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Sunday - April 27, 2008

Game 44: Texas at Kansas State

Texas went with a new line-up today: (1) 2b Travis Tucker, (2) dh Michael Torres, (3) cf Jordan Danks, (4) 3b Preston Clark, (5) 1b Tant Shepherd, (6) rf Kyle Russell, (7) c Cameron Rupp, (8) lf Kyle Lusson, and (9) ss David Hernandez. Austin Wood started on the mound for the Horns. Lance Hoge started for KSU. Craig Way and Bill Little on the radio.

• 1st inning - Texas
• Travis Tucker reached on catcher's interference (E2).
• Michael Torres tried to bunt Travis to 2b but hit the ball a bit too hard at the pitcher. So, 1-6 fielder's choice (Michael safe at 1b).
• Jordan Danks doubled down the lf line, moving Michael to 3b.
• Preston Clark doubled to rf, scoring Michael and Jordan. It sounded to me more like a single with Preston moving to 2b on the throw home as they tried to catch Jordan but he slid safely, beating the tag.
• Tant Shepherd singled through the right side. Bill commented that the ball went off the first baseman's glove and then the second baseman's glove as they both dove for the ball. Preston scored on the play.
• Kyle Russell singled to cf, moving Tant to 2b.
• Cameron Rupp struck out.
• Kyle Lusson singled up the middle, scoring Tant and moving Kyle to 2b.
• David Hernandez (Texas batted around) struck out looking to end the Texas half of the inning.
• Texas up 4-0.
• 1st inning - KSU
• Cruz popped out to ss in shallow lf.
• Scott singled to rf. A sinking liner that Kyle almost managed to catch. He missed the ball but got up with it quickly enough that the batter held at 1b.
• Tenbrink flew out to lf (in the gap). Nice jump and run by Kyle Lusson to get to the ball.
• Scott stole 2b with Bloxom at the plate.
• Bloxom (switch-hitter) singled to rf, driving in Scott. He advanced to 2b on the throw home. At least it was a throw home this time (rather than a throw to 3b) that allowed the batter to take an extra base.
• King (switch-hitter) grounded out to 3b.
• Texas up 4-1.
• 2nd inning - Texas
• Travis Tucker drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Which prompted a pitching change. Justin Lindsey went to the mound. Lindsey's numbers: 4.50 era, 0-0 record, 10 appearances, 14 innings pitched, 21 hits, 10 runs (7 earned), 7 walks, 12 strikeouts, 3 doubles, 1 homerun, batters hitting .333, 1 wild pitch, 1 hit batter.
• Michael Torres squared to bunt and Travis stole 2b on the first pitch.
• Michael then grounded out to 1b (unassisted) to move Travis to 3b.
• Jordan Danks drew another 4-pitch walk to put runners at the corners.
• Preston Clark tried to get a couple of safety squeeze bunts down but fouled them both off. On the 3rd pitch, Jordan stole 2b.
• Preston went on to ground out to ss, scoring Travis and moving Jordan to 3b.
• Tant Shepherd flew out to cf.
• Texas up 5-1.
• 2nd inning - KSU
• Muenster (switch-hitter!) lined a single into rf.
• Wiley struck out.
• Muenster stole 2b on the 1st pitch to Dellasega.
• Dellasega lined out to lf.
• Jurica struck out swinging after fouling off a thousand pitches. Okay, maybe not. Here's how his at-bat went, though: (1) called strike, (2) ball, (3) ball, (4) swing and miss, (5) foul ball, (6) foul ball, (7) foul ball, (8) foul ball, (8) foul ball, (10) foul ball, (11) foul ball, (12) ball, (13) swing and miss. Geesh!
• Texas up 5-1.
• 3rd inning - Texas
• Kyle Russell drew a full-count walk.
• The pitcher threw to 1b (keeping Kyle close) at least 10 times during Cameron Rupp's at-bat.
• Cameron (as he tried to stay awake amidst all those throws to 1b) fouled off a couple of bunt attempts and was eventually hit by a 2-2 pitch, moving Kyle to 2b.
• Which prompted a 2nd pitching change. Tyler Ruch went in for KSU. His numbers: 11.81 era, 0-0 record, 5 appearances, 5.1 innings pitched, 7 hits, 7 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 1 double, 1 triple, 2 homeruns, batters hitting .333, 1 hit batter.
• Kyle Lusson bunted down the 1b line and the first baseman made a great scoop and throw to get Kyle Russell out at 3b. Runners at 1b and 2b.
• David Hernandez singled through the right side to load the bases.
• Travis Tucker lined out to 2b. The second baseman threw to the ss covering 2b to complete the double play (Kyle Lusson caught off the bag). Wow.
• Texas up 5-1.
• 3rd inning - KSU
• Cruz singled to rf.
• Yelovich went in to run for Cruz and moved to 2b on a balk called against Austin Wood on his first pitch to Scott.
• Scott flew out to lf.
• With Tenbrink at the plate, another balk was called on Austin Wood, moving Yelovich to 3b. Austin and Coach Garrido both asked for clarification from the ump as to why he called the 2nd balk.
