A leadoff solo home run by J.T. Chargois in the eighth inning provided the winning run for No. 21 Rice in a 2-1 victory over Louisiana Tuesday evening in front of a sellout crowd of 3,899 at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field sending the Owls home victorious in their first trip to "The Tigue" since February 1993.

Reliever Tony Cingrani entered in the bottom of the eighth and with the help of an outfield assist faced the minimum over the final two innings to lock up the win for the Owls (33-16) who kept the Ragin’ Cajuns (27-22) from sweeping the season series.

The only batter Cingrani did not retire was Alex Fuselier who led off the Cajuns half of the eighth with a single into left center field. Fuselier attempted to stretch the hit into a double, but the relay from Daniel Gonzales-Luna in left field caught Fuselier at second base.

That proved to be a costly out for the Ragin’ Cajuns as Cingrani kept the final five batters he faced off the basepath to notch his eighth save of the season.

Louisiana concludes its home schedule this weekend hosting Middle Tennessee in a Sun Belt series. The series opener is slated for Friday at 6 p.m.

Chargois home run came off of Joey Satriano who took the loss for UL. The homer was the only hit Satriano surrendered in 2 2/3 innings in relief of Ryland Parker.

Parker rebounded from a tough midweek outing against Southeastern Louisiana two weeks ago with a strong showing against the nationally ranked Owls. He scattered five hits in 6 1/3 innings and struck out five, but had to settle for the no decision after being lifted in the seventh inning.

Abe Gonzales worked around a one-out walk in the seventh inning to hold a 1-1 tie and left "The Tigue" with the victory.

Fuselier paced Louisiana with a 3-for-4 showing that extended his current hitting streak to seven games – his fourth, seven-game hitting streak since mid-March. He has hit safely in 28 of the past 31 games he’s played.

Mike Petello notched a single in the first inning to stretch his team-best hitting streak to 12 games.

UL was involved in the 16^th one-run contest of the season, falling to 9-7 with the defeat.

Singles by Fuselier and Petello provided a pair of baserunners for the Cajuns in the first inning. A successful double steal moved them to second and third with one out.

The Owls escaped, though, as a bouncer by Jordan Poirrier was fielded by catcher Craig Manuel who was able to catch Fuselier in a rundown between home and third. Tyler Duffey caught Lance Marvel looking at strike three to close out the frame.

Parker’s first test from the Owls came in the second inning. The bases were loaded following a Compton throwing error, Shane Hoelscher single and Michael Fuda walk. A fly out off the bat of Derek Hamilton left all three Rice runners stranded.

For the second straight at bat Fuselier led off the inning with a single, doing so on an infield single to begin the Cajuns’ half of the third inning and it resulted in a run.

Greg Fontenot sacrificed him to second base and a Petello grounder advanced him to third. Poirrier delivered a two-out single to right field scoring Fuselier for a 1-0 lead.

Jeremy Fant relieved Duffey after his scheduled three innings of work and no-hit the Cajuns over the middle innings. Parker matched him, scattering three hits, to extend the Owls string of scoreless innings against the Cajuns to 15 innings dating back to the April 5 shutout at Reckling Park.

A hard line drive by Ryan Lewis off the glove of Chase Compton down the right field line led to a leadoff double in the seventh inning setting up the Owls for their first run against the Cajuns in 15-plus innings.

A deep fly to center field moved Lewis to third then a wild pitch by Parker allowed him to trot home and even the score at 1-all. Satriano relieved Parker after a walk to Hamilton and forced Gonzales-Luna to pop into a 4-3 double play.

A potential Cajuns rally in the seventh inning was thwarted after pinch runner Brian Bowman was picked off of first base on a Jordan Bourque bunt attempt.

BASES NOTED: The Cajuns dropped their third straight Tuesday game and wrapped up midweek play with an 8-6 mark…Tuesday’s game marked the fourth meeting at "The Tigue" between the two schools and Rice’s win evened the series at the facility (2-2)…Rice increased its lead in the all-time series to 17-6…Greg Fontenot’s sacrifice bunt in the third inning was his 15^th of the season which ties the single-season record set by Kyle Olasin last season…As a team, the Cajuns have 52 sacrifices which is five off the record set in 2006 and 2008…J.T. Chargois home run was just the 13^th hit at "The Tigue" this season (5 by UL, 8 by the opposition) and the first Satriano allowed at home this season…The weekend series with Middle Tennessee marks the final games at "The Tigue" for seniors Josh Bailey, Randall Bulliard, Michael Cook, Greg Fontenot, T.J. Geith, Matt Goulas, Taylor Hubbell, Lance Marvel, Ryland Parker, Mike Petello, Jordan Poirrier, Joey Satriano and Trask Switzenberg.

— Ragin’ Cajuns —