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Saturday - June 2, 2007

Game 60: Brown at Texas (Austin Regional)

Note: I started working on this last night but it got too late and I fell asleep. So, you get the game report today.

Yesterday's game didn't go exactly as expected. Texas jumped to a 1-run lead in the bottom of the 1st when Kyle Russell hit the first pitch he saw off the lf foul pole. Then they fell behind (1-2) in the 4th. The Horns didn't get the ead back until the 6th. Once they got it, though, they kept it and went on to beat Brown 8-2.

James Russell started for Texas. The first two Brown batters he faced reached on the first two pitches he threw! Daniels reached on a throwing error by Chais Fuller at ss. Murphy then reached on a bunt to the pitcher. On the play, he bunted toward the area between the mound and 1b. James fielded the ball but nobody was covering 1b. Chance Wheeless also went for the ball but was too far away to make the play. James made an effort to beat the batter to the bag and almost made it but was a bit late. Runners at 1b and 2b on 2 pitches. Yikes! James then threw three balls to Thomas. After a visit to the mound by Skip Johnson, the next pitch was popped up to 1b in foul territory. Dietz then flew out to rf. And, with Nuzzo at the plate, Murphy was picked off by Brett Lewis to Chance Wheeless. Which reminds me: Preston Clark sprained his knee while jogging on Tuesday and is not on the roster for the Austin Regional. So, Brett Lewis is starting in his place. He's expected to be healthy enough to be back with the team for the Super Regional. Should Texas play in a Super Regional, of course.

In the bottom of the inning (Jeff Dietz on the mound), Jordan Danks flew out to cf (1st pitch). Kyle Russell hit a home run off the lf foul pole (1st pitch, again) to take a 1-run lead. Chance Wheeless then reached on a very pretty bunt single down the 3b line but he was erased when Bradley Suttle hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

In the 2nd, Nuzzo reached on a single to rf. He was then erased on an unusual double play. He broke (hit and run, I suppose) on a ball that was lined hard to cf by Tews. Nick Peoples made a nice play on the ball and then threw Nuzzo out at 1b pretty easily. Papenhause struck out. In the bottom of the inning Russell Moldenhauer grounded out to 2b. Nick Peoples reached on a bunt single down the 3b line and moved to 2b on a single through the left side by Chais Fuller. Brett Lewis then hit into a double play. He hit a hard grounder to 3b. The third baseman fielded, stepped on 3b to get Nick out, and then threw to 1b to get Brett out.

In the 3rd, the first two batters flew out. James hit the third (on a full count). The next lined out to ss. Chais made a great play to back-hand a ball that was headed to lf. Yes. Travis Tucker started off the bottom of the inning by hitting a double down the lf line. At this point I have to say that I like Dell Diamond. But, it's very frustrating that you can't see anything happening down the line on your own side of the diamond. We were sitting on the 3b side and could not see anything happening in the lf corner. Bah. Anyway. Jordan Danks struck out and James Russell reached on a full-count walk. Chance Wheeless reached on a 1-4 fielder's choice. On the play, he bunted the ball toward the mound...a bit toward the 3b side. The pitcher fielded, thought about throwing to 3b but couldn't make the play, so threw to 2b. If he'd gone to 2b right away, Brown probably would've turned a double play. Chance stole 2b a few pitches later (no throw to 2b by the catcher). Bradley Suttle then fought off a bunch of pitches but ended up flying out to cf.

In the top of the 4th, after another couple of quick outs, Nuzzo reached on an infield single to ss. Chais almost made another fantastic play to make the third out but couldn't quite corral the ball. Tews then singled through the left side. Papenhause singled up the middle, scoring Nuzzo and moving Tews to 3b. Shapiro singled to lf scoring Tews. Kelaher then singled to cf. 5th single in a row! Ouch. Nick Peoples fielded the ball and gunned Papenhause down at the plate. Purty. In the bottom of the inning, Russell Moldenhauer grounded out to 2b and Nick Peoples singled to lf. Chais Fuller then popped out to 2b. With Brett Lewis at the plate, Nick tried to steal 2b but was thrown out (2-4).

