Sunday - March 21, 2010

Game 20: Nebraska at Texas

Texas run-ruled Nebraska in 8 innings this afternoon, winning 13-3. Horns scored 4 in the 2nd, 6 in the 3rd, and 3 in the 8th. The 10-run rule is only in effect on getaway day for Big 12 games, by the way.

Another quick post from the field. Full report to come this evening. Watch for an update here.

UPDATE #1. Sorry to say, the day got away from me and I did not have time to write up the full game report. I'll do my best to get it online before Tuesday's game against Rice. A few quick notes, though:

• Brandon Workman pitched the complete game for the win;
• Brandon Loy had 3 hits on the day;
• Cohl Walla, Kevin Keyes, Jonathan Walsh, and Russell Moldenhauer each had two hits on the day; and
• Cameron Rupp hit his 3rd homerun of the year.

Today's game was very nicely played all the way around.

Posted by Joanna at 2:50 PM | Permalink

Saturday - March 20, 2010

Game 19: Nebraska at Texas

The Horns lost 3-5 on a miserably cold day. Ugh.

Another quick post from the field. Full report to come this evening. Watch for an update here.

UPDATE. It was terribly miserably cold today at Disch-Falk. Terribly. And, miserably. It was 41 °F with a very strong wind from the northwest blowing throughout the entire game. I knew it would be cold so I bundled up to the max. And, still froze out there. Brrrr...

The game seemed a bit like a replay (albeit a very cold one) of the first game of the series...only, without the final-inning heroics.

The line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nebraska	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	5	10	2
Texas	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	1

Note that Nebraska did not score in the first inning. That seemed, at the time, like an improvement. Alas...

Cole Green started for the Horns. He was not sporting the high-socks look today. Due to the cold? Dunno. The score was tied 3-3 when he left so he got a no-decision. His numbers (by my count): 5.2 innings, 3 runs given up (all earned), 100 pitches thrown (59 strikes), 25 batters faced, 1 hit batter, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 6 hits (2 homeruns, 4 singles). He left the game in the 6th with runners at the corners and 2 out. Andrew McKirahan (lefty) went in to face a left-handed batter. Nebraska promptly sent a right-handed batter to the plate. He, kindly hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice. In the 7th, McKirahan got a quick ground out and then gave up back-to-back singles. The runners advanced on the first pitch to the next batter (a wild pitch). The batter at the plate was Adam Bailey who'd already hit two homeruns against the Horns (one yesterday and one in the 4th inning of today's game) so they went ahead and intentionally walked him. The next batter hit a sac fly to rf, scoring the runner from 3b and moving the runner from 2b to 3b. The next batter singled, scoring the second run of the inning and putting runners at 1b and 2b. At that point, Stayton Thomas went into the game and he got the next batter to fly out to cf. McKirahan's final numbers: 1 inning, 2 runs given up (both earned), 19 pitches thrown (10 strikes), 7 batters faced, 1 wild pitch, 1 walk, and 3 hits (all singles). He was also saddled with the loss, moving his record to 1-1.

Stayton Thomas, Hoby Milner, and Chance Ruffin closed out the game without giving up any further runs. Their numbers...

• Thomas: 1 inning, 18 pitches thrown (11 strikes), 4 batters faced, and 1 hit (a double).
• Milner: 1 inning, 22 pitches (13 strikes), 6 batters faced, 1 hit batter, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and no hits.
• Ruffin: 0.1 innings, 6 pitches (4 strikes), 1 batter faced, and no hits.

On the offensive side of things, the Horns hit a couple of homeruns for all of their scores. They didn't get very many chances beyond those to score but did squander a couple of good ones. Sadly.

Here's how things went down offensively...

