Reckling outduels Brandt with one-hit gem

From electronic and staff reports
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Rice's Matthew Reckling picked a good time for an overpowering mound performance. The senior righthander engaged East Carolina ace Kevin Brandt in a superb pitching duel Friday night and prevailed with a 2-0 shutout at Reckling Park.

On an evening when Brandt pitched well enough to win against an ordinary foe, Reckling (7-0) was anything but ordinary, allowing only one hit, a fifth inning single down the left field line by ECU junior outfielder Jay Cannon. Reckling, whose grandfather T.R. Reckling played for the Owls in the 1950s and is the namesake of the team's home field, struck out ten, walked two and hit a batter.

Despite Reckling's dominating pitching display, the game was not without its drama. With one out in the ninth, Reckling issued a walk to ECU junior outfielder Philip Clark and dinged senior second baseman Tim Younger, putting runners on first and second. But sophomore designated hitter Drew Reynolds' sharp grounder to the right was snagged by junior second baseman Christian Stringer and converted into a 4-6-3 double play.

Rice scored a run in the first when Stringer singled up the middle, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior outfielder Michael Fuda, and then came home on junior first baseman J.T. Chargois' single up the middle.

The Owls got an insurance run in the sixth on junior outfielder Jeremy Rathjen's home run to center field.

Brandt (5-3) went the distance for the Pirates and scattered six hits. The senior southpaw fanned one, walked two and hit one batsman.

The game was a defensive chess match with no errors committed. East Carolina pulled off two timely double plays while Rice came up with one — the one that ended the Pirates' threat in the ninth inning.

Rain forced a delay of more than two hours beyond the game's scheduled 7:30 p.m. start time. Once the first pitch was thrown, however, Reckling and Brandt kept base runners to a minimum and the contest concluded only one hour and 38 minutes after it began.

The weekend series between the teams continues on Saturday (3 p.m.) and concludes on Sunday (12 p.m.)

PAGE UPDATED 04/21/12 03:28 AM.

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