• Tenbrink grounded out to 2b, scoring Yelovich.
• Bloxom flew out to cf.
• Texas up 5-2.
• 4th inning - Texas
• Yelovich stayed in the game in cf.
• Michael Torres struck out swinging.
• Jordan Danks singled off the mound and through the middle.
• Preston Clark singled up the middle, moving Jordan to 2b.
• Tant Shepherd reached on a 3-6 fielder's choice, moving Jordan to 3b (Preston out on the play).
• Kyle Russell got ahead 3-0, watched a couple of called strikes, and then popped out to 3b (foul...the wind blew the ball back into the field of play).
• Texas up 5-2.
• 4th inning - KSU
• King reached on an error. The throw from David Hernandez (ss) was a bit high but Tant Shepherd should have caught it (E3).
• King stole 2b (5th pitch to Muenster). The ball was in time but Travis Tucker could not hold on to it.
• Muenster flew out to shallow rf.
• Wiley went down swinging.
• Dellasega singled to lf, driving King home.
• Skip Johnson made a quick trip to the mound to visit with Austin Wood.
• Jurica (13 pitches last time, remember?) flew out to rf (only 3 pitches this time).
• Texas up 5-3.
• 5th inning - Texas
• Chase Bayuk to the mound for KSU. His numbers: 7.53 era, 1-4 record, 13 appearances (6 starts), 1 save, 28.2 innings pitched, 39 hits, 26 runs (24 earned), 16 walks, 23 strikeouts, 6 doubles, 2 homeruns, batters hitting .325, 1 wild pitch, 1 hit batter, 3 balks. Craig said he remembered Bayuk being a crafty left-hander from last year's series.
• Cameron Rupp hit a come-backer to the pitcher, out 1-3 on the play.
• Kyle Lusson flew out to rf.
• David Hernandez popped out to 2b.
• 1-2-3 inning. Damn. Texas up 5-3.
• 5th inning - KSU
• Brandon Belt went to 1b for the Horns. I did not hear Craig or Bill mention the substitution but it was reported on GameWatcher. I will freely admit that I kept tuning Bill Little out because he was going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and (you get the idea) about the Big 12 standings and what was happening in games around the conference. And, it just got to the point that I just wanted to find a way to shut him up!!! I do like Bill Little but when he starts going on about all the minutia ("If they win the next two, and then [blah blah blah] they might end up in 5th but if they lose the next two and [blah blah blah] they'll probably end up in 7th, but if they split the next two and [blah blah blah] they might end up tied with...") my head starts to explode. It's all fine and dandy when he's looking at all the numbers spread out in front of him but it hurts to listen to when you can't actually see any of it and it's just numbers after numbers after possible outcomes after possible outcomes and there's absolutely no way anyone listening on the radio has a prayer of keeping up with it all. Anyway...
• Yelovich grounded out to the pitcher.
• Scott popped out to 2b (in shallow cf).
• Tenbrink popped out to 3b down the line. Great play by Preston Clark to catch the ball over his shoulder. Excellent!
• 1-2-3 inning. Why does this one make me happy...unlike the one in the top of the inning? Heh. Texas up 5-3.
• 6th inning - Texas
• Travis Tucker popped out to ss in shallow lf.
• Michael Torres singled to the gap (Craig did not specify which gap but GameWatcher said left center).
• Jordan Danks hit into a 4-6 fielder's choice.
• Preston Clark walked on 4 pitches.
• Brandon Belt (it became clear at this point that Craig and Bill did not see Brandon go in at 1b in the 5th because they announced him as a pinch hitter) was left at the plate when the Wildcats managed to catch Jordan Danks stealing 3b. That's the 2nd time in his Texas career that Jordan has been caught stealing, both times on field turf. Hmmmm...
• 6th inning - KSU
• Bloxom flew out to lf.
• King went down swinging.
• Muenster grounded out to the pitcher.
• Another 1-2-3 inning! Texas up 5-3.
• 7th inning - Texas
• Brandon Belt doubled to the lf corner.
• So KSU sent Trevor Hurley to the mound. His numbers: 6.35 era, 0-2 record, 18 appearances (no starts), 1 save, 22.2 innings pitched, 21 hits, 18 runs (16 earned), 11 walks, 26 strikeouts, 4 doubles, 3 homeruns, batters hitting .256, 3 wild pitches, 3 hit batters.
• Kyle Russell flew out to rf at the warning track. Brandon tagged up and moved to 3b.
• Russell Moldenhauer (pinch hitting for Cameron Rupp) doubled down the line, driving Brandon home.
• Runey Davis went in to pinch run for Russell.
• Kyle Lusson lined through the right side, rbi. He made it to 2b when the right fielder had trouble with the ball (E9). The run is earned.
• David Hernandez reached on a 1-5 fielder's choice. On the play, Kyle broke with the crack of the bat and was unable to return to 2b.