• 1st inning
• Pop-up to ss, ground out to 2b, ground out to 3b
• 2nd inning
• Cameron Rupp doubled to the cf/rf gap on a line drive over the center fielder's head.
• Jonathan Walsh hit his first homerun as a Longhorn over the rf fence.
• Brandon Loy flew out to lf.
• Kevin Lusson grounded out to 2b.
• Russell Moldenhauer lined into rf for a single.
• Cohl Walla reached on a slow bouncing infield single to 2b, moving Moldenhauer to 2b.
• The runners advanced to 2b and 3b on a passed ball with Tant Shepherd at the plate.
• Shepherd walked to load the bases.
• Jordan Etier hit a hard ground ball toward ss. Sadly, it hit Walla, who tried very hard to avoid the ball, for the 3rd out of the inning.
• 3rd inning
• Strikeout swinging, reach on error, pop out to 2b, ground into fielder's choice.
• 4th inning
• Lusson started things off with a homerun over the rf fence that actually landed on the other side of Comal. Wow.
• Moldenhauer doubled through the left side.
• Walla grounded out to 2b, moving Moldenhauer to 3b.
• Shepherd drew a 4-pitch walk, putting runners at the corners with one out.
• Etier struck out looking.
• Kevin Keyes struck out swinging.
• 5th inning
• Strikeout swinging, ground out to 2b, reach on error, ground out to 1b.
• 6th inning
• Ground out to ss, strikeout swinging, ground out to 3b.
• 7th inning
• Etier was hit by a pitch (0-1 count).
• Keyes worked the count full, then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. If Etier had been off with the pitch, he would've probably been safe. Alas...
• Rupp singled into cf.
• Walsh drew a full-count walk.
• Loy flew out to rf.
• 8th inning
• Lusson drew an 8-pitch full-count walk.
• Nebraska finally replaced their starter (who threw 130 pitches by my count) and sent in a lefty to face Moldenhauer.
• Texas did not respond with a right-handed batter. Moldenhauer struck out looking.
• Nebraska changed pitchers again...went back to a righty.
• Tim Maitland (pinch-hitting for Walla) flew out to cf.
• Shepherd struck out swinging.
• 9th inning
• Jordan Weymouth (pinch-hitting for Etier...Texas went with the left-handed pinch-hitter as they did last night) struck out swinging.
• Keyes struck out looking.
• Rupp flew out to deep cf.
• Game over.

Not pretty. And, miserably cold. Did I mention that?

Rubber match tomorrow at noon. The weather should be about 20 degrees warmer. A vast improvement. And, if you have access to Fox College Sports, you can watch the game on TV.

Go Horns!

Posted by Joanna at 6:00 PM | Permalink

Friday - March 19, 2010

Game 18: Nebraska at Texas

Texas wins 6-5 on a 2-out walk-off homer by Cameron Rupp. Wow.

Another quick post from the field. Full report to come this evening. Watch for an update here.

UPDATE. I failed to mention that the walk-off homer was a 3-run homerun. First pitch. Just barely fair down the rf line. Again, I say: wow.

First, the line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nebraska	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	5	7	1
Texas	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	6	10	0

Yep...they gave up another 1st-inning run. 'Twas a solo shot to lf just inside the Nebraska bullpen by Adam Bailey who went 3-for-4 on the day with the homerun, a strikeout, a double, and a single. Good day for him, eh?

Dunno why but I feel like doing a full-game rundown this evening. So...here you go:

