Sunday, March 14
Houston
6:30 pm
Rice University
8-7
1
vs
0
Kansas State
11-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Kansas State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
2
Rice
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
X
1
3
1
Owls Spring Forward
3/14/2021 11:43:00 PM | Baseball
Rice Wins Sunday Pitchers' Duel With Kansas State
HOUSTON — The Rice duo of Brandon Deskins and Dalton Wood won a close duel over an equally strong effort from a pair of Kansas State pitchers in a dramatic 1-0 Owl victory Sunday evening at Reckling Park.
The Story
With a lot of college baseball games these days often resulting in football-like scores, there is still something about a pitchers' duel that is distinctive and intense. Sunday's Rice-Kansas State clash was worth waiting through a rainy Houston afternoon.
Both starting pitchers, Rice's Brandon Deskins and K-State's Connor McCullough, both found their groove and exchanged scoreless innings. Deskins worked his way out of danger by stranding Wildcat runners in scoring position in the second through fifth innings. In Deskins' fifth and final inning KSU started the frame with a pair of base hits, but lefty dug deep to strikeout each of the next three batters - who were also the first three hitters in the WIldcat order.
Deskins finished with six strikeouts in 5.0 shutout innings. He was relieved by Dalton Wood to begin the bottom of the sixth and the right-hander continued the theme. Wood allowed just one hit and a walk for three more scoreless innings to get the game to the bottom of the eighth. That's when Rice was able to break the 0-0 deadlock with a pair of walks and infield hit by Braden Comeaux. On the play, true freshman Ben Dukes alertly dashed home from third base as KSU had trouble corralling the ball in damp infield dirt behind the mound.
Rice had taken a narrow 1-0 lead, but there was still the top of the ninth to go. Wood fanned the first two batters to give him a career-high six strikeouts on the night. The Owl outfielders then may have gotten a little tangled up while hustling to get a ball hit into the left-center gap, but the catch was made for the game's final out.
For The Record
Rice moved to 8-7 on the season. Kansas State moved to 11-5.
Head Coach Matt Bragga Said
"Man that was an exciting game," coach Bragga said. "We beat a very good team that has already won 11 games and is going to win a lot more. For Brandon to go out a second time this week (after facing HBU on March 9) and to have another performance like he did was just outstanding. Then to have Dalton come and do what he did is in my mind the best outing he's ever had at Rice. We needed both Brandon and Dalton because K-State wasn't giving us anything. That's three shutout wins now and that is a great sign for our pitching staff overall.
"This whole weekend, playing the different opponents back and forth the way we did and playing four games in a three-day period with some of the unusual start times we had for the games, to me it kind of felt like when you're playing in a conference tournament," Bragga explained. "It was a demanding weekend and very good to finish on a winning note."
Notes & Stats
• For the full week's worth of action Coach Bragga had mentioned, Deskins finished with allowing just one run on six hits in 11.0 innings of work. The left-hander from Friendswood had just one walk while posting 17 strikeouts.
• On the offensive side of the five-game week, veteran Bradley Gneiting batted .412 (7-of-17) with a home run, four RBI and a pair of stolen bases.
• Dalton Wood, who was sidelined for the shortened 2020 season, earned his first win since 2019. His 4.0 innings and six strikeouts Sunday were both career highs.
• Rain throughout the Houston area delayed the announced start from noon to 6 pm. The tarp was pulled just after 6 pm and after work by the Reckling Park grounds crew the game was able to begin at 6:34 pm.
On Deck
Rice has concluded a five-game homestand. The Owls are next on the road to face longtime foe Texas State on Wednesday (March 17). Start time at the Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos is set for 6 pm.
The Story
With a lot of college baseball games these days often resulting in football-like scores, there is still something about a pitchers' duel that is distinctive and intense. Sunday's Rice-Kansas State clash was worth waiting through a rainy Houston afternoon.
Both starting pitchers, Rice's Brandon Deskins and K-State's Connor McCullough, both found their groove and exchanged scoreless innings. Deskins worked his way out of danger by stranding Wildcat runners in scoring position in the second through fifth innings. In Deskins' fifth and final inning KSU started the frame with a pair of base hits, but lefty dug deep to strikeout each of the next three batters - who were also the first three hitters in the WIldcat order.
Deskins finished with six strikeouts in 5.0 shutout innings. He was relieved by Dalton Wood to begin the bottom of the sixth and the right-hander continued the theme. Wood allowed just one hit and a walk for three more scoreless innings to get the game to the bottom of the eighth. That's when Rice was able to break the 0-0 deadlock with a pair of walks and infield hit by Braden Comeaux. On the play, true freshman Ben Dukes alertly dashed home from third base as KSU had trouble corralling the ball in damp infield dirt behind the mound.
Rice had taken a narrow 1-0 lead, but there was still the top of the ninth to go. Wood fanned the first two batters to give him a career-high six strikeouts on the night. The Owl outfielders then may have gotten a little tangled up while hustling to get a ball hit into the left-center gap, but the catch was made for the game's final out.
For The Record
Rice moved to 8-7 on the season. Kansas State moved to 11-5.
Head Coach Matt Bragga Said
"Man that was an exciting game," coach Bragga said. "We beat a very good team that has already won 11 games and is going to win a lot more. For Brandon to go out a second time this week (after facing HBU on March 9) and to have another performance like he did was just outstanding. Then to have Dalton come and do what he did is in my mind the best outing he's ever had at Rice. We needed both Brandon and Dalton because K-State wasn't giving us anything. That's three shutout wins now and that is a great sign for our pitching staff overall.
"This whole weekend, playing the different opponents back and forth the way we did and playing four games in a three-day period with some of the unusual start times we had for the games, to me it kind of felt like when you're playing in a conference tournament," Bragga explained. "It was a demanding weekend and very good to finish on a winning note."
Notes & Stats
• For the full week's worth of action Coach Bragga had mentioned, Deskins finished with allowing just one run on six hits in 11.0 innings of work. The left-hander from Friendswood had just one walk while posting 17 strikeouts.
• On the offensive side of the five-game week, veteran Bradley Gneiting batted .412 (7-of-17) with a home run, four RBI and a pair of stolen bases.
• Dalton Wood, who was sidelined for the shortened 2020 season, earned his first win since 2019. His 4.0 innings and six strikeouts Sunday were both career highs.
• Rain throughout the Houston area delayed the announced start from noon to 6 pm. The tarp was pulled just after 6 pm and after work by the Reckling Park grounds crew the game was able to begin at 6:34 pm.
On Deck
Rice has concluded a five-game homestand. The Owls are next on the road to face longtime foe Texas State on Wednesday (March 17). Start time at the Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos is set for 6 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wood, Dalton (1-0)
L: Littlejim, Caleb (1-1)
Base Running:
SB: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Beckstein, Luke 1 ; Caplinger, Dylan 1
HBP: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 1
Batting:
SH: Edwards, Cade 1 ; Hughes, Hal 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dukes, Ben 1
CS: Comeaux, Braden 1
HBP: Comeaux, Braden 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
Inf.
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