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Tuesday - April 25, 2006

Game 44: UT-Pan American at Texas

Texas scored a couple on the first inning, gave up 3 in the 2nd, scored 6 more in the bottom of the 2nd, gave up 3 more in the 5th and that was the end of that. Whew. Kenn Kasparek started and had an interesting outing. He went 4.1 innings so wasn't involved in the decision. He gave up a single to the first batter of the game on the first pitch of the game. The runner was moved to 2b on a sac bunt and 3b on a ground out to ss. The fourth batter struck out swinging, though, to end the threat. In the second, the Broncs combined to hit for the cycle. The first batter doubled, the second homered, the third tripled, and the fourth singled to drive in the third and last run of the inning. The next batter advanced the runner on a sac bunt and the next flew out to cf. The last batter of the inning flew out to the warning track in rf. On the play, Kyle Russell made an incredible adjustment to catch a ball that was blown about 20 or 30 feet off its original track by a stiff wind from the north. Oh yeah. The weather. It was 73 at the start of the game and the wind was blowing hard and mostly in from lf. It would change directions from time to time and blow more across from lf to rf or in from cf. But, mostly it just blew in from lf. The temperature dropped to 66 by the end of the game. I was not expecting the "cold" temps and was not dressed for it. I was not the only one. The crowd, by the way, was very small. It was much more typical of a mid-week crowd in February than late April. There was a group of kids (about 100 or so) that sat in the upper part of the stadium on the 3b side. They made a lot of noise, had a lot of fun, and did a good job of entertaining us for the last few innings of the game. Anyway, back to the game...

Kenn went 1-2-3 in the 3rd and 4th and seemed to be coasting along nicely. In the 5th, after getting ahead 0-2 and then taking the count full, he gave up a double to the first batter. The next popped out to 3b. He then gave up a single and another double to get chased from the mound. Keith Shinaberry came in and got the first batter he faced to ground out to 2b. The next batter singled in the 3rd run of the inning and the next grounded out to 3b (a great play by Nick Peoples...back at 3b today). Keith went 1-2-3 in the 6th. Joseph Krebs did the same in the 7th. Texas did something really odd in the 8th. Joseph went out for his warm-up throws. UT-Pan Am announced a pinch hitter and as he stepped into the box, Coach Holliday walked out to the mound and pulled Joseph in favor of Randy Boone. I don't think I've ever seen a team do that before. Weird. Randy threw yet another 1-2-3 inning. Austin Wood came on for the 9th and struck out the first two batters he faced. The third reached on an error by Chance Wheeless. The next lined out to 3b for the final out of the game. Whew.

On the offensive side of the fence, Texas scored early and then fell asleep at the plate. Good thing they scored early. In the first, Drew Stubbs singled and moved to 2b on a sac bunt by Nick. Carson Kainer grounded out to 2b (moving Drew to 3b). Chance then doubled to the rf corner (rbi). Hunter Harris walked and Bradley Suttle singled (Chance scored on the play). Kyle Russell (back in rf today) struck out swinging to end things. Texas sent 10 to the plate in the 2nd. Preston Clark hit a 9-pitch double. Chais Fuller bunted safely to put runners at the corners. Drew Stubbs then hit a home run over the rf fence (3 rbi). Nick singled through the left side. Carson doubled to the lf corner (rbi). UT-Pan Am finally pulled the starter (Dane Mason). Chad Linder came in and Chance reached on an error by 1b. Hunter reached on a 6-4 fielder's choice (rbi). Bradley hit a ground rule double (runners at 2b and 3b). Kyle hit a sac fly to lf (rbi). Preston, who started it all, ended things by striking out. Texas got runners aboard in the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th but was unable to follow through. In the 4th with Chance aboard, Hunter hit into a 4-6-3 double play. In the 5th, after Kyle reached on a single, UT-Pan Am sent Aaron Guerra in and he struck Preston and Chais out to end the threat. In the 7th, with Brett Lewis (who reached on a pinch-hit single) aboard and one out, Bradley grounded out and Kyle struck out. UT-Pan Am ended the 8th with an unassisted double play by their second baseman.

It was a weird game. The weather made things uncomfortable. The small crowd. The screaming kids in Section 111. The offensive explosion in the 1st and 2nd innings followed by nothing. The defense giving up 3 runs in two different innings sandwiched around five 1-2-3 innings. It was just weird. And, I'm glad it's over. Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 11:34 PM