• 1st inning, Nebraska
• DJ Belfonte (cf) grounded out to the pitcher.
• Kale Kiser (2b) grounded out to ss.
• Adam Bailey (rf) homered into the Nebraska bullpen...ball aided a bit by strong wind from the south.
• Josh Scheffert (dh) grounded out to ss.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 1st inning, Texas
• Tant Shepherd (1b) grounded out to 1b (3-1, p covered bag).
• Jordan Etier saw 7 pitches (with 3 foul balls) before he struck out looking (full count).
• Kevin Keyes struck out swinging. The catcher couldn't hold onto the ball so tagged Keyes to complete the out.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 2nd inning, Nebraska
• Cody Asche (3b) lined a double into lf...off the wall.
• Tyler Farst (1b) flew out to cf. Asche tagged-up and advanced to 3b on the play.
• Patric Tolention (c, son of Former Longhorn first baseman Jose Tolentino...who played at UT when I was a UT student...so, yes, a long time ago) grounded out to ss. Loy did a nice job of looking the runner at 3b back to 3b before throwing to 1b for the out.
• Khiry Cooper (lf) fouled off 42 pitches or so before finally striking out swinging. Actually, by my records his at bat went: strike (looking), strike (swinging), foul ball, ball, 4 foul balls, strike (swinging). Whew.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Cameron Rupp (c) singled up the middle.
• Jonathan Walsh (lf) flew out to lf.
• Brandon Loy (ss) flew out to rf.
• Kevin Lusson singled through the right side, moving Rupp to 3b.
• Russell Moldenhauer (dh) singled up the middle on a sharply hit ground ball, scoring Rupp and moving Lusson to 3b. Which prompted a visit to the mound for Nebraska.
• Cohl Walla (cf) flew out to lf.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 3rd inning, Nebraska
• Kyle Bubak (ss) grounded out to the pitcher.
• Belfonte singled up the middle.
• Kiser grounded into a 3-6-1 double play! Beautifully played by Texas.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Shepherd struck out swinging.
• Etier grounded out to ss.
• Keyes doubled off the wall just right of the Green Monster in cf (first pitch).
• Rupp lined out to rf. The Nebraska right fielder made a very nice charging catch on the ball that I really thought was gonna drop in for a single.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 4th inning, Nebraska
• Bailey struck out swinging. Rupp couldn't hold onto the ball, though, so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
• Sheffert grounded out to 2b. Etier made a nice play on the high-bouncer to make the catch and throw for the out at 1b.
• Asche grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• First 1-2-3 inning of the day for the Horns.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Walsh grounded out to 1b (p covered bag).
• Loy lined into cf for a single.
• Lusson popped out to ss (near the foul line in shallow lf.
• Moldenhauer reached on an unusual catcher's interference play...unusual in that you rarely see that sort of thing happen.
• Walla hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice to end the inning.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 5th inning, Nebraska
• Jungmann struck out the side. Purty!
• Game tied 1-1.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Shepherd struck out swinging.
• Etier struck out swinging.
• Keyes stru...er...drew a full-count walk.
• Rupp grounded out to 3b.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 6th inning, Nebraska
• In which, things don't go well for our side.
• Bubak struck out looking. Actually, that was a nice start for our side.
• Belfonte was hit by the first pitch...looked like a pretty solid HBP just above his right knee.
• With Kiser at the plate, Belfonte stole 2b (Rupp couldn't get handle on the ball to make throw to 2b) and then moved to 3b a few pitches later on a passed ball (the ball rolled through Rupp's legs and then ump's legs and Rupp couldn't find it).
• Kiser went on to draw a 9-pitch full-count walk, putting runners at the corners.
• Bailey (sigh) doubled into rf, scoring Belfonte and moving Kiser to 3b.
• Which prompted a visit to the mound.
• Scheffert struck out swinging. Yes.
• Asche singled through the left side, scoring Kiser and Bailey.
• Farst was hit by a pitch ('looked like he swung at it to me but I didn't get a vote), putting runners at 1b and 2b.
• Tolentino grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice.
• Three runs across. Texas down 1-4.
• 6th inning, Texas
• In which Texas answers.
• Walsh singled up the middle.
• Loy reached on a 5-4 fielder's choice.
• Lusson doubled to the cf/rf gap, scoring Loy.
• Moldenhauer grounded out to ss, moving Lusson to 3b. It was a very close play at 1b. Moldenhauer almost beat out the throw from ss on the slow bouncer.
• Walla singled through the left side, scoring Lusson.
• Shepherd grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice to end the inning.
• Texas down 3-4.
• 7th inning, Nebraska
• Cooper struck out swinging. Rupp wasn't able to hold onto the ball so he tagged Cooper to complete the out.
• Bubak grounded out to the pitcher (first pitch).
• Belfonte drew a fulll-count walk.
• Kiser grounded out to the pitcher.
• Texas down 3-4.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Nebraska sent Kurt Giller to the mound, replacing Hauptman.
• Etier Struck out swinging.
• Keyes grounded out to ss.
• Rupp drew a full-count walk.
• Walsh fought off a few pitches but went down swinging.
• Texas down 3-4.
• 8th inning, Nebraska
• Bailey singled through the right side.
• Boomer Collins (pinch-hitting for Scheffert) had an interesting at-bat. He was clearly brought in to sac-bunt Bailey over. He squared to bunt for every pitch and then squared again with a 2-2 count. Very surprising. He finally connected with the ball but hit it too sharply on the 1b side of the mound. Jungmann fielded and threw Bailey out at 2b. Collins safe at 1b.
• Asche, sadly, doubled to the lf/cf gap, scoring Collins.
• Texas sent Chance Ruffin to the mound, replacing Jungmann.
• By my count, Jungmann went 7.1 innings. He threw 108 pitches (70 strikes) and faced 22 batters. He hit two batters, walked 2, struck out 8, gave up 7 hits, and 5 runs (all earned).
• Farst flew out to cf. Asche tagged up and advanced to 3b on the play.
• Tolentino then flew out to 2b on a little bloop pop-up.
• Texas down 3-5.
• 8th inning, Texas
• In which Texas goes down quietly.
• Loy struck out swinging.
• Lusson flew out to cf.
• Moldenhauer flew out to lf.
• Texas down 3-5.
• 9th inning, Nebraska
• In which, Nebraska returns the favor.
• Cooper grounded out to ss.
• Bubak struck out swinging. Rupp couldn't get a handle on the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
• Belfonte struck out looking.
• Texas down 3-5.
• 9th inning, Texas
• Paul Montalbano (pinch-hitting for Walla) grounded out weakly to 2b.
• Tim Maitland (pinch-hitting for Shepherd) also grounded out weakly to 2b.
• Jordan Weymouth (pinch-hitting for Etier) hit a hard ground ball just a couple of feet fair down the lf line for a double!
• Keyes drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Rupp hit a shot. First pitch. Sky high. Down the rf line. Just barely fair. O. M. G. Texas wins on a 3-run, 2-out, first-pitch, walk-off homerun by Cameron Rupp. Wow. Amazing.
• Texas wins 6-5!
• Shades of the '09 Horns?

