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Saturday - May 6, 2006

Game 49: Kansas at Texas

Kansas jumped on top early but the Horns came back to win 7-4. Kyle McCulloch started but had to leave the game in the 5th when he was hit on his left ankel by a hard line drive. According to the TexasSports.com site, he'll be getting x-rays today. Kyle Walker came on in relief and got the win. Randy Boone pitched the final 2 innings for his first save of the year. Kyle Russell was back in the lineup after the scare with his ankle...when he came out of Monday's game after running into the wall in rf. He was out of Tuesday's game but back in last night and looking pretty good; he hit his 10th home run of the year in the 8th.

It was a pretty good win for the Horns. A win they needed. The team showed some flashes of great play but also seemed to struggle from time to time.

Offensively, the team struggled early but then came to life. They went down in order in the first 2 innings. In the 3rd, Kyle Russell flew out to lf on a ball that just stayed in the park. Preston Clark then got the first hit of the game and moved to 2b when Chais Fuller was hit by a pitch. Nick Peoples popped out to the catcher and Chance Wheeless flew out to cf to end the inning. In the 4th, Drew Stubbs walked but was stranded at 1b as Carson Kainer flew out to rf, Hunter Harris popped out to 3b, and Bradley Suttle flew out to rf (at the warning track...another close one). In the 5th, Kyle walked and moved to 2b on a single Preston hit to no-man's land in rf. Chais was then asked to sac bunt. He hit a bunt toward 3b and was thrown out at 1b to advance the runners. I think the Kansas third baseman actually had time to throw to 2b and get the double play because the ball was hit pretty hard in his direction but he didn't even glance toward 2b. Whew. Nick then singled up the middle to plate both runners. Chance hit a double to the lf/cf gap and Nick scored (nice run from 1b). Drew then reached on an E6. He was picked off as he tried to draw the defense's attenion so Chance could score from 3b. The defense did not bite and he was tagged out at 2b. I think he would've been safe if he'd slid into the bag but he wasn't really running hard enough to slide so it would've been rather awkward. Carson then grounded out to ss. In the 6th, Hunter singled through the right side and was moved to 2b on a sac bunt. He was stranded there as Kyle struck out and Preston flew out to cf. In the 7th, Chais walked. Nick reached on a fielder's choice bunt (pitcher threw Chais out at 2b). Nick stole 2b on the second pitch to Chance. Chance then reached on an infield single. The high bouncer glanced off the tip of the pitcher's glove and there was no chance of getting either runner out. Runners at the corners. Drew then singled to rf (Nick scored, Chance moved to 3b). Kansas changed pitchers. Drew stole 2b on the 4th pitch to Carson. Carson then singled up the middle (both runners scored). Hunter then hit into a double play. In the 8th, Bradley grounded out to 2b, Kyle hit that home run (a line drive to lf), Preston flew out to rf, and Chais grounded out to 3b.

Defensively, flashes of brilliance were followed by "What the hell?" moments. In the 1st, with a runner at 1b, Matt Baty hit a sac bunt that died at the plate. I don't think I've ever seen a ball die quite so effectively. I doubt it got more than a foot (at most) away from the plate. Preston gathered it up and threw to Chance. The throw was a bit high and glanced off Chance's glove (E3). The runners ended up at 2b and 3b. The next batter singled and both runners scored. One unearned run. Kansas played a bit if Texas small ball in the 2nd to score their 3rd run. The first batter was hit by a pitch and moved to 2b on a single. Both runners advanced on a sac bunt. A ground out to 2b scored the run. Nick made a nice play to catch a foul pop-up to end the threat. In the third, two bang-bang plays back-to-back made you think this team can do no wrong. The first batter hit one to 1b. Kyle McCulloch made a play for the ball but couldn't get to it. He ran on to the bag and was there in time to get the throw from Chance. Bang-bang. The next batter hit a hard ground ball to ss. Chais made a great stop and throw to get him out. Bang-bang. Wow. In the 4th, after Kyle struck out the first two batters he faced, the third hit a fly ball to shallow rf. Bradley and Kyle Russell were both going after the ball. Drew was also running in and apparently called the other two off. However, he was short of getting to the ball by a good 10 feet. The runner made it to 2b by the time Kyle fielded the ball on the bounce and threw it in to Chais. What the hell? The only reason I can imagine Bradley and Kyle giving up so completely on the ball was that Drew must've called them off. They both had a much better chance of catching the ball, though. Sigh. The batter was stranded at 2b, though. In the 5th, the Horns turned a beautiful 643 double play after Kyle McCulloch had to leave the game. Pretty. They turned the trick again (463, this time) in the 6th. The team gave up a run in the 7th but it was because Kansas managed to hit a couple of clean doubles off of Randy Boone. In the 9th, the first batter struck out looking. The second flew out to lf. The next reached on an error by 2b on a grounder that skipped threw Bradley's legs. It looked to me like he was worried about the speed of the runner and was trying to rush things. The next batter singled through the left side. Runners at first and second with the tying run at the plate. What the hell? Baty struck out swinging to end the game. Yay, Randy! And, whew.

Here's hoping the Horns get all parts of their game together for the whole game today!

Posted by Joanna at 12:14 PM