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Thursday - May 24, 2007

Game 58: Texas at Texas A&M (Big 12 Tournament)

Texas was the visiting team today as they played Texas A&M at the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City. It rained pretty hard before the game started but things cleared up in time for the game to start on time. The Aggies started Kirkland Rivers on the mound...his 2nd start of the year.

Jordan Danks led things off with a double off the top of the fence. Kyle Russell followed with a ground ball to 2b, moving Jordan to 3b. Chance Wheeless bunted toward the pitcher for the 2nd out of the inning. Jordan was unable to advance on the play. Sadly, Bradley Suttle grounded out to ss to end the top-half of the inning. James Russell started on the mound for the Horns. Sadly, the first batter he faced (Carter) drew a full-count walk. Feltner put down a 2-3 sac bunt (on a 1-2 count!) to move Carter to 2b. Hicks struck out as Carter stole 3b. Stouffer hit a ball to 2b that was bobbled by Travis Tucker. Carter scored and Stouffer was safe at 1b on the error. The Horns turned around and picked Stouffer off (1-3-6-3) for the final out of the inning.

The Horns went down in order in the 2nd. The Aggies returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning. In the top of the 3rd, Nick Peoples started things off with a single to rf. Travis Tucker hit a 3-4 sac bunt to advance Nick to 2b. Jordan Danks singled up the middle to tie the game up at 1. Kyle Russell struck out swinging. Jordan Danks stole 2b on the 3rd pitch to Chance Wheeless. Chance hit a hard ground ball to the first baseman who was unable to field it and the ball rolled into foul territory. Jordan scored on the single to give the Horns a 2-1 lead. Bradley Suttle grounded out to 2b for the 3rd out. In the bottom of the inning, Ruggiano started things off with a single up the middle. Greene singled to lf. Runners at 1b and 2b with no outs. For the second time in the game, the Aggies successfully put down a 2-strike bunt, this time for a single. Bases loaded, no outs. Feltner struck out looking (1-2 count, I think). Whew. James Russell hit the next batter (Hicks) on the knee to put the tying run across. Sigh. Stouffer popped up foul along the 3b line (fielded by Bradley Suttle). And then, sadly, Stinson (Criag, not Josh) hit a grand slam over the lf fence. Ouch. Anders flew out to cf. Horns down 2-6.

Preston Clark and Josh Prince drew walks to lead off the 4th. Keith Moorland was dumbfounded by the fact that the Aggies did not have anyone warming up in the bullpen. Chais Fuller put down a 5-3 sac bunt to advance the runners to 2b and 3b. Nick Peoples hit a sharp ground ball to 3b. Preston broke for home on contact and was thrown out at the plate. So, 2 out, runners at 1b and 2b. Travis Tucker walked to load the bases. Jordan Danks grounded out to 1b to end the scoring threat. Hard to believe the Aggies walked 3 and the Horns failed to capitalize. In the bottom of the inning, the Aggies got one aboard but he was stranded at 2b.

In the 5th, the Horns stranded Chance Wheeless (who walked with 1 out) at first base. With 2 out (and about 30 seconds after Craig Way commented that James Russell seemed to have settled down nicely), James gave up his second home run of the day (a solo shot this time) to Blake Stouffer. Thank you, Craig.

In the 6th, Nick Peoples reached on a 2-out walk but was stranded at 1b. That felt a little familiar. As the Aggies were about to bat in the bottom of the inning, one of the Aggie assistants was thrown out of the game. Craig and Keith were puzzled at what might've caused the ejection since the at-bat hadn't even started for the Aggies. Surprisingly, GameTracker reported that Aggie Assistant Jeremy Talbot was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. The truly interesting thing about that to me is that I've never seen GameTracker even acknowledge an ejection...much less give a reason for one. Interesting. At any rate, Colligan reached on a single (with 1 out) but was erased on a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Jordan Danks started the 7th with a ground out to 1b. Kyle Russell singled to rf. Chance Wheeless singled through the right side. Kyle advanced to 3b. Chance tried to make it to 2b on the throw but it was cut-off and he was caught in a run-down for the first out of the inning. Bradley singled to rf, rbi. And, the Aggies finally sent Kyle Nicholson in to replace Rivers on the mound. Keith Moorland really couldn't believe the Aggies left Rivers in past the 4th but he was getting the job done for them...so they kept him in. Keith just couldn't believe they'd leave someone who usually comes in for short relief in the game for more than 100 pitches. Anyway... Preston Clark grounded out to 3b. Texas down 3-7 going into the bottom of the 7th. Keith Shinaberry went to mound for the Horns (replacing James Russell). Greene was hit by a pitch. Dalton popped up a bunt. Keith and Chance both went for the ball and collided. Keith held onto it and threw to Travis Tucker covering 1b for the double play. At least, I think that's what happened. I was sitting in my office listening to the game when one of the custodians who was vacuuming in the hallway chose that moment to enter my office. I could not get her attention before she came in so the play was drowned out by the sound of the vacuum cleaner. But, based on what Craig and Keith were saying once I could hear things again, I think that must be what happened. Feltner then grounded out to 3b.

The Horns went down in order in the 8th. Pat McCrory replaced Keith Shinaberry on the mound in the bottom half of the inning. He gave up a 2-out single but that was it.

And, so...top of the 9th. Travis Tucker started things off and, sadly, grounded out to ss. Jordan Danks then grounded out to 2b. Not pretty. Kyle Russell was called out on strikes to end the game. Really. Not pretty.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's really hard to beat a team 4 times in the same season. It's even harder to do that over a 6-day period. So, it's not too surprising that the Horns lost the game today. As I reported at the end of the regular season, the Horns would like to win the Big 12 tourney. But, they're keeping their focus on what comes after that. They're trying to manage the pitchers based on how they'd like to have people ready for the Regional next weekend. So, they're being more conservative than they might normally be. I sure hope that strategy works out in the end. It makes me a little nervous, though.

They're next scheduled to play Nebraska at 1 pm on Sunday (the second of four games that day).

Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 10:39 PM