In the 5th, Joseph Krebs went to the mound for James Russell. Texas down 1-2. Daniels lined out to ss. Murphy reached on an infield single to ss. Thomas and Dietz then struck out. In the bottom of the inning, Brett Lewis grounded out to 2b. Travis Tucker singled through the right side. Jordan Danks reached on a fielder's choice (4-6) and moved to 2b when Kyle Russell was walked on 4 pitches. Chance Wheeless ended the inning by flying out to lf.

Nuzzo started the 6th by hitting a little "nubber" at the plate. Brett Lewis grabbed the ball and threw Nuzzo out at 1b. Tews struck out. Papenhause was hit by a pitch and was then caught stealing with Shapiro at the plate. Bradley Suttle started off the bottom of the inning with a double off the wall in lf. Russell Moldenhauer popped out to 2b. Nick Peoples struck out. And, Chais Fuller hit a homerun just over the fence and onto the berm in lf. Texas up 3-2. Brett Lewis then reached on a bunt down the 3b line. That was the 2nd time in the game that a Texas batter reached on a bunt single after a home run. Heh. Travis Tucker hit a single to lf. Jordan Danks ended the fun by striking out.

In the 7th, pinch-hitter Nyadjroh singled up the middle. Puñal went in to pinch-run for Nyadjroh. Kelaher struck out looking (4 pitches). Daniels struck out swinging (3 pitches). And, Murphy struck out looking (3 pitches). Wow. Puñal stayed in the game and went into rf. In the bottom of the inning, Kyle Russell started things off by popping out to 3b (in foul territory). Chance Wheeless worked the count full and then walked. Bradley Suttle singled through the right side. Runners at the corners. Russell Moldenhauer then doubled to the lf corner, scoring Chance and moving Bradley to 3b. Nick Peoples, sadly, grounded out to 3b. The runners could not advance. Chais Fuller was then walked intentionally. Brett Lewis hit a ball up the middle. Sadly, Nuzzo (ss) fielded the ball right at 2b and stepped on the bag to make the 3rd out.

In the 8th, Thomas struck out looking. The Horns then sent Randy Boone to the mound. He struck Dietz and Nuzzo out. First 1-2-3 inning of the game for the Horns. Wow. Travis Tucker started off the bottom of the inning with a single...his 4th (!) hit of the game in as many chances. I think it was at this point that I couldn't believe that Texas had only scored 4 runs off 14 hits. That changed as the inning wore on, though. After Travis singled, Brown finally replaced their starter and sent Rob Hallberg to the mound. Alas, Hallberg struggled mightily, throwing 9 balls in a row (walking Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell). With the bases loaded, Chance Wheeless doubled to rf, driving home Travis and Jordan. Hallberg then threw 3 more balls. Oh my. The 2nd pitch got past the catcher, scoring Kyle and moving Chance to 3b. Bradley Suttle ended up grounding out to the pitcher, though. Russell Moldenhauer then grounded out to 1b. Chance scored on the play. Nick Peoples then reached on an infield single. Chais Fuller then popped out to 2b. Only, the second baseman dropped the ball. Nick advanced to 3b on the play. Chais stole 2b with Brett Lewis at the plate. There was no thought of throwing to 2b, though, so it might've been defensive indifference. Brett flew out to lf to end the inning. Texas up 8-2.

In the top of the 9th, Randy Boone gave up a couple of singles. He sandwiched them between 3 strikeouts, though, to end the game.

Wow. That's about all I have to say about that game. Wow. Brown put up a lot more of a fight than I was expecting. It'll be interesting to see what happens in today's game between Brown and Wake Forest.

Posted by Joanna at 8:48 AM