Chance Ruffin earned his 3rd win of the year. His numbers (by my count): 1.2 innings, 15 pitches (13 strikes), 5 batters faced, and 2 strikeouts. Very nicely done.

'Twas a fun evening for me as my favorite nephew was in town visiting from Kentucky and went to the game with us. Was he the good luck charm? Heh. Actually, it was a rather frustrating evening for me but it ended very, very well. So, let's just gloss over the frustrating part, shall we? Yes, we shall.

The Horns face Nebraska again tomorrow. Game time has been pushed back to 3 o'clock. They're expecting rain through at least noon and are hoping conditions will be good enough to play at 3. Sadly, the current forecast predicts a temperature of 44 °F at 3 pm. With wind. And, it'll be wet. Brrrrr. Bring your blankets!

Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 8:52 PM | Permalink

Wednesday - March 17, 2010

Game 17: Texas at Rice

I was not able to listen to most of the game last night. After a long and very frustrating day at work, I hung out with friends and just watched for game updates on Twitter. All-in-all, it did not seem like a good day. The line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	2	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	6	12	1
Rice	2	0	3	0	1	2	1	1	x	10	13	1

So, on the one hand...12 hits. Nice. Jordan Etier hit his 4th homerun in...I dunno...something like 9 days. Pretty cool. But, on the other hand, the Horns gave up 13 hits...and, more importantly, 10 runs. Sigh...

A couple of links:

• No. 2 Baseball falls to No. 14 Rice, 10-6 - from TexasSports.com
• Horns pitching doesn't hold up in loss to Rice - by Alan Trubow, Statesman

Hopefully, they'll get back on track this weekend as they host Nebraska. Sunday's game, by the way, will be on TV...on something called Fox College Sports. Enjoy it if you've got it!

And, hook 'em, Horns!

Posted by Joanna at 12:29 PM | Permalink

Tuesday - March 16, 2010

Admin note

I skipped game 12 or 13 (can't remember which now) when I was going along and then messed up some of the underlying URLs when I went back to fix things. 'Just noticed the problem and fixed it. If you use a newsreader, things may look a bit off. Sorry 'bout that.

Posted by Joanna at 5:15 PM | Permalink

Sunday - March 14, 2010

Game 16 photos

It was a beautiful day at the park today...sunny and high 70s. Great picture-taking weather. Good thing I had my camera with me.

First, the pitchers...

Hoby Milner:

Stayton Thomas:

Sam Stafford:

Kendal Carrillo:

Very sadly, it appears that I did not take any photos of Josh Urban. Kicking myself as I type. Sigh...so sorry. 'Hope I get another chance soon.

And, the rest of the guys...in batting order...

Tant Shepherd, taking a swing at a pitch early in the game:

Jordan Etier, rounding 3rd after his homer in the 1st:

Kevin Keyes, stealing 2b in the 7th (before all hell broke loose; he hit a homer when he came around to bat again later in the inning):

Cameron Rupp, at 2b in the 7th:

Brandon Loy, in the 5th:

Kevin Lusson, curtain call after his homer in the 7th:

Cohl Walla, curtain call after his homer in the 8th:

And, then something a little unusual. I actually got a shot of the field as Walla hit his homer. You can just see the ball about three-fourth's of the way across the photo from the left side. It looks kinda like a spec of lint at this small size but it's there. I almost never take wide-angle photos during a game. Cool that I snapped the shutter at just the right time on this one, eh? Here you go:

Connor Rowe, rounding 3b after his homerun in the 4th:

Jonathan Walsh, taking a swing early in the game:

And, with that I'm off for the night. Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 11:35 PM | Permalink

Game 16: Iowa at Texas

Texas beat Iowa 18-0 today. Wow. I think Stayton Thomas got the win. Several players hit homeruns. Does this mean the hitters have turned the corner or did the Iowa pitching just collapse? I don't think it matters. I think having a good day at the plate will be a good thing, regardless of the circumstances. 16 hits on the day. Yay!

Another quick post from the field. Full report to come this evening. Watch for an update here.

