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Sunday - March 2, 2008

Game 8: Houston at Texas (Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park)

Texas played home team to Houston in the final game of the Houston College Classic this evening. Frustratingly, they started the game a few minutes early. There's no winning, apparently. Sigh...

The Texas line-up: (1) Travis Tucker at 3b, (2) Michael Torres at 2b, (3) Jordan Danks in cf, (4) Preston Clark at dh, (5) Brandon Belt at 1b, (6) Kyle Russell in rf, (7) Cameron Rupp at c, (8) Kyle Lusson in lf, and (9) David Hernandez back in at ss. Cole Green got the start for the Horns. Keith Moreland and Bill Little on the radio. I went ahead and paid for the MLB.TV thing so I could watch the game. They used the Texas radio team as announcers. I wonder if folks in the Houston area got the Houston radio broadcast (assuming the Cougars broadcast their games)?

At some point in the game, Bill Little announced the field for next year's Houston College Classic: Rice, Houston, Texas A&M, Baylor, USC, and UCLA.

Here's how the game played out:

• 1st inning
• Top: Cole Green on the mound for the Horns. Blake Kelso grounded out to 3b. Travis Tucker made a nice throw across the infield to catch the runner. Jake Stewart grounded out to ss. Ryan Lormand also grounded out to ss.
• Bottom: Taylor Hammack on the mound for Houston. Travis Tucker drew a walk to start things off for the Horns. Michael Torres moved Travis to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt. Travis then moved to 3b on a wild pitch with Jordan Danks at the plate. It looked like the catcher might have had a play but Travis made a nice slide and the third baseman could not hold onto the throw. Jordan singled to rf, sending Travis home. Preston Clark was hit by a pitch, moving Jordan to 2b. Jordan actually broke on the pitch and would've been safe at 2b but the hit batter nullified the stolen base. Coach Noble made a visit to the mound and had a pretty emphatic conversation at (not with) his pitcher. Bill Little commented that the Horns appear to be much more of a team with purpose than they were on Friday and Saturday. Brandon Belt grounded out to 1b (3-1) on a close play. Jordan moved to 3b and Preston to 2b. 2 outs. Kyle Russell was hit by a full-count pitch to load the bases. The Houston pitcher really seemed to be struggling. Cameron Rupp tripled to rf to clear the bases. On the play, the right fielder dove for the ball and missed it. He then had to chase it down. His throw in to 3b was close...Cameron Rupp slid safely in, though. Donnie Joseph went to the mound for the Cougars in response. Kyle Lusson went down swinging to end the inning. Texas up 4-0.
• 2nd inning
• Top: Jimmy Cesario grounded out to the pitcher. Bryan Pounds hit a homerun over the lf fence. Entertainingly, the ball bounced back into the field of play and Pounds slid into 2b before realizing he had a homerun. Heh heh. Matt Murphy flew out to lf. Austin Goolsby grounded out to 3b. Texas up 4-1.
• Bottom: David Hernandez grounded out to the pitcher. Travis Tucker flew out to cf. Michael Torres drew a full-count walk. Joseph threw a couple of pick-off attempts to the first baseman and Keith thought he was very close to balking...by not stepping toward 1b enough...on his throws. Jordan Danks fought off quite a few foul balls before eventually drawing a full-count walk. They showed Michael, with a big grin on his face, giving Jordan a hard time for all the running he had to do on those foul balls...all for naught! Heh heh. The baserunners completed a double steal with Preston Clark at the plate. Alas, Preston went down swinging to end the inning.
• 3rd inning
• Top: Bryan Tully grounded out to ss. Chase Dempsay grounded out to 3b. Blake Kelso ended the uneventful top of the 3rd with another ground out to ss.
• Bottom: Brandon Belt grounded out to 2b. Kyle Russell was called out on strikes (full-count pitch). Cameron Rupp grounded out to 3b.
• 4th inning
• Top: Jake Stewart grounded out to 1b (unassisted). Ryan Lormand flew out to cf after fighting off quite a few pitches. Jimmy Cesario grounded out to 2b for the third 1-2-3 inning in a row.
• Bottom: Kyle Lusson singled past the third baseman to lead things off. He was, alas, picked off (1-3) before a pitch was even thrown to David Hernandez at the plate. Again, Keith complained that the move to 1b could easily be called a balk. David reached base on a 4-pitch walk. Which prompted another visit to the mound by Coach Noble (no pitching change however). Again, before throwing a pitch to Travis Tucker, David was picked off (1-3). Travis reached on another 4-pitch walk. Keith and Bill joked that Travis would not be taking much of a lead at all off of 1b. Travis was almost picked off! The only thing that saved him was that the throw was high. This finally prompted some comments from Tommy Harmon to the umps about the move. The crowd also started booing and calling for a balk to be called. Michael Torres eventually reached on yet-another 4-pitch walk. The Cougars finally broke down and replaced the pitcher, bringing Jimmy Raviele to the mound with Jordan Danks due up next. Jordan flew out to left to end the inning.
• 5th inning
• Top: Bryan Pounds grounds out to 2b. Nice play by Michael to field the ball, turn, and throw in one motion to get the out. Matt Murphy struck out swinging. Austin Goolsby struck out looking.
• Bottom: Preston Clark led things off with a stand-up triple to cf. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, Brandon Belt hit a homerun (2-2 count) over the lf fence! Kyle Russell struck out swinging. Cameron Rupp singled through the right side. Which prompted another pitching change...this time to Chris Wright (first right-handed pitcher of the day for Houston). Kyle Lusson struck out swinging. David Hernandez flew out to lf. Texas up 6-1.
• 6th inning
• Top: Bryan Tully flew out to cf. Chase Dempsay struck out. Blake Kelso grounded out to 2b.
• Bottom: Travis Tucker flew out to rf. Michael Torres reached on a full-count walk and then stole 2b on the first pitch to Jordan Danks. Jordan grounded out to 2b. Michael had to wait on the play to see if the second baseman was going to catch the ball in the air and was looked back to 2b after the ball was fielded so he was unable to advance. Preston Clark flew out down the rf line.
• 7th inning
• Top: Jake Stewart singled through the left side. Ending a 14-out streak for the Texas pitching and defense. Ryan Lormand doubled to the lf corner, moving Stewart to 3b. Which prompted a visit to the mound by Skip Johnson. But no pitching change. Jimmy Cesario popped out to ss. Bryan Pounds walked to load the bases. Matt Murphy struck out swinging. Austin Goolsby singled to lf, scoring one, and keeping the bases loaded. Which prompted another visit by Skip Johnson who called Marcus Tackett to the mound. Great job by Cole to go deep into the 7th! Bryan Tully worked the count full and drew a walk (rbi). Bases still loaded with 2 outs. Chase Dempsay singled through the right side, scoring 2. The ball got away from Kyle in rf (E9) and the Horns ended up catching Tully in a run-down (9-6-5). Texas up 6-5. Four runs given up? Yikes.
• Bottom: Brandon Belt walked on 4 pitches. Which prompted a quick visit to the mound by Coach Noble. Kyle Russell looked kinda bad swinging at two high fast balls but held off on swinging at the third in a row. He then fouled off a couple of pitches before watching a couple of balls to work the count full. He ended up reaching on a 4-6 fielder's choice. Cameron Rupp doubled to cf, driving Kyle home. Russell Moldenhauer was announced as the pinch hitter (for Kyle Lusson). Houston countered by bringing Chase Dempsay in from rf to the mound. Mark Murphy (who'd been batting in the dh spot) moved into rf. Russell stayed in as the batter and worked the count full before flying out to cf. David Hernandez chopped the ball down the 3b line for a single. The third baseman dove, fielded, and saw he had no play at 1b. Cameron Rupp, running from 2b, over-ran 3b and was tagged out pretty easily by the third baseman, who'd held onto the ball rather than throw it away. Sigh. Texas up 7-5.
• 8th inning
• Top: Kevin Keyes went into lf for the Horns. Blake Kelso popped out behind the plate. Travis (3b) called Cameron (c) off the ball and made the play. Nice play. Jake Stewart popped out to 2b in shallow rf. Ryan Lormand grounded out to 3b. The 6th 1-2-3 inning for the Horns' defense.
• Bottom: Travis Tucker struck out. Michael Torres singled up the middle. Jordan Danks struck out swinging. Michael Torres was caught stealing (2-4) with Preston Clark at the plate.
• 9th inning
• Top: Texas sent Kyle Walker to the mound. Jimmy Cesario reached on a full-count walk. Bryan Pounds hit a homerun over the lf fence (his second homerun of the day). Tie game. Damn. Sigh. Matt Murphy struck out. The Horns called Stayton Thomas in to pitch. Austin Goolsby struck out looking. Bryan Tully struck out. Game tied 7-7.
• Bottom: Preston Clark worked the count full and then drew a walk. Connor Rowe went in for Preston as a pinch runner. This was Connor's first action as a Longhorn. Brandon Belt also drew a full-count walk. Kyle Russell squared to bunt but popped the ball up to 3b (in foul territory). Cameron Rupp reached on a 5-4 fielder's choice. Runners at the corners with 2 outs. Kevin Keyes, in his first plate appearance of the day, was called out on strikes (full count). Here come extra innings.
• 10th inning
• Top: Chase Dempsay popped up down the rf line in foul territory. Kyle chased the ball down but dropped it. E9. Dempsay then flew out to rf. Blake Kelso walked (3-1 pitch). Jake Stewart hit into a 1-4-3 double play. The ball went off the pitcher's glove and was fielded by Michael at 2b. He stepped on the bag for the first out before throwing to 1b for the 2nd.
• Bottom: David Hernandez singled to rf. Travis Tucker, who'd rounded to bunt, was hit by a pitch...moving David to 2b. Which prompted a visit to the mound...with the complete infield participating. Michael torres hit a sac bunt (2-4, I think) to advance the runners. Runners at 2b and 3b with one out. Jordan Danks was walked intentionally to bring the double play back into the equation. Connor Rowe, in his first at-bat, watched the first pitch cross low. Coach Garrido called an offensive timeout to chat with Connor. The second pitch was low for another ball. Connor singled the next ball into cf to score David and win the game!

Wow. Texas wins 8-7 in 10 innings. Connor Rowe gets the game winner in his first ever at-bat. Very cool.

Post game comments from Coach Garrido: the team didn't give up and did a lot of things right. There was a lot more hustle to the team which is hard to do after the last two games. He thinks today was a step forward as they get ready to play the games ahead. He's proud of the players for coming out and turning things around.

As a bit of an aside: throughout the game, Keith complained that his glasses were missing. Everyone had been searching for them to no avail. As the 7th inning pitching change ended he happily announced that Bill Little was coming back to the booth with his glasses in hand. Someone in the Texas dugout had found them on the steps in the darkest part of the dugout. Only one problem when they arrived: they weren't Keith's glasses! Heh heh heh. I guess they never did show up.

Posted by Joanna at 9:56 PM