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Friday - February 29, 2008

Game 6: Tennessee at Texas (Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park)

The two UT's had never played each other in baseball before today. The game got a late start (more than an hour late) due to the length of the earlier games (wherein Rice beat OU 7-2 in the early game and Houston beat Texas Tech 5-4 in a very long second game). Texas clearly needed to step up and take care of Big 12 business!

The Tennessee Vols were the visiting team. The Horns were the home team and started with the following line-up: (1) Travis Tucker, 3b; (2) Michael Torres, 2b; (3) Jordan Danks, cf; (4) Kyle Russell, rf; (5) Preston Clark, dh; (6) Brandon Belt, 1b; (7) Russell Moldenhauer, lf; (8) Cameron Rupp, c; and (9) David Hernandez, ss. Austin Wood started on the mound.

In the pre-game interview, Coach Garrido said Preston’s got a bit of sore arm and will be playing as dh for the next week…or possibly a bit longer. The coach also said that he wanted to rotate Russell Moldenhauer, Kevin Keyes, and Preston Clark in the dh slot. In general, he intends to use Kevin in lf against right-handed pitching and Russell in lf against left-handed pitching.

The game went like so:

• 1st inning
• Top: Tennessee started things off quickly as Andy Simunic hit the first pitch he saw to lf for a single. The next batter popped up behind home plate (also swinging at the first pitch). Simunic stole 2b as the count went full to Cody Brown. Brown drew a walk on the next pitch. Yan Gomes hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.
• Bottom: Travis Tucker also reached on the first pitch he saw. Alas, he was hit by that pitch. Michael Torres move Travis to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt. Jordan Danks flew out to cf for the 2nd out of the inning. Kyle Russell doubled to the lf corner to drive Travis home for the first run of the game. Preston Clark struck out swinging to finish the inning. Texas up 1-0.
• 2nd inning
• Top: Jeff Lockwood walked to start off the 2nd inning and was caught stealing (2-4) with Josh Liles at the plate. Keith said Liles must've missed a signal because the hit-and-run was clearly on but Liles did not swing at the pitch. Liles then grounded out to 3b. Danny Lima followed with another ground out to 3b.
• Bottom: Brandon Belt hit a double off the lf fence to start the bottom half of the 2nd inning and then moved to 3b on a wild pitch. Russell Moldenhauer singled up the middle to drive Brandon home. Cameron Rupp hit into a 6-3 double play (ss fielded, stepped on 2b, and threw to 1b). David Hernandez hit a stand-up triple to the cf/rf gap (first pitch). Travis then walked to put runners at the corners. Texas tried a double steal. The catcher threw to 2b but the ss ignored the runner from first and gunned the ball back home to catch David at the plate for the 3rd out of the inning. Texas up 2-0.
• 3rd inning
• Top: Blake Forsythe reached on a full-count walk and moved to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt. Simunic flew out to Michael Torres behind 2b for the 2nd out of the inning. Kentrail Davis singled to cf to drive Forsythe home for the 1st Tennessee run of the game. Brown reached on a throwing error by Travis Tucker at 3b. Davis moved to 2b on the play. Gomes flew out to rf...a long fly ball that Kyle caught at the warning track. Texas up 2-1.
• Bottom: Michael Torres started off the bottom of the 3rd with a pop-up to ss in shallow lf. Jordan Danks singled to rf to get aboard. Kyle Russell struck out and Preston Clark flew out to rf to end the inning.
• 4th inning
• Top: Michael Torres made a great play to knock down a ball headed to 2b and threw Lockwood out for the first out of the 4th. The next batter grounded out to 3b for the 2nd out. And, the final batter hit a "nubber" (so described by Craig) to the pitcher to end the Tennessee half of the 4th.
• Bottom: Brandon Belt reached on a throwing error by the ss (the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag) to start the bottom of the inning. Russell Moldenhauer moved Brandon Belt to 2b with a 1-3 sac bunt. Cameron Rupp flew out to 3b (in foul territory) and David Hernandez grounded out to 3b, leaving Brandon stranded at 2b.
• 5th inning
• Top: Forsythe struck out on 3 pitches. Polk followed that with a fly out to cf. At this point, Craig and Keith started talking about the fact that Austin Wood had settled down. Jinx city. Simunic singled to rf to get aboard. Davis singled to rf, putting runners at the corners. Michael Torres made a nice run to catch a fly to shallow rf to end the threat.
• Bottom: Travis Tucker grounded out to ss to start things off. Michael Tucker grounded out to 1b (unassisted). And, Jordan Danks flew out to lf (at the warning track) to end the 5th.
• 6th inning
• Top: Gomes reached on a fielding error by David Hernandez at ss. Keith thought the play could've easily been ruled a hit as it was a tough play for David to make. Lockwood flew out to rf. Liles hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the top of the 6th.
• Bottom: Kyle Russell struck out swinging. Preston Clark followed that with a stand-up double to the lf corner. Brandon Belt hit a fly ball to rf. Preston tagged and moved to 3b on the play and was stranded at 3b when Russell Moldenhauer popped up to 2b.
• 7th inning
• Top: Austin Wood was still on the mound for the Horns, having thrown 73 pitches going into the 7th. Lima reached on a throwing error by David Hernandez at ss. David's throw sailed over Brandon's head and into the stands. Lima advanced to 2b. Forsythe walked, prompting a pitching change...to Marcus Tackett. P.J. Polk hit a 1-4 sac bunt (Texas second baseman Michael Torres covering 1b) to move the runners to 2b and 3b. The Horns changed pitchers again, this time to Kyle Walker. Keith and Craig expected the Horns to intentionally walk the batter to get to a double-play situation but Kyle pitched away to Simunic. Alas, Simunic reached on a full-count walk. Sadly, Davis walked to drive in the tying run. Brown singled to lf. Russell Moldenhauer's throw (high and over the cut-off man) to Rupp got through allowing an extra run to score. Vols ahead 4-2 with runners at 2b and 3b. And, one out. The next batter hit to 3b, catching the runner from 3b in a run-down. He made it back to 3b. The batter from 2b ended up on the bag as well. Kyle Walker tagged both base-runners. The ump ruled the runner from 2b out and allowed the 3b runner to stay at 3b. Coach Garrido argued that both runners should've been ruled out for a double play. The argument got rather heated and he was ejected from the game. Before the argument started, the batter on the play (Gomes) made his way to 2b. Lockwood grounded out to 2b to end the confusion. Texas down 2-4.
• Bottom: I think Keith said the Tennessee starter (Crnkovich) had thrown about 74 pitches through the 6th. Cameron Rupp hit a ball to the cf/rf alley and stretched it into a triple with the fielders ran into each other. David Hernandez singled through the left side to drive Cameron home. Travis Tucker was hit by a 1-1 pitch to put runners at 1b and 2b. Michael Torres hit a 1-3 sac bunt to advance the runners. Which prompted a pitching change by Tennessee. Joey Rosas took the mound. Kyle Russell hit a liner to 2b who then threw to the shortstop covering 2b for a double play. Texas down 3-4.
• 8th inning
• Top: Liles flew out to cf. Lima grounded out to ss and Forsythe singled to lf. Polk tripled over Kyle Russell's head in rf to drive in a run and move the Vols back up by 2. Simunic struck out looking. Texas down 3-5.
• Bottom: Daniel Beasley went into lf for Polk. Kyle Russell struck out swinging after fighting off a foul ball or two. Preston Clark doubled off the wall in deep cf. Brandon Belt then hit a triple to the cf/rf alley, scoring Preston. Kevin Keyes was announced as a pinch-hitter for Russell Moldenhauer, prompting a pitching change by the Vols. Aaron Everett (right-handed sidearm pitcher) went to the mound. Kevin went down swinging. Cameron Rupp walked to put runners at the corners. David Hernandez grounded out to 3b to end the inning. Texas down 4-5.
• 9th inning
• Top: Kevin Keyes stayed in at lf and Stayton Thomas went to the mound for the Horns. Davis flew out to 3b in foul territory. Brown struck out looking. Gomes reached on a double to the cf/rf gap. Tennessee sent Alan Wright to pinch-run for Gomes at 2b. Lockwood reached on a full-count walk. Shawn Griffin pinch-hit for Liles and grounded out to 2b.
• Bottom: Lockwood moved from dh to the mound for the Vols; Cody Grisham went in at lf (replacing Griffin in the line-up); Beasley moved from lf to rf; and Tanner Moore went in at 1b. I think. Travis Tucker popped out to ss. Michael Torres grounded out to 1b. Jordan Danks flew out to cf. Ending the game. Horns lose 4-5.

