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Wednesday - April 2, 2008
Game 27: Rice at Texas
[Note: I wrote and published this last night. Apparently, there was a problem of some sort and I just had to re-publish. Sorry it's late. ]
I'm sorry to report that tonight's game was another ugly one. Texas lost 3-7. Five of the runs given up went unearned. The line:
| R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | - | 7 | 7 | 0 | ||||||||
| Texas | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 3 | 7 | 5 | ||||||||
The pitching squads combined for 28 strikeouts, 16 thrown by Texas pitchers at 12 thrown by Rice pitchers. Hard to believe those numbers go with the final results, eh? It was very windy (pretty stiff wind from the north) and fairly cold. It was 68 deg. F at the start of the game and got down to 62 by the end.
Here's how things played out:
- 1st inning
- Rice - (Brandon Workman on the mound for Texas.) Luna reached on an error by lf. He hit a high fly ball to lf. Michael Torres seemed to have difficulty running it down...as though the wind was really tossing it around. And, there was a strong wind blowing in from lf. The ball fell against the heel of his glove and fell to the ground. Luna safe at 2b. Gayhart hit a line drive to lf, over Michael's head. Michael tried to run it down and got his glove on it but he was either playing too shallow or took a bad path to the ball. He dropped this one as well. Luna moved to 3b while Gayhart reached 2b safely. 'Twas a terrible start for Michael and I felt bad for him. Zornes hit a sac fly to cf. Luna scored (unearned) and Gayhart stayed at 2b. Seastrunk flew out to rf. Gayhart tagged up and moved to 3b on the play. Hague struck out looking.
- Texas - (Ojala on the mound for Rice.) Michael Torres grounded out to 2b. Travis Tucker doubled to the lf corner. Jordan Danks popped out to the catcher behind the plate. Brandon Belt lined out to ss.
- Texas down 0-1
- 2nd inning
- Rice - Padron struck out looking. Mozingo grounded out to 2b. Comerota singled (just past a ducking Brandon Workman's head) into cf and stole 2b during DeBiasse's at-bat. DeBiasse struck out.
- Russell Moldenhauer popped up near the mound. The third baseman lost the ball in the wind and it dropped harmlessly to the ground. Which gave Russell a single. Preston Clark was hit by a pitch, moving Russell to 2b. Kyle Russell hit a fly ball to the warning track in lf. The wind killed a homerun-bound ball. The runners tagged up and advanced to 2b and 3b. Tant Shepherd singled to cf, scoring 2. David Hernandez grounded out to the pitcher (bunting for a hit), moving Tant to 2b. Michael Torres singled to rf, scoring Tant. Travis Tucker flew out to lf.
- Texas up 3-1
- 3rd inning
- Rice - Luna singled to cf (another hit that Brandon had to duck in order to save his noggin). Gayhart walked (full count). Zornes struck out. Seastrunk flew out to lf. The crowd rather cruelly gave him a Bronx cheer when Michael caught the ball. Hague doubled to the cf/rf gap, scoring Luna and moving Gayhart to 3b. Texas sent Chance Ruffin to the mound. Padron walked (full count). Mozingo struck out.
- Texas - Jordan Danks struck out looking. Brandon Belt lined out to rf. Russell Moldenhauer singled to rf. Preston Clark grounded out to the pitcher.
- Texas up 3-2
- 4th inning
- Rice - 3-up/3-down: Comerota grounded out to 3b, DeBiasse popped out to 2b, and Luna grounded out to ss.
- Texas - Kyle Russell walked on 10 pitches and moved to 2b on a sac bunt by Tant Shepherd. David Hernandez popped out to 1b (foul). Rice sent Evers to the mound. Kyle stole 3b with Michael Torres at the plate. Michael walked. Travis Tucker grounded into a fielder's choice (6-4).
- Texas up 3-2
- 5th inning
- Rice - 3-up/3-down: Gayhart struck out looking, Zornes struck out looking, and Seastrunk lined out to lf (very nice play by Michael Torres on a long run and last second snag of the ball).
- Texas - Jordan Danks led off with a double to the lf/cf gap. Brandon Belt struck out. Cameron Rupp (pinch-hitting for Russell Moldenhauer against the lefty) struck out. Preston Clark took a couple of balls and was then intentionally walked. Kyle Russell struck out. (3 Ks)
- Texas up 3-2
- 6th inning
- Rice - Hague struck out looking. Padron doubled to the cf/rf gap. Mozingo grounded out to 1b, moving Padron to 3b. Comerota singled to cf (rbi) and was then caught stealing (2-4) with Dodson (pinch-hitting) at the plate.
- Texas - Tant Shepherd struck out looking. David Hernandez struck out. Michael Torres walked and stole 2b with Travis Tucker at the plate. Travis struck out looking. (3 Ks)
- Game tied 3-3
- 7th inning
- Rice - Dodson struck out looking. Luna reached on an error by 3b (Tant booted the ball) and stole 2b with Gayhart at the plate. Gayhart struck out looking. Zornes reached on another error by 3b (Tant fielded and threw very wide of 1b). Luna scored and Zornes made it to 2b. It looked like Tant could've probably tagged Luna out fairly easily but that's not what players are taught to do. You rarely see it either. 99% of the time, you see them field and throw for the force out, rather than risk not making the tag. Seastrunk was intentionally walked. Texas sent Pat McCrory to the mound. The runners advanced to 2b and 3b on a wild pitch (3rd pitch) to Hague. Hague struck out swinging. Preston dropped the pitch so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out. (3 Ks)
- Texas - Jordan Danks, Brandon Belt, and Cameron Rupp all struck out. (3 Ks)
- Texas down 3-4
- 8th inning
- Rice - Padron and Mozingo struck out. Comerota flew out to cf.
- Texas - Preston Clark struck out. Kyle Russell was hit by a pitch. Rice sent Price to the mound. Tant Shepherd lined out to lf. Kyle moved to 2b on a wild pitch with David Hernandez at the plate. David grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.
- Texas down 3-4
- 9th inning
- Rice - Dodson walked. Texas sent Brandon Belt to the mound. This caused Cameron Rupp to go in (from dh) at catcher and moved Preston Clark to 1b. Luna struck out. Gayhart struck out. Zornes reached on an error by 3b. I would've probably scored it a hit and an error. It was a very tough play to make the initial stop and keep the ball in the infield but...whatever. A bad throw put runners at the corners. Seastrunk struck out for the 3rd out. Only not according to the home plate umpire. Everybody else in the park (the Texas players, the Rice players, the coaches, the Rice fans, the Texas fans...everyone) thought the 5th pitch went right down the middle. Cameron stood up to toss the ball to the mound. The Texas players made a move to go to the dugout. The Rice players and Coach Graham did likewise. And, then everyone realized that the home plate umpire did not agree. He gave Seastrunk another pitch. And, Seastrunk hit an astroturf single over Preston Clark's head at 1b. Dodson scored and Zornes moved to 3b. Hague then hit a double down the lf line, scoring both runners. Hague on the night: 3 strikeouts and 2 doubles (3 runs batted in). Padron struck out looking. (3 Ks)
- Texas - Michael Torres flew out to lf. Travis Tucker singled to lf. Jordan Danks walked, moving Travis to 2b. Brandon Belt grounded out to 2b, moving the runners to 2b and 3b. Cameron Rupp struck out (3rd K of the night for him). Game over.
- Texas loses 3-7
See? Ugly.
Posted by Joanna at 7:00 AM