KENNETT, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff left-hander Ronin Rice walked to the hill with a five-run lead in the bottom of the first inning Thursday and hurled 6 1/3 scoreless innings to help the Mules beat Kennett 7-0 in a SEMO Conference game.
"It's always nice to get five runs in the first inning," Poplar Bluff coach Steven Edwards said. "Coach (Aaron) New does a good job with his club. They have great players and a great tradition down here. Hats off to them. We just executed our plan at the plate.
"Defensively we were OK, but still need to clean up some stuff," Edwards added. "But anytime you come to Kennett and get a 7-0 win that's a big win."
Kennett starting pitcher Zane Wallace faced eight hitters in the first inning. The Mules collected five hits, including three for extra bases to jump ahead.
Jared Moses jump-started the trouble when he collected a leadoff triple. Rice followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Mules on top 1-0. Mason Libla collected a one-out RBI double, Michael Anagnostopoulos added a two-run homer, his third of the season, and another run scored later on a Kennett error.
The Mules (10-5, 2-1 SEMO) came in outscoring opponents 16-4 in the opening inning and scoring 3-plus run in a single frame 15 times.
"It's kind of a familiar trend for us right now," Kennett coach Aaron New said. "We are having problems one inning a game. Today, it just happened to be in the first inning. But the kids really did grind it out and try to play through it. We faced a top of the line SEMO Conference pitcher today and that's how they pitch."
Poplar Bluff calculated an insurance run in the fourth and fifth frames to set the final score. Austin McIntosh had a one-out RBI single in the fourth and Joe Darlin drove home a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Kennett left fielder Luke Lockhert prevented an additional run from scoring in the top of the sixth when he threw out Moses, who attempted to score from second base, when Rice collected a base hit to left field.
"He positioned himself on a left-handed hitter that had hit that way a couple times and made a nice throw to cut down a runner," New said. "He also came up with a big hit in the seventh inning to extend the game. He's a sophomore, and hopefully he is starting to get the experience to help us even more in the near future."
Moses finished 3 for 4. He was a home run shy of the cycle a day after grounding out four times.
"Had a great day," Edwards said. "He needed that. He stayed true to his plan at the plate and looked for his pitch. When he got it he drove it."
Wallace pitched the first six innings for Kennett. He allowed seven runs, 10 hits, struck out three and walked one. The Indians committed three errors behind him.
"We felt like he made some good pitches," New said. "I think he just ran into a good offense in the first inning. I think it was more of them hitting some good pitches, which led for a big inning for their offense."
Connor Oldsen hurled a scoreless seventh inning for the Indians (4-8, 2-3). He retired all three hitters he faced.
Rice (3-1) struck out four and allowed two hits and three walks in taking a shutout into the seventh. The senior was pulled after throwing his 100th pitch, 57 for strikes, as Sam Pierce closed out the win.
"He's going to look good every time he's on the mound, I think," Edwards said of Rice, who lowered his ERA to 1.06 in four games. "He will battle all day long and has the mentality he wants to go the distance, Usually he does, but got to the pitch count we wanted him to reach, so we pulled him out. Sam Pierce, who is a big lefty as well who can throw hard with a big breaking ball, was able to close it out for us. The plan was to use those two pitchers and it worked out for us."
The Mules, who visit Cape Central on Saturday, have won nine of 10 following a pair of 7-0 wins in consecutive days.
"Our team is coming together and believing in each other," Edwards said. "We started out slow, but we are finding the right pieces and going after it. I couldn't be more happy with the coaches or the players."