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Sunday - April 15, 2007

Game 40: Texas Tech at Texas

There was a 10-minute (or so) break between the end of the resumed 1st game and the start of the 2nd game of the series. Adrian Alaniz did get the nod for the Horns and he was on fire. The Red Raiders went down in order for the first 3 innings. That included 5 strikeouts. Adrian struck out the side in the 2nd. The Red Raiders finally reached on a bloop single in the 4th but the runner was erased on a double play. They went down in order in the 6th and 9th as well. The only run they scored was a solo home run by Roger Kieschnick in the 7th. Hunter Harris relieved Adrian in the 8th. Hunter gave up a double and a walk to start things off. After a quick visit to the mound by Skip Johnson, things turned around drastically and Hunter struck out the next three batters (all looking!) to end the threat. A very nice relief appearance.

Offensively, the Horns scored early. They had a wee bit of help from an extremely stiff wind from lf to rf that played havoc with the Texas Tech fielders. I was a bit surprised that the Tech fielders struggled with the wind so much more than the Longhorns. I mean, they deal with big wind in Lubbock all the time, right? Perhaps it's more of a prevailing wind than a cross-wind though. Shrug. Josh Scofield started for the Red Raiders, lasted only one-third of an inning, and gave up 5 runs (1 unearned). Jordan Danks started off by hitting a triple to lf. I think it looked like a pretty routine fly ball to the left fielder. But, the wind blew it down and it bounced and rolled all the way to the wall. Kyle Russell then singled to score Jordan. Chance Wheeless (1-0 count) hit a whale of a home run over the rf fence. It was one of those balls that was hit sooooo hiiiiiigh that I didn't think it would actually make it out of the park. But it did. Texas up 3-0 with no outs. Bradley Suttle then singled to lf. Preston Clark reached on an error by cf. A wind-aided error. Nick Peoples advanced the runners with a sac bunt down the 3b line. Russell Moldenhauer singled up the middle to score Bradley and Preston. And, that was the end of Scofield's outing on the mound. Paul Gonzalez went to the mound and the Red Raiders kept the Horns scoreless until the 5th when they scored 3 more (1 unearned). Chance started things off by walking and then stealing 2b. After Bradley flew out, Preston doubled down the lf line to score Chance. Nick then reached on an error by 2b. Russell singled to rf, scoring Preston, and putting runners at the corners. So, Collin Auten went to the mound. He gave up a single to lf, scoring Nick. Michael Demperio, who got the start at ss, grounded out to the pitcher and Jordan grounded out to 1b to end the inning. After that solo shot by Kieschnick in the top of the 7th, the Horns went back to work in the bottom of the inning, scoring 2 earned runs. Travis Tucker reached on a 1-out walk. Michael struck out and Jordan Danks hit a double to the lf/cf gap to score Travis. Kyle singled to rf to score Jordan.

All-in-all, a very nice offensive game by the Horns. Jordan Danks went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, a run batted in and 2 runs scored. Kyle Russell went 2-for-4 with a walk, 2 runs batted in, and 1 run scored. Chance Wheeless went 2-for-3 with a home run, 2 walks, 2 runs batted in, and 2 runs scored. Bradley Suttle went 1-for-5 with 1 hit and 1 run scored. Preston Clark went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, 1 run batted in, and 2 runs scored. Nick Peoples went 0-for-3 with a sac bunt, and a run scored (he reached on an error to be in position to score that run). Russell Moldenhauer went 2-for-5 with 2 runs batted in. Travis Tucker went 1-for-3 with a walk, 1 run batted in, and 1 run scored. And, Michael Demperio went 1-for-4 with a double.

Horns win 10-1. Horns win the series. Here's hoping the Horns complete the sweep today!

Posted by Joanna at 9:39 AM