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The fifth-ranked Vanderbilt baseball team rallied for seven runs off the Rice bullpen to claim a 7-3 victory over top-ranked Rice Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston.

Rice drops the opener to Vanderbilt 7-3 in the Minute Maid College Baseball Classic

It is the second Rice defeat in as many games after a 3-2 loss on the road at Texas State on Tuesday. The Owls (1-2) next face 20th-ranked Baylor at 7 pm on Saturday's second day of tournament action.

Rice opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Junior Joe Savery led off with a single to center and Jordan Dodson followed with a walk. J.P. Padron reached on a Vanderbilt fielding error that loaded the bases and the Owls made the most of the opportunity. Chad Lembeck drove in Savery on a fielder's choice, but another Vandy error allowed Dodson to take an extra 90 feet to make the score 2-0.

The Owls had a solid start on the mound from junior right-hander Chris Kelley, who allowed just one run on four hits after 5.1 innings. The Commodores scored a run in the sixth when Alex Feinberg doubled to right-center with one away and came home on a base hit to center by Pedro Alvarez.

The Owls came right back with a run in the bottom of the frame. Padron drew a one-out walk and scored on a pinch-hit double to right by Jess Buenger for a 3-1 lead.

Vanderbilt erupted for four runs in the top of the seventh. With two away the Commodores strung together a double, walk and hit batsman to load the bases. Feinberg blooped a ball behind second base that second baseman Aaron Luna and shortstop Brian Friday converged on a sprint. The two Rice infielders collided as the ball arrived and Vandy avoided the third out of the inning. With two men still on base, a Rice error in the outfield allowed the runners to score for a 5-3 advantage. In the top of the eighth Vanderbilt's Shea Robin and Jonathan White slugged back-to-back home runs in to the Minute Maid Park Crawford Boxes to extend the margin to 7-3.