UPDATE: Much to my pleasure, Iowa did not score a run in the first inning of today's game. In fact, Hoby Milner (getting his 2nd start of the season) sat the Hawkeyes down in order in the 1st. Nice.

Today's game was just crazy. It ended over 6 hours ago as I type and I still can't get over all the hitting. The Horns hit five (5!) homeruns today. That apparently ties a single-game record for Disch-Falk Field. Wow. Jordan Etier hit the first dinger of the day in the bottom of the first...a solo shot that gave the Horns the lead. Connor Rowe hit the second...a 2-run shot in the 4th. Kevin Lusson and Kevin Keyes hit 2-run homers in the 7th. And, Cohl Walla hit a 3-run homer in the 8th. Amazing.

The line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Iowa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
Texas	1	1	1	2	1	0	8	4	-	18	16	0

As I mentioned Hoby Milner got his second start of the year and did a good job. Three other pitchers (Sam Stafford, Kendal Carrillo, and Josh Urban) saw their first action of the year. The pitching numbers (by my count, of course):

• Hoby Milner: 4.1 innigs, 83 pitches (48 strikes), 20 batters faced, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 4 hits (all singles), and no runs.
• Stayton Thomas: 1.2 innings, 22 pitches (22 strikes), 5 batters faced, 0 walks 4 strikeouts (!), no runs, and the win (improving his record to 2-0).
• Sam Stafford: 1 inning, 9 pitches (4 strikes), 3 batters faced, 1 walk, and no runs.
• Kendal Carrillo: 1 inning, 5 pitches (4 strikes), 3 batters faced, and no runs.
• Josh Urban: 1 inning, 16 pitches (11 strikes), 3 batters faced, 1 walk, and no runs.

Double-plays in the 7th and 9th meant that the relievers combined to face the minimum number of batters once they took over. And, they didn't allow a single hit. Very cool.

Offensively, the numbers went like so:

• Tant Shepherd (1b): 3-for-6 (single, 2 doubles), 2 runs scored, 2 rbi, 1 strikeout.
• Jordan Etier (2b): 2-for-6 (single, homerun), 1 run scored, 1 rbi, 2 strikeouts.
• Kevin Keyes (rf): 2-for-5 (single, homerun), 2 runs scored, 2 rbi, 1 strikeout.
• Kyle Lusson (rf, went in for Keyes in the top of the 8th): 0-for-1.
• Cameron Rupp (c): 0-for-5 (uh-oh), reached on an error, 1 run scored, 2 strikeouts.
• Brandon Loy (ss): 1-for-3 (single), reached on an error, 4 runs scored, 2 rbi, 2 walks.
• Kevin Lusson (3b): 2-for-2 (single, homerun), 3 runs scored, 2 rbi, 2 walks, 1 sac bunt.
• Cohl Walla (lf): 3-for-4 (2 singles, homerun), 1 run scored, 5 rbi, 1 sac bunt.
• Connor Rowe (cf): 1-for-4 (homerun), reached on an error, 3 runs scored, 2 rbi, 1 walk, 1 strikeout.
• Jonathan Walsh (dh): 2-for-5 (single, double), 1 run scored, 1 rbi, 1 strikeout.

Whew. That was a lot of offense. There were 3 errors and 2 homeruns hit in the 7th. It was chaos out there. Texas sent 11 batters to the plate in that inning. And, 8 in the 8th. It was ugly and I was wishing for a 10-run rule. But, apparently, no such luck. It did give a couple of Texas pitchers a chance to show us their stuff, though, so I was glad of that.

I took my camera today so photos to come. I know some of you only come here for the photos and I haven't taken many this year. 'Been concentrating on learning my new scoring app and didn't want the distraction. Check back for a photo post soon.

And, the Horns now travel back to Houston to face Rice on their home field on Tuesday. Austin Dicharry is due to take the mound for Texas. Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 3:48 PM | Permalink

Saturday - March 13, 2010

Game 15: Iowa at Texas

The Horns won the "nightcap" 5-2. Nice game all around. Workman gets the win.

Another quick post from the field. Full report to come this evening. Watch for an update here.

The line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Iowa	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	3
Texas	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	-	5	7	1

As you can see, the Horns gave up runs in the first inning again. But, as in the first two games of the series, they blanked the Hawkeyes for the rest of the game. Thankfully. They also matched their combined number of runs from the first two games. The hitting still looks shaky, though. I know not what to say about that. Shrug.

