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Monday - March 31, 2008

Game 26: Nebraska at Texas

Night and day. That's the difference between the Friday and Sunday games between Nebraska and Texas. Nebraska won the Friday game in spectacular fashion. Texas turned the tables on the Huskers on Sunday, winning 12-3. It was awfully sweet.

The highlight of the game pretty much has to be Kevin Keyes' MONSTER shot in the 8th. That was something else. Wow. That was the first one of the 2008 season. Preston Clark and Kyle Russell hit MONSTER shots last year; Preston hit his on February 23rd against Washington State and Kyle hit his on March 30th against OU.

Riley Boening got the start and the win for the Horns. He went 6.1 innings and gave up the 3 runs (all earned) on 3 hits (single, double, homerun) with 2 strikeouts and 3 walks. Cole Green pitched the final 2.2 innings for his first save of the year. He gave up 3 singles, struck out 2, hit a batter, and committed an error.

The line:

																			R	H	E
Nebraska			1	0	0			0	0	0			2	0	0		-		3	6	4
Texas			3	0	3			0	0	0			2	4	x		-		12	14	1

The Horns made another couple of changes to the defensive set-up: Russell Moldenhauer, Jordan Danks, and Kyle Russell started in the outfield; Tant Shepherd, David Hernandez, Travis Tucker, and Brandon Belt started around the infield; Preston Clark started behind the plate; and Michael Torres was in the line-up at dh.

Here's how things played out:

