Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, March 14
Houston, TX
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
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Rice
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9
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K-State
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Rice
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K-State Blanked in Weekend Finale at Rice, 1-0
Mar 14, 2021 | Baseball
HOUSTON – K-State starter Connor McCullough held Rice scoreless over his 6 1/3 innings of work, but an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning spoiled his start as the Owls claimed a 1-0 victory Sunday night at Reckling Park.
Rice pinch-hitter Ben Dukes drew an eighth-inning leadoff walk off Wildcat reliever Caleb Littlejim and stood on second base after a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Braden Comeaux reached on an infield single, and a K-State error allowed Dukes to plate the game's only run.
Comeaux's base hit was the only hit allowed by Littlejim, as he and McCullough limited Rice (8-7) to three hits. K-State (11-5) stranded nine base runners and went hitless (0-for-10) with runners in scoring position in seeing its five-game winning streak end.
"It comes down to situational hitting," said head coach Pete Hughes. "We've got to put the ball in play and we didn't do it. We didn't deserve to win today. At some point, we've got to develop a little killer instinct but we're not there yet."
The Wildcats stranded a runner on third base in three different frames, and went 0-for-3 with a runner standing on third base and less than two out. The Cats ended the night 1-for-10 with two outs and 2-for-15 with men on base.
McCullough struck out the side in order in the second and retired 10 straight Rice hitters before issuing a two-out walk to Comeaux.
"He does what he always does," Hughes said of McCullough. "He's a strike-throwing machine. He changed speeds and worked both sides of the plate. We've got to give a kid like that more run support."
Littlejim lifted McCullough with one out in the seventh and a runner on second and wiggled out of the jam by hurling back-to-back strikeouts. The senior two-way player took the loss after he struck out four over his 1 2/3 innings with one run allowed on a hit.
Luke Beckstein tallied two of K-State's five hits. Dylan Caplinger, Dylan Phillips and Cameron Uselton each singled.
Phillips pushed his on-base streak to 27 games, dating back to last season.
The top four hitters in K-State's lineup combined to go 1-for-16 with six strikeouts.
Rice starter Brandon Deskins struck out six in five innings while scattering four hits. Reliever Dalton Wood carded the victory after tossing four innings of one-hit baseball.
All three of the Owls' base hits came from the top three hitters in the order. Neither team recorded an extra-base hit.
K-State opens a three-game series with New Mexico Friday at Tointon Family Stadium. The entire weekend against the Lobos will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app Radio coverage will also be available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live, free audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Rice pinch-hitter Ben Dukes drew an eighth-inning leadoff walk off Wildcat reliever Caleb Littlejim and stood on second base after a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Braden Comeaux reached on an infield single, and a K-State error allowed Dukes to plate the game's only run.
Comeaux's base hit was the only hit allowed by Littlejim, as he and McCullough limited Rice (8-7) to three hits. K-State (11-5) stranded nine base runners and went hitless (0-for-10) with runners in scoring position in seeing its five-game winning streak end.
"It comes down to situational hitting," said head coach Pete Hughes. "We've got to put the ball in play and we didn't do it. We didn't deserve to win today. At some point, we've got to develop a little killer instinct but we're not there yet."
The Wildcats stranded a runner on third base in three different frames, and went 0-for-3 with a runner standing on third base and less than two out. The Cats ended the night 1-for-10 with two outs and 2-for-15 with men on base.
McCullough struck out the side in order in the second and retired 10 straight Rice hitters before issuing a two-out walk to Comeaux.
"He does what he always does," Hughes said of McCullough. "He's a strike-throwing machine. He changed speeds and worked both sides of the plate. We've got to give a kid like that more run support."
Littlejim lifted McCullough with one out in the seventh and a runner on second and wiggled out of the jam by hurling back-to-back strikeouts. The senior two-way player took the loss after he struck out four over his 1 2/3 innings with one run allowed on a hit.
Luke Beckstein tallied two of K-State's five hits. Dylan Caplinger, Dylan Phillips and Cameron Uselton each singled.
Phillips pushed his on-base streak to 27 games, dating back to last season.
The top four hitters in K-State's lineup combined to go 1-for-16 with six strikeouts.
Rice starter Brandon Deskins struck out six in five innings while scattering four hits. Reliever Dalton Wood carded the victory after tossing four innings of one-hit baseball.
All three of the Owls' base hits came from the top three hitters in the order. Neither team recorded an extra-base hit.
K-State opens a three-game series with New Mexico Friday at Tointon Family Stadium. The entire weekend against the Lobos will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app Radio coverage will also be available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live, free audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored no runs on five hits with two errors and nine left on base.
- Rice scored one run on three hits with one error and six left on base.
- Rice scored an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth to pick up the win.
- McCullough worked 6 1/3 innings without allowing a run on two hits with seven strikeouts.
- It marked the second quality start McCullough has produced in four starts.
- McCullough now has 28 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings of work this season.
- Beckstein had two of K-State's five hits.
- K-State's top four hitters in the order combined to go 1-for-16 with six strikeouts.
- McCullough and Littlejim combined for 11 strikeouts.
- K-State did not have an extra-base hit and finished with 10 strikeouts.
- All three of Rice's hits came from the top three in the lineup.
- The Cats were 2-for-15 with runners on base, 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-9 with two outs.
- K-State went 3-1 on the weekend and is now 11-5 on the season.
- Phillips is on a career-high 27-game on-base streak dating back to last season.
- K-State is 2-4 all-time against Rice.
- Thompson made his 200th consecutive start for K-State, good for sixth place in school history.
- The loss ended K-State's five-game win streak.
- Sunday's loss was the first time K-State has been shut out this season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wood (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 1 ; Hughes 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dukes 1
CS: Comeaux 1
HBP: Comeaux 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ BaseballOF
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