Rice University
10-16, 1-5
Western Kentucky
12-12, 3-3
WKU Defeats Rice Sunday, 4-0
3/25/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Highlights by: Zachary Fradette (zfradette@gmail.com)
Narration: J.P. Heath, IMG-Rice (jp.heath@img.com)
Recap by: John Sullivan, Rice Athletics (jsully@rice.edu)
HOUSTON – Visiting Western Kentucky pushed across four early runs and right-handed pitcher Paul Kirkpatrick made the margin stand up for a 4-0 win over the Rice baseball team in the finale of the three-game league weekend series Sunday afternoon in Houston.
WKU scored twice in the top of the third after a leadoff walk and doubles by Nick Brunson and Steven Kraft. The Hilltoppers doubled the margin to 4-0 with two more in the fourth on a hit batsman and three base hits.
Rice collected four hits in the game, including the sophomore tandem of Bradley Gneiting and Braden Comeaux. Comeaux is now a combined 36-of-83 (.434) over the last month while Gneiting extending his current hitting streak to a career-best nine games. WKU's Kirkpatrick, however, did not issue any walks and his defense supported him with a pair of key double plays to erase offensive threats.
Sophomore pitcher Addison Moss started on the mound for Rice, making his first appearance in a full three weeks. It was just 2.2 innings of work but is a silver lining for the upcoming conference slate in the second half of the season. Fellow sophomore right-hander Roel Garcia pitched the final 6.1 innings Sunday, scattering seven hits while recording a pair of strikeouts.
Rice is now 10-16 on the year and 1-5 in C-USA. WKU improved to 12-12 overall and 3-3 against the league.
The Owls close out the current five-game homestand on Tuesday, March 27. Rice hosts crosstown foe Houston at 6:30 pm at Reckling Park.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Paul Kirkpatrick (3-1)
L: Moss, Addison (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Steven Kraft 1 ; Luke Brown 1 ; Nick Brunson 1
RBI: Colie Currie 1 ; Steven Kraft 2 ; Kevin Lambert 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Luke Brown 1 ; Colin Butkiewicz 1 ; Kevin Lambert 1 ; Nick Brunson 1
SB: Steven Kraft 2
CS: Colie Currie 1
HBP: Colin Butkiewicz 1
