No. 14 Rice scored in every inning but the seventh against FIU on Sunday afternoon en route to a 12-1, seven-inning mercy-rule win and a sweep of the Panthers on Mother's Day at the FIU ballpark.

The Owls (31-14, 18-6 Conference USA) stayed atop the conference standings. The Panthers (22-27, 9-15 C-USA) remained in ninth place on the outside, looking in to the C-USA tournament, which takes the top eight teams in the conference.

Rice didn't waste much time Sunday scoring three runs in the first inning off FIU starter Alex Demchak (3-3). The junior left-hander did not record an out before he was lifted after five batters. Ford Proctor's two-run triple made it 3-0.

The Owls added five more runs off Andres Nunez, who relieved Demchak. Nunez went three innings, allowed six hits and five runs.

Once again FIU struggled with the bats getting just five hits as Ricardo Salinas (7-1) continued the dominant Rice pitching with five shutout innings. FIU had just 14 hits in the three-game set.

The Panthers snapped a string of 24 1/3 consecutive innings without scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kolby Follis led off with a walk and scored on an RBI double by Zack Soria into the left field corner.

On deck, FIU travels to Birmingham, Alabama where it will take on UAB in a crucial three-game series. The Blazers (10-14 C-USA) are currently one game ahead of the Panthers for the eighth and final berth in the C-USA tournament. The series between the Panthers and the Blazers begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard on the FIU Sports Radio Network.