HOUSTON — Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway said his team plays its best with its back to the wall. Thanks to a pretty big shove from Rice Saturday, the Sooners are in a position to prove it.

The Owls clubbed four home runs and rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Sooners in Game 1 of the best-of-three NCAA Tournament super regional at Reckling Park.

OU starter Steven Guerra, who shut down Houston last Saturday in a Norman Regional elimination game, gave up back-to-back first-inning home runs to Brian Friday and Josh Rodriguez.

The blasts gave Rice (54-10) a 4-0 lead.

OU never recovered.

“I couldn’t locate (pitches) and they were taking some good hacks,” Guerra said. “I left the ball up … It was their day today.”

He fell to 11-4 and was one of five pitchers the Sooners rolled out.

But Daniel McCutchen wasn’t one of them. He had been the starter for every series opener, but he was moved back a day in the rotation after throwing 218 pitches in the Norman Regional.

He’ll go to the mound at noon today in Game 2. OU has to win to keep its season going.

The Sooners (44-21) played like a team with a cushion. The intensity they used to win four straight in the Norman Regional was missing.

“We didn’t seem to have that edge we’d been playing with the last four or five games,” Golloway said.

Rice starter Eddie Degerman (13-1) wasn’t dominant, but he was a lot better than the Sooners’ mound offerings.

OU spent last week trying to adjust to the senior right-hander’s awkward delivery. He held the Sooners to one hit over seven innings in February.

OU had a little more success Saturday, collecting six hits and four runs off Degerman. But OU had to scratch and claw for everything.

“Thank goodness we don’t have to see him again,” Golloway said. “Twice in one year is two times too many for me … If you would have told me we would score four runs, get him up to 118 pitches and he wouldn’t finish, I’d take that.”