• Travis Tucker reached on the 2nd catcher's interference of the day (E2). Wow.
• Michael Torres flew out to cf.
• Texas up 7-3.
• 7th inning - KSU
• Surprisingly, Austin Wood still on the mound for the Horns. According to Craig Way, he'd thrown 114 pitches going into the 7th. Kawika Emsley-Pai went into the game at catcher.
• Wiley (who'd already struck out twice) struck out looking. He was not a happy camper. Heh.
• Dellasega walked (first walk of the day for Austin).
• Jurica hit into a 5-4-3 double play!
• Not quite a 1-2-3 inning, but I'll take it. Texas up 7-3.
• 8th inning - Texas
• Jordan walked and was then caught stealing (2-4) on the first pitch to Preston Clark. So, he's now been caught stealing 3 times when trying to steal on field turf. He was successful once today, I should note.
• Preston Clark flew out to rf.
• Brandon Belt lined out to rf.
• Texas up 7-3.
• 8th inning - KSU
• Austin Wood still on the mound with 128 pitches.
• Yelovich grounded out (bunt attempt) to the pitcher.
• Scott fell behind 0-2, worked the count full, and finally drew a walk.
• The Horns then sent Stayton Thomas to the mound. Austin went 7.1 innings, threw 138 pitches, and gave up 3 runs (1 unearned) on 5 singles with 5 strikeouts with 2 walks and 2 balks. Good outing. It looked a little iffy at the start of the game but Austin seemed to be getting stronger a the game went along until he was into the 7th inning.
• [Aside: I had the Mizzou/Aggie game on FSN as I listened to this game. The Aggies jumped out to a 2-run lead and then Mizzou scored one and then tied it up in the 9th. In the bottom of the 9th, with runners at the corners and 1 out, the Aggies did not score. Extra innings for them. If Mizzou has travel restrictions we may end up with another tie in Big 12 play. Weird.]
• Tenbrink flew out to rf right at the fence.
• Bloxom reached on an error by 1b. Brandon Belt could not handle a ball hit to him behind the 1b bag.
• King hit a bloop single to lf. Scott scored (unearned) and Bloxom moved to 3b. Kyle Lusson appeared to hurt his throwing (right) arm as he dove for the ball. He was looked over by the trainers and ended up being replaced by Kevin Keyes.
• Texas also went to the bullpen and called Pat McCrory to the mound.
• Muenster popped out to 2b (behind 1b at the line).
• [In the Aggie game, Mizzou loaded the bases on a hit batter with 2 outs in the 10th but could not capitalize.]
• Texas up 7-4.
• 9th inning - Texas
• KSU sent Daniel Edwards to the mound. His numbers: 3.28 era, 2-3 record, 19 appearances (no starts), 7 saves, 24.2 innings pitched, 16 hits, 10 runs (9 earned), 11 walks, 30 strikeouts, 5 doubles, 2 homeruns, batters hitting .195, 1 wild pitch, 3 hit batters.
• [Kyle Colligan hit a walk-off homerun over the fence in front of the scoreboard to win the game for the Aggies 3-2 (bottom of the 10th).]
• Kyle Russell struck out swinging.
• Kawika Emsley-Pai singled through the left side.
• David Hernandez struck out looking.
• Texas up 7-4.
• 9th inning - KSU
• Wiley (3 strikeouts on the day) and batting .188 drew a 4-pitch walk. Sigh.
• Bunker (pinch-hitting for Dellasega) and batting .192 grounded out to the pitcher. Pat made it interesting by not being able to catch the ball cleanly. He did not give up on the ball and got the out at 1b. Yes. Wiley moved to 2b.
• Jurica reached on a 6-5 fielder's choice!! Great play by David Hernandez and Preston Clark.
• Yelovich was hit by a 1-0 pitch, bringing the tying run to the plate. Sigh... This team sure knows how to go about things the hard way, eh? Yikes.
• Skip Johnson made a visit to the mound when Pat fell behind 3-1 to Scott.
• Pat worked the count full and got Scott to ground out to 3b to end the game. Yes!
• Texas wins 7-4. Whew.

Wow. I'm so glad the team pulled this win off. They made it interesting, though. A little too interesting for my druthers, I have to admit. Deep cleansing sigh...

Coach Garrido's post game (very paraphrased) comments: Austin Wood used his veteran status to maintain control of the game. He competed on every pitch and gave a great effort today. We did let an inning turn around where we didn't get a bunt down. But, we kept at it. It was a must win day and when you've been losing, the "we've got to win" demon" climbs into the picture and makes it a lot harder to keep your focus and win those games.

And, now we look forward to Texas State at home on Tuesday, Baylor in Waco on Friday, and then in Austin on Saturday and Sunday. The Bears beat Texas State last week on Wednesday after losing to the Horns on Tuesday. They lost both games against Nebraska yesterday and are currently up 6-2 as they try to get the third game of the series in before more rain hits Waco. They are playing in the 6th