The final line:

																			R	H	E
Tennessee			0	0	1			0	0	0			3	1	0		-		5	8	1
Texas			1	1	0			0	0	0			1	1	0		-		4	10	4

Four errors are never a good thing, eh? Alas, the Horns did not pull things out for the Big 12. I do hope all three Big 12 teams (especially the Horns!) turn things around tomorrow. Sigh...

The wireless field mike failed, as often seems to happen when the Horns are on the road, so we could not hear the post-game interview with Coach Garrido.

Keith summed the interview up after he got back to the booth as follows: Coach Garrido loved the way the team battled but was disappointed with the number of extra outs given to the other team. Extra outs always get you into trouble. He said they'll find out how this team responds to adversity since they'll have to come back and play a very good Rice team tomorrow.

By the way, the "2 runners standing on a base rule" reads as follows:

If a runner is in a run down between bases and the following runner occupies the same base the first runner has left, the second runner cannot be put out while occupying said base. If the first runner, however, returns safely to the base last touched and both runners then are occupying the same base, the second runner is out, if touched with the ball and there is no force.

So, if neither runner was tagged off the bag, I guess the ruling in the 7th inning was correct. Of course, Coach Garrido was arguing about something and we don't know what it was. He may have seen something else that would affect the ruling.

UPDATE (Sunday afternoon). I got a note from Paul Talbot (hi, Paul!) with an explanation for what Augie was arguing about. Paul confirmed that, by rule, the runner from 2b (Brown) should've been called out. The 3b ump (Ken Eldridge) wrongly ruled the runner from 3b (Davis) out and sent him to the dug-out. The Texas fielder tagged Davis as he left 3b. That's when Coach Garrido started arguing that it was a double play: Brown out by rule and Davis out for being tagged off the base. During the discussion, the umps decided to bring Davis back out to 3b and sent Brown into the dugout. The only way the umps could justify that action was to say that time had been called before the tag was applied or to say it was the ump's fault...not the baserunner's...so the baserunner should not be penalized. As an aside, as I was typing this up, I was listening to the Texas Tech v. Rice game and guess who was getting grief from the Texas Tech bench? Yep. Ken Eldridge...behind the plate for their game. Sigh...

Posted by Joanna at 11:49 PM