pitching go the way it has the past couple of days," began Head Coach Loren Hibbs. "We played uphill and got off to another poor start. We have not played at the level we expect to play at the last couple of days.

Rice (21-26, 11-12 C-USA) began to cruise on Saturday with a four-run second using three home runs in the inning. Andrew Dunlap and Dayne Wunderlich went back-to-back with one out before a two-out walk to Ryan…