Call it the Rainbow curse.

In its final year nicknamed the Rainbows, the Hawaii baseball team matched its worst start to an NCAA season with a 2-0 loss in 17 innings to No. 13 Rice on Friday night.

A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,700 that whittled down to just a few hundred at game’s end witnessed the second-longest game in innings in UH history, trailing only a 19-inning game against Oregon in 1978.

Hawaii dropped to 0-5 for the first time since 1973, when it played only eight games.

Ford Stainback scored Michael Ratterree with a one-out single in the 17th and Geoff Perrott added a two-out RBI double off reliever Patrick O’Rourke, who was saddled with the loss.

John Simms, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a win over Stanford last weekend, earned the win for Rice (3-2).

Simms got Adam Hurley to ground out to second with the tying run on first to end the game after 4 hours, 48 minutes.

The Rainbows were 0-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

Pi’ikea Kitamura had three of Hawaii’s 11 hits and Andre Real went 2-for-4.

Both teams got stellar performances from their starting pitchers, who both set career highs in strikeouts.

Preseason Conference-USA pitcher of the year Austin Kubitza struck out 13 in seven innings, giving up four hits and five walks.

Not to be outdone, Hawaii sophomore Scott Squier struck out nine in seven innings, giving up four hits and only one walk.

Hawaii used five pitchers total, with junior Matt Cooper extending his scoreless streak to 102⁄3 innings.

Cooper allowed only one hit and struck out eight in 61⁄3 innings before giving way to senior Jon Flinn in the 15th.

Hawaii struggled offensively all game long, leaving 17 men on base and failing four straight times to move runners over on bunt attempts.

UH also ran itself out of an inning on a baserunning error and struck out 23 times.

Hawaii had an opportunity to jump on the Owls in the first inning but failed to take advantage of an error by Kubitza.

Kubitza cleanly fielded a bunt by Austin Wobrock, but his throw sailed way over the head of Skyler Ewing at first, putting runners on first and second with nobody out.

Hawaii couldn’t capitalize, as Kubitza struck out Kitamura and then got Marc Flores to ground into a double play on a 2-0 pitch.

Squier struck out six his first time through the order but gave up a leadoff triple to Christian Stringer in the fourth.

Rice failed to capitalize as Squier tied his career high with a strikeout of Michael Aquino and then got consecutive groundouts to escape unharmed.

Hawaii left the bases loaded in the fifth, as Kubitza walked all three lefties he faced but struck out his third consecutive righty, getting Real swinging for the second time in the game.

Already 0-for-3 on bunt attempts, Hawaii ran itself out of a potential run in the sixth. Kubitza issued his fifth walk of the game to Flores to put runners on first and second with one out.

Hurley struck out for the second out and Kitamura was tagged out at third on a throw from first after Flores got caught in between first and second.

It was one of a variety of blunders for Hawaii, which again failed to move a runner over with a bunt in the seventh.

Real led off the eighth with his second hit and Wobrock finally executed a sacrifice bunt. Pinch runner Stephen Ventimilia was stranded on third as reliever Zech Lemond struck out Flores to end the inning.

The series continues today at 1:05. Senior Connor Little (0-1, 5.68 ERA) will oppose Rice right-hander Jordan Stephens (0-1, 3.68).