PEARL — Rice’s uphill climb to the Conference USA championship game is complete.

The top-seeded Owls fell behind in the first inning for the third consecutive day, but rallied back to beat Central Florida 4-2 on Friday and clinch a spot in tonight’s C-USA Tournament final. Rice will face crosstown rival Houston at 7 p.m. at Trustmark Park.

“I’m sure it will be a real good game. They always play us tough. Everybody has used up a lot of pitching, so it should be a good game,” Rice coach Wayne Graham said.

Reaching the championship game could also be enough to earn a national seed for Rice (40-19). It entered the tournament ranked 10th in the latest RPI rankings. The top eight teams receive a national seed and the right to host a super regional if they make it that far.

“The win today probably put us very close. That’s an RPI win, because they were 15th,” Graham said. “So, we’re very close to a power rating that you have to at least put us in the discussion for a national seed. They can’t give five to the ACC and three to the SEC, and that’s all the ones in front of us.”

If they do get to play at home the next two weeks, the Owls can thank their superb pitching staff. Starter Abe Gonzales allowed one earned run in 52⁄3 innings, and relievers Jeremy Fant and Tony Cingrani held UCF (38-21) to two hits the rest of the way.

“Abe did a great job. I thought he would. UCF has trouble with left-handed pitching,” Graham said. “They can put six left-handers in a lineup against a right-handed pitcher, and that makes it tough. So I wanted to throw lefties against them and it worked out for us.”

UCF took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by D.J. Hicks, but it was short-lived. Craig Manuel put Rice ahead with a two-run single in the bottom half.

UCF tied it on an RBI groundout by Hicks in the third inning, but again Rice came right back. Manuel led off with a walk and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Shane Hoelscher to put the Owls ahead 3-2 in the fourth, and they never trailed again. J.T. Chargois led off the fifth inning with a home run for a 4-2 lead, and the pitching staff controlled the game from there.

Memphis 5, UAB 4

Robby Graham singled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Memphis (30-27) finished its season with a tournament win over UAB (29-28). Neither team is expected to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Former Porters Chapel Academy star Michael Busby started on the mound for UAB and went 42⁄3 innings. He allowed four runs — only one earned — on six hits in his first start since May 15. He struck out two and walked two, and earned a no-decision.

“Unearned runs cost us today,” UAB coach Brian Shoop said. “I think Busby did a great job. He hadn’t thrown in about two weeks and to come out and go for five innings, he was very competitive today. Once again, we just found a way to lose.”

Tulane 7, Houston 1

Former Vicksburg High star Bowen Woodson went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored to lead Tulane (31-26) over Houston (27-31).

Woodson entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and delivered a two-run double that gave the Green Wave a 3-1 lead. He later scored on a bases-loaded walk during a five-run rally. Woodson stayed in the game at second base and came through again in the seventh with an RBI single to make it 7-1.