• 1st inning
• Nebraska - Belfonte walked (full count). Mort hit a sac bunt to move Belfonte to 2b. Opitz grunded out to 1b, moving Belfonte to 3b. Brandon Belt bobbled the ball a bit, making us all nervous but he recovered in plenty of time. Abeita walked, putting runners at the corners. Corriston singled to lf, driving in a run. Neer struck out swinging.
• Texas - Michael Torres led things off with a single to rf and moved to 2b when Travis Tucker was hit by a pitch. Michael was in the process of stealing 2b when Travis was hit by the pitch and he slid into 2b...all for naught. Heh. Jordan Danks hit a bunt toward 3b. The pitcher fielded and tried to throw Michael (lead runner) out at 3b. He was way too late (should've just gone for the out at 1b) and threw off-line. The ball went all the way to the wall and about half-way down the lf line. Michael and Travis both scored. Jordan, running hard in order to beat the bunt, wisely stayed at 1b rather than risk being thrown out at 2b. Brandon Belt singled up the middle, moving Jordan to 3b. Russell Moldenhauer hit into a double play 6-unassisted-3 (ss fielded the ball, stepped on 2b, and threw the batter out at 1b). Jordan scored on the play. Preston Clark walked. Kyle Russell singled to rf, moving Preston to 2b. Very entertainingly, he made a "Thank God!" gesture to the sky as he stood on the bag. We all saw it and we all did likewise! It was great. Tant Shepherd reached on an error by 3b. On the play, Preston (running from 2b) held up just enough to let the high bouncer pass in front of him. He didn't interfere with the fielder but probably did mess with his timing. The third baseman booted the ball. Everyone safe, bases loaded, two out. David Hernandez (9th batter of the inning), grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
• Texas up 3-1
• 2nd inning
• Nebraska - Nimmo flew out to rf. Johnston grounded out to ss. Kline walked. Belfonte grounded out to 2b.
• Texas - Michael Torres flew out to cf. Long run and nice catch by Nimmo in cf. Travis Tucker grounded out to ss. Jordan Danks walked. Brandon Belt grounded out to ss.
• Texas up 3-1
• 3rd inning
• Nebraska - 3-up/3-down: fly out to cf, fly out to cf, ground out to ss.
• Texas - Russell Moldenhauer singled up the middle. Preston Clark popped out to ss. Kyle Russell singled to cf, putting runners at 1b and 2b. Tant Shepherd reached on an error by ss (booted the ball) to load the bases. David Hernandez doubled to rf, scoring 2 and leaving runners at 2b and 3b. Michael Torres hit a sac fly to lf, scoring Tant. On the play, David tried to tag and move to 3b but the first baseman cut off the throw home and threw to 3b, catching David by a mile for a very unusual double play.
• Texas up 6-1
• 4th inning
• Nebraska - 3-up/3-down: fly out to cf, ground out to 2b, fly out to cf. 6 pitches. Very nice.
• Texas - Travis Tucker grounded out to ss. Jordan Danks walked. Brandon Belt reached on an error by lf (fielder dropped the ball), putting runners at 1b and 2b. Russell Moldenhauer grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
• Texas up 6-1
• 5th inning
• Nebraska - 3-up/3-down: ground out to ss, ground out to 3b, ground out to 2b.
• Texas - Preston Clark struck out. Kyle Russell flew out to cf. Tant Shepherd struck out. The only 3-up/3-down inning by the Texas offense.
• Texas up 6-1
• 6th inning
• Nebraska - 3-up/3-down (4th in a row!): strikeout looking (at all three pitches), ground out to 2b, pop out to 1b (foul).
• Texas - David Hernandez singled through the left side (right under the shortstop's glove). Michael Torres flew out to lf. Travis Tucker flew out to cf (another very nice play by Nimmo). Jordan Danks struck out.
• Texas up 6-1
• 7th inning
• Nebraska - Corriston doubled down the lf line. Neer hit a 2-run homer over the lf fence...bringing the Huskers within 3. Nimmo grounded out to the pitcher. Texas sent Cole Green to the mound. Which prompted Nebraska to send in a pinch hitter...who was promptly hit by a pitch. Kline grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Whew.
• Texas - Nebraska sent Herr to the mound. Brandon Belt flew out to rf. Kevin Keyes (pinch-hitting against the lefty for Russell Moldenhauer) singled through the left side. Preston Clark hit a 2-run homer of his own to put the Horns back up by 5. Kyle Russell singled through the right side (3rd hit of the day for Kyle). Tant Shepherd flew out to cf. David Hernandez, after fighting off a few pitches, flew out to lf.
• Texas up 8-3
• 8th inning
• Nebraska - Kevin Keyes stayed in the game and went into lf. Belfonte struck out looking. Sowers singled to lf. Opitz singled to rf, moving Belfonte to 2b. Abeita reached on a fielder's choice (5-unassisted). Tant Shepherd fielded a ground ball behind 3b, stepped on the 3b bag to get the lead runner, and tried to get the batter out at 1b to complete the double play. His throw was off-line and Brandon Belt did a nice job to corral the ball and keep runners at 1b and 2b. Corriston stuck out.
• Texas - Nebraska sent Nesseth to the mound. Michael Torres singled to lf. Travis Tucker singled to cf, moving Michael to 2b. Jordan Danks singled to cf, scoring Michael and moving Travis to 3b. Brandon Belt grounded out to 1b (unassisted), scoring Travis and moving Jordan to 2b. Kevin Keyes (staying in against the righty) hit a 2-run MONSTER SHOT over the GREEN MONSTER in cf. It was beautiful. Preston Clark struck out. Kyle Russell grounded out to 1b.
• Texas up 12-3
• 9th inning
• Nebraska - Neer reached on an error. On the play, Cole Green (p) and Brandon Belt (1b) both went for a ground ball hit toward 1b. Cole realized he couldn't field the ball and broke for 1b to cover the bag. Brandon fielded and tossed to Cole as he was arriving at 1b. Cole was trying to find the bag, catch the ball, and avoid the runner. He bobbled and dropped the toss from Brandon. I thought it was a tough play to rule an error. But, maybe the official scorer thought Cole shouldn't have tried to field the ball. If he'd gone straight for the 1b bag, it might have been a clean out. Maybe. Anyway...Nebraska sent Cotton in to pinch run for neer. Nimmo singled through the right side, moving Cotton to 2b. Sullivan reached on a fielder's choice (3-6), putting runners at the corners. Rank (pinch-hitting) grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
• Horns win 12-3!!!

- - - -

By the way, in my game report for Saturday's game, I mentioned that the Horns hadn't been swept in a 3-game series at home since before the Garrido era started. Here's the rest of the story: Texas was last swept in a 3-game home series in 1996. The team that came into town and beat the Horns? Cal State Fullerton. Think about that. Think about who was coaching Cal State Fullerton in 1996. Yep. There's the twist. The Titans' coach in 1996 was none other than Augie Garrido. Where was he coaching come 1997? Uh-huh: Texas. I'm betting Coach Garrido did not have to look back through his media guide to find out the last time the Horns were swept at home in a 3-game series. Heh.

By the way #2: before this past weekend, Texas had lost the first two games of 3-game home series (and were, thus, in danger of being swept at home) on 5 separate occasions since 1996. Three times to Stanford: 1998 (they actually tied the last game but were not swept...just barely), 2001, and 2003. Once to Iowa State in 1998. And, once to OU in 1997. Funny how that had all faded from my memory and I actually had to look it up, eh? I bet it'll all fade away again and I'll have to look it up the next time Texas falls behind 0-2 in a 3-game home series. Well, I don't think I'll forget all of it. I'll probably remember the specifics on who and when the last actual sweep took place. I just won't remember the close calls.

Posted by Joanna at 11:37 PM