Like the first game, the Horns played with the lineup again. The lineup for the Horns: Tant Shepherd (1b), Jordan Etier (2b), Cameron Rupp (c), Kevin Keyes (rf), Nick DeSantiago (dh), Brandon Loy (ss), Cohl Walla (cf), Tim Maitland (lf), Jordan Weymouth (3b). DeSantiago and Weymouth got their first starts of the year; Montalbano and Maitland got their 2nd.

A summary of the Texas scoring:

• 1st inning:
• Shepherd reached on a 4-pitch walk.
• Etier struck out swinging. Shepherd stole 2b on the strikeout and moved up to 3b on a throwing error by the catcher (the ball sailed into cf).
• Rupp grounded out to ss, scoring Shepherd.
• Keyes singled up the middle and stole 2b with DeSantiago at the plate.
• DeSantiago struck out swinging.
• 2nd inning:
• Loy hit a line drive over the left fielder for a double.
• With Walla at the plate (and squaring to bunt), Loy stole 3b.
• Walla then hit a sac fly to cf, scoring Loy.
• Maitland flew out to the rf/cf gap. The right fielder made a spectacular long run and diving catch to rob Maitland of a double...if not a triple. Very nice play.
• Weymouth drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Shepherd doubled through the left side, moving Weymouth to 3b.
• Then 2 throwing errors in a row.
• Etier hit a dribbler on the 3b side. The pitcher fielded and then threw wide to 1b, nearly hitting Etier. Weymouth and Shepherd both scored. Etier stayed at 1b.
• On another ball hit down the 3b line (this one harder), the third baseman threw wide of 1b. Etier made it easily to 3b and tried to reach home but was thrown out at the plate on a great throw from the first baseman from way down the 1b line to the catcher. Fantastic throw.
• Inning over. Three runs across. Whew.
• 6th inning:
• Loy doubled to the cf/rf gap.
• Walla tried to bunt Loy to 3b but could not get the bunt down. He ended up striking out.
• Maitland then popped out to 3b.
• Loy stole 3b with Weymouth at the plate. Weymouth went on to draw a full-count walk, putting runners at the corners.
• Which chased the starting pitcher.
• Shepherd then singled through the left side, scoring Loy and moving Weymouth to 2b.
• Etier then lined out to 3b.

And, that's about all she wrote. Brandon Workman got the win, improving his record to 2-1 and Chance Ruffin earned his 5th save of the season. The numbers for the pitchers (all by my count, of course):

• Brandon Workman: 6.2 innings, 109 pitches (78 strikes), 1 wild pitch, 31 batters faced, 1 hit batter, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, 7 hits (6 singles, 1 triple), 2 runs (both earned).
• Andrew McKirahan: 0.2 innings, 10 pitches (7 strikes), 4 batters faced, 1 hit batter, 1 hit (a single). McKirahan went in with bases loaded and 2 out to face a left-handed batter. Iowa promptly pinch-hit with a righty who grounded out to 3b to end the threat.
• Stayton Thomas: 0.2 innings, 7 pitches (5 strikes), 4 batters faced, 1 hit batter, 2 hits (singles). Thomas went in with 1 out and batters at 1b and 2b. He hit the first batter he faced with the first pitch he threw (!) to load the bases. Uh-oh. He got the next batter to hit into a double play, though. Whew.
• Chance Ruffin: 1 inning, 15 pitches (10 strikes), 3 batters faced, 1 strikeout. Ruffin went in after Thomas gave up back-to-back singles (on the first one, Walla made a great play in lf to limit the batter to a single). The three batters Ruffin faced went down like so: ground out to 1b, pop out to 2b, strikeout swinging. Game over.

All-in-all, a nice game. I'm still looking for more hitting, though. The Horns go for the sweep tomorrow at 1. Be there or be square!

Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 6:09 PM | Permalink

Game 14: Iowa at Texas

Texas beat Iowa 3-1 in the opener of today's double-header. Cole Green got the complete-game victory and even managed to hit a single! So much fun. Kevin Lusson homered in the 2nd and the Horns put single runs across in the 4th and 5th. Nice game.

Quick post from the field. Full report to come this evening. Watch for an update here.

UPDATE. The first game of today's double-header went 7 innings. The Horns played with the lineup in both games today. Jonathan Walsh got his first start of the year behind the plate in the first game. It looked like he might've been a wee bit excited at the beginning (he had a couple of bad throws to 2b) but settled down nicely (caught a batter stealing on his 3rd throw to 2b).

As I mentioned in my brief update from the field, Cole Green pitched a complete game. By my count, he threw 106 pitches (67 strikes), faced 27 batters, hit 2 (yikes!), walked 1, struck out 9, gave up 4 hits, and the one run (unearned). He also ended up getting a plate appearance in which he hit a single through the right side. He almost hit a double down the lf line on the previous pitch but he was about a foot foul. Pretty cool. He's now had 3 plate appearances in his Texas career and is batting 1.000 with two singles and a sac bunt. Ha! Gotta love it.

