PARIS — If the fastball was the black sheep of Dalton Rice’s family of pitches for Friday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference opener, his curve was certainly his benevolent Uncle Charlie.

The Oxford Hills starter used his curve to get out of multiple jams, stranding nine Skowhegan baserunners in a 6-2 victory.

Rice scattered 10 hits and three walks before giving way to Brandon Campbell for a perfect seventh inning. No. 9 hitter Nick Bowie led the Vikings’ 10-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with two RBI’s and a run scored.

The Indians put at least two runners on base in five of Rice’s six innings. They touched him for single runs in the first and third innings, but the damage could have been much worse in both frames.

“I just stuck to my curve ball, which was working today,” said Rice, who saved most of his five strikeouts for the most opportune moments. “They were hitting my fastball.”

“We had some opportunities to get at him and just really missed that key hit,” Skowhegan coach Rick York said. “His curve ball was working real well. It had a lot of our guys out on our front foot. We lacked a lot of discipline at the plate today.”

The Indians put the pressure on from the first pitch, which Trevor Hisler lined for a double. Kaleb Brown followed with a single, and Hisler scored when right fielder Ben Bowie bobbled the ball.

An errant pickoff throw by Rice, a walk and a stolen base put runners at second and third with one out, but Rice ended the inning with back-to-back K’s.

“I think the key was in the early innings, certainly in the first inning, only giving up one run,” Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer said. “That was huge.”

The Vikings stranded a pair in scoring position in the bottom of the first. Rice wiggled out of a first-and-second, one out pickle in the second and his offense responded with all of the runs he would need in the bottom of the second.

After Dylan Cox reached on an error, Ty Martin lined a double over the centerfielder to tie the game. With one out, Ben Bowie dropped down a perfect bunt which Skowhegan pitcher Taylor Bacon fielded and threw wildly to first. That allowed Martin to score from second. Nick Attaliades-Ryan’s two-out RBI single scored Bowie and put the Vikes in front for good.

Skowhegan pulled back within a run in the third, but again, it could have been worse. Dustin Warren drove in Kam Nelsen with a single and was lifted for pinch runner Matt Kay. With runners at first and third and none out, Rice faked a pickoff throw to third, whirled and fired to first to catch Kay napping for the first out. He stranded the tying run at third with a strikeout and a ground out.

“We’ve been working on (the trick pickoff) a lot this year,”Rice said, “so I’ve perfected it a little bit. I trust my pickoff move and luckily I got him.”

Rice stranded a runner at third with one out in the fourth and runners at first and second with one out in the fifth. Shortstop Matt Beauchesne started a 6-3 double play that helped render a Hisler double harmless in the sixth.

Oxford Hills added to its lead with RBI singles by Nick Bowie in the third and fifth and a sacrifice fly by Campbell in the fourth.

John Swett went 3-for-3 with a double for the Indians. Campbell and Martin each had a pair of hits, including a double, for the Vikings. Their 7-8-9 hitters, Martin and Ben and Nick Bowie combined to go 6-for-7 with a walk, a sacrifice bunt, three RBI’s and two runs scored.

“The end of the lineup, those guys really picked us up today,” Campbell said. “We’d been hitting well in the preseason and we brought it out today.”