« Game 42: Texas at Kansas State | Main | Game 44: Texas at Kansas State »

Saturday - April 26, 2008

Game 43: Texas at Kansas State

As usual for "away" games, this report is based on the radio broadcast. The Horns started with the same line-up as last night and Cole Green on the mound. And, went down in order to start the game. The Wildcats returned the favor.

In the 2nd, Russell Moldenhauer surprised KSU and reached on a 1-out bunt down the 3b line. Alas, Preston Clark and Cameron Rupp struck out to leave him stranded at 1b.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Bloxom reached on a single and was then erased on a fielder's choice (King aboard). Wiley singled through the right side, moving King to 2b. Muenster singled up the middle, scoring King and moving Wiley to 2b. After a quick visit to the mound by Skip Johnson, Vaughn singled off Cole Green's leg (ouch!) to load the bases. Cole elected to stay in the game. Jurica flew out to cf (sac), scoring Wiley. Muenster also tagged up and moved to 3b. Cruz grounded out to 3b to end the inning. Texas down 0-2.

In the 3rd, David Hernandez was hit by a 1-2 pitch and moved to 2b on a sac bunt by Travis Tucker. Michael Torres singled to lf. On the play, the KSU left fielder had trouble getting hold of the ball but David slipped a bit rounding 3b so went back to 3b. Runners at the corners with 1 out. Jordan Danks fouled off a few pitches, worked the count full, and ended up reaching on a 3-6 fielder's choice. David scored on the play. Which prompted a visit to the mound. Kyle Russell singled through the left side, moving Jordan to 2b. Brandon Belt flew out to cf. Texas down 1-2.

In the bottom of the 3rd, the Wildcats went down in order: ground out to 3b, fly out to cf, and strikeout. Nice.

In the 4th, Russell Moldenhauer started things off by flying out to cf (right at the wall). Preston Clark flew out to lf. Cameron Rupp doubled down the rf line. Craig Way and Bill Little had a good chuckle about Cameron sliding into 2b in a bit of an ungainly manner...speculating that the field turf messed him up a bit. David Hernandez flew out to cf, stranding Cameron.

In the bottom, King started things off with a fly out to lf. Wiley grounded out to 1b, unassisted. Muenster reached on an error by David Hernandez at ss. David tried to rush his throw and it went high, pulling Brandon off the bag. Muenster stole 2b (delayed steal) on the 2nd pitch to Vaughn. The throw was in time but Muenster managed to knock it loose as he slid into the bag. Vaughn walked. The runners advanced on a wild pitch but were stranded when Jurica flew out to lf. Whew.

In the 5th, Travis Tucker led off with a ground out to 2b. Michael Torres singled into cf. Jordan Danks was robbed by the ss who snagged a ball headed to ss. Great play as the ss then gunned the ball to 1b to catch Michael Torres off the bag. The ball was hit so hard that Michael had no chance to get back to 1b. Very good play as described by Craig Way.

In the bottom of the inning, Cruz flew out to cf at the wall. Scott walked. Tenbrink singled through the right side, moving Scott to 2b. Bloxom then walked on 4 pitches to load the bases. Which prompted a pitching change. In went Stayton Thomas. King hit the first pitch he saw from Stayton into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning!!

Kyle Russell started the 6th off with a full-count pop out to 3b in foul territory. Brandon Belt reached on a walk (full count). Russell Moldenhauer flew out to cf. And, Preston Clark popped out to 1b (foul).

In the bottom, Wiley grounded out off the pitcher (1-6-3). Muenster flew out to lf. Vaughn walked (he also walked in his previous plate appearance in the 4th) and then moved to 2b on a wild pitch. Sigh. Jurica grounded out to the pitcher, though, to end the inning.

In the 7th, Cameron Rupp started things off with a single up the middle and was moved to 2b on a sac bunt by David Hernandez down the 1b line (out by pitcher, unassisted). Travis Tucker grounded out to ss, moving Cameron to 3b. Which prompted a visit to the mound. Michael Torres then flew out to lf. Damn.

In the bottom of the 7th, Stayton Thomas fell behind 3-1, worked the count full, and then gave up a single to Cruz. The Wildcats sent Yelovich in to pinch run for Cruz. Yelovich then moved to 2b on a balk. On the play, Stayton stepped off to throw to 1b but Brandon Belt had charged toward home to cover the bunt. Stayton had nobody to throw to so the balk was called. Scott hit a sac bunt (1-4) down the 3b line, moving Yelovich to 3b. Texas then intentionally walked (sigh) Tenbrink...who went on to steal 2b on the 5th pitch (to take the count full) to Bloxom. Bloxom hit a ground ball to 3b. Preston Clark fielded and threw home to get the lead runner out. Mysteriously, the runner from 2b did not advance. King walked (full count) to load the bases. Enter the first part of the Texas three-step: Brandon Belt goes to the mound, Preston Clark moves to 1b, Pat McCrory goes in at 3b (taking the dh out of the game). Wiley singled to cf, scoring Tenbrink (remember that intentional walk?) and Bloxom. The throw went to 3b, allowing Wiley to reach 2b. (Can someone explain this to me, please? The Horns keep trying to throw runners out at 3b, not getting the out, and letting batters reach 2b on singles. I'm so confused by this behavior.) Enter part two of the Texas three-step: Pat McCrory goes to the mound, Brandon Belt goes back to 1b, and Preston Clark goes back to 3b. Muenster grounded out to 3b. Texas down 1-4. Damn.

In the 8th, it started raining. (By the way, there were some pretty big thunderstorms going through Austin during last night's game and it was kinda disconcerting listening to the thunder and rain outside while the Horns played away on the radio.) Craig and Bill started speculating about how long it would be before the game would go into a rain delay. Jordan Danks grounded out to 2b after working the count full. Kyle Russell flew out to lf at the warning track. Brandon Belt then flew out to the warning track in cf.

In the bottom, Pat struck Vaughn out looking. Craig commented that Kyle Walker was one of the pitchers warming up in the bullpen...which means he's apparently earned his jersey back, eh? Jurica popped out to 2b. Yelovich (who stayed in the game in cf after his stint as a pinch runner) grounded out to 3b.

In the top of the 9th (with Craig and Bill commenting that the rain continued but was too light to stop play), Russell Moldenhauer lined a single into lf. Finally chasing the starter (Hutt) out of the game. He pitched a really good game, going 8+ innings, facing 32, while allowing 1 earned run (to this point) on 7 hits (1 double) with 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 1 hit batter. Edwards replaced him on the mound. And, Runey Davis (also earning his jersey back) went in as a pinch runner for Russell. Preston Clark reached on a 6-unassisted fielder's choice. Cameron Rupp hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. Texas loses 1-4. Sigh...

Augie's post-game comments (very para-phrased): the KSU pitcher really did a great job, had good command of his fast-ball, kept it down, and had a good change-up to keep the left-handed batters off-balance. He does not have a bad feeling about the attitude of the team. The will to win is there...they just have to get out there an do it.

And, with that, I'm outta here...

Posted by Joanna at 4:54 PM