Texas made me a bit unhappy, though, when they...once again...gave up a run in the first inning. Green struck out the side. But. It went like so...

• Kurtis Muller (cf) struck out swinging (2-1 count).
• Mike McQuillan (2b) singled up the middle (0-1 count). The ball went between Green's legs! Yikes.
• With Ryan Durant (rf) at the plate, McQuillan stole 2b. Walsh's throw was very high.
• Durant struck out looking (full count).
• With Dallas Burke (dh) at the plate, McQuillan easily stole 3b.
• Burke then reached on an error by 3b, scoring McQuillan. On the play, Kevin Lusson fielded the ball and then appeared to get his cleat stuck in the turf as he was trying to transfer the ball to his throwing hand. No throw. E5. Kinda bizarre.
• With Sean Flanagan (1b) at the plate, Burke stole 2b. The throw from Walsh was way over the 2b head and off-line. It sailed into cf and Burke made it to 3b on the second error of the inning. Ouch.
• Flanagan went on to strike out swinging (2-1 count). Whew.

The Hawkeyes got a runner to 3b in the 2nd (single, sac bunt, groundout advance) but stranded him there. The got 2 aboard in the 3rd via hit batsmen but the first was caught stealing (!) and the second was forced out at 2nd on a double play. They went down in order in the 4th and 5th. With 2 out (via strikeouts) in the 6th, they threatened again...this time, hitting back-to-back singles, but the next batter struck out. The second batter of the 7th drew the only walk of the day but the next two batters went down swinging. Sweet.

Offensively, the Horns continued to struggle at the plate but got timely hitting when they needed it. They stranded the lead-off batter at 3b in the 1st (tsk tsk). Kevin Lusson hit a solo homerun into the street over the rf fence in the 2nd to tie the game. They went down in order in the 3rd. And, scored the go-ahead run in the 4th:

• Kevin Keyes doubled to the lf/cf gap to lead things off.
• Paul Montalbano grounded out to 2b, moving Keyes to 3b.
• Kevin Lusson drew a full-count walk to put runners at the corners.
• Cohl Walla reached on an infield single to ss, scoring Keyes and moving Lusson to 2b. I think the play was initially ruled an error but was changed to a hit (high throw from ss seemed to pull the first baseman off the bag but they ended up going with an infield hit).
• Jonathan Walsh flew out to lf.
• Jordan Etier struck out swinging.

Texas scored a second run in the 5th:

• Tant Shepherd was hit by a pitch.
• Brandon Loy tried to bunt Shepherd to 2b but ended up drawing a 4-pitch walk.
• Cameron Rupp hit a nice sac bunt on the 3b side to advance the runners to 2b and 3b.
• Kevin Keyes grounded out to ss (very hard-hit ball), scoring Shepherd. Loy had to hold up at 2b.
• Paul Montalbano flew out to shallow lf.

Rupp, who started at dh, moved to c for the top of the 6th. Since he'd been the dh, that necessitated the move of Cole Green into the lineup (taking Walsh's #8 spot). Green came up to bat in the bottom of the 6th with Kevin Lusson at 1b (who'd reached on an error when the ss dropped a sky-high pop-up that, I guess, he lost in the sun) and one out. He watched a strike and a then ripped a ball just barely foul down the lf line, almost got hit by the 3rd pitch, and then hit a beauty of a single through the right side, moving Lusson to 2b. That single chased the starter out of the game. Heh. Etier then flew out and Shepherd hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

The line...

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Iowa	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	2
Texas	0	1	0	1	1	0	-	3	5	2

I didn't time the break between games but think it was about 30 minutes. The report on the second game coming up shortly...

Posted by Joanna at 2:54 PM | Permalink

Friday - March 12, 2010

Game 13: Iowa at Texas

Yet another nail biter! The Horns really need to get those bats going. I don't think our pitchers (not to mention those of us in the stands) can take much more of this. Taylor Jungmann pitched a whale of a game. He went 7.1 innings, threw 122 pitches by my count (89 strikes), faced 29 batters, gave up 5 hits, and 1 run (earned). He threw 3 wild pitches, walked 1, and struck out 17 batters. Seventeen! And, for all that? No decision. That's practically criminal.

Iowa scored 1 in the 1st. With 2 out, Ryan Durant singled (1-2 pitch) through the right side...and then stole 2b. Dallas Burke then doubled (1-2 pitch, again) down the lf line. Ouch. Sean Flanagan then struck out...first strikeout of the game for Jungmann. Jungmann struck out the side in the 2nd. He got another strikeout to start the 3rd, then a groundout, then gave up another 1-2 hit...this time a single, before striking out his 6th batter of the game. In the fourth: groundout, strikeout, groundout. In the 5th: 3 Ks. In the 6th: strikeout, single (1-1 count this time), fly out, strikeout. In the 7th: a leadoff single (1-0 count) followed by 3 Ks.

And, then the interesting 8th. First batter struck out swinging at a wild pitch and made it safely to 1b as the ball went all the way to the backstop. He was caught stealing on the first pitch to the second batter. Second batter reached base exactly the same way...wild-pitch strikeout that went all the way to the backstop! Bizarro. Jungmann then gave up a 5-pitch walk to the next batter (aside: his only walk of the game; he only went to 3 balls against 2 other batters...both of whom went on to strikeout) and, after throwing 122 pitches and striking out 17 batters, he was lifted for Stayton Thomas...who threw 2 pitches. Durant (he of the lone run scored in the first) grounded the 2nd pitch he saw from Thomas into a lovely 6-4-3 double play...the tail end of which, Tant Shepherd did a great job of scooping off the turf and just barely hanging onto. Whew. Chance Ruffin went in for the 9th: strikeout, fly out, strikeout. In the 10th: pop out (foul), line out to cf, strikeout. By my count, he threw 26 pitches (21 strikes...his first 9 pitches were all strikes), faced 6 batters, and struck out 3. And, got his 2nd win of the year.

On the offensive side, I have very little to report. In the 1st, Brandon Loy hit a 1-out single to lf and tried to stretch it into a double but was, sadly, thrown out 7-4 on a very nice play by the Iowa left fielder. Cohl Walla reached on an error in the 2nd...debatable play. A high throw from the ss pulled the first baseman off the bag but it looked like he might've tagged Walla as he was coming down. But, the first base ump was screened from the play and, really, Walla might have been stepping on the bag at the same time and the tie goes to the runner, right? Shrug. Kevin Lusson then hit into a 6-4-3 double play so...no matter. Paul Montalbano led off the bottom of the 3rd with a 5-pitch walk. After Connor Rowe and Jordan Etier struck out, Tant Shepherd was hit by a pitch. Brandon Loy then hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice. Kevin Keyes reached on a 1-out full-count walk in the 4th. He stole 2b and moved up to 3b on an error (the catcher's throw on the sb went into cf) but he was stranded at 3b. The horns went 3-up/3-down in the 5th and 6th. Kevin Lusson reached on a 2-out full-count walk in the 7th but was stranded at 1b. With 1 out in the 8th, Texas finally got their second hit of the game when Jordan Etier hit a homerun that just cleared the rf fence and fell into the Texas bullpen. Yes! Tant Shepherd then grounded out and Brandon Loy singled over the ss but was then forced out on a fielder's choice.

In the bottom of the 9th, things got rather interesting. Kevin Keyes singled on a little blooper over the shortstop. The Horns sent Tim Maitland in to pinch run for Keyes. Cohl Walla then hit a couple of bunt attempts foul before hitting a single through the right side. Maitland held up at 2b. Iowa had a visit to the mound but stayed with their starter. Kevin Lusson up. He squared to bunt and watched a strike go by. On the next pitch (a ball), the catcher almost threw Maitland out at 2b. Whew. Lusson advanced the batters on the next pitch, though, with a beautiful sac bunt (5-4) down the 3b line. Iowa finally replaced their starter. Jarred Hippen went 8.1 innings and gave up an earned run. He faced 33 batters, threw 105 pitches (71 strikes), gave up 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out 8. Great game. Wow. Nick Brown replaced him on the mound. Kyle Lusson (pinch-hitting for Montalbano) went down swinging. Russell Moldenhauer (pinch-hitting for Connor Rowe) also went down swinging. Damn. Two runners in scoring (ahem...winning) position with 1 out...and the Horns fail to score. Not pretty. Sigh...

The 10th started out the same way as Jordan Etier struck out, looking this time. But, then...magic. Tant Shepherd hit a towering homerun (first pitch) over the Texas bullpen to win the game. Wow!

The line...

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Iowa	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
Texas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	6	1

Geesh. This is too much stress. Sigh...

The Horns are now up for a double-header against Iowa tomorrow. The first game is scheduled for 7 innings and the second for 9. If the first game goes long, they'll switch and the second game will be a 7-inning affair. 'Hope the bats have more life tomorrow.

Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 10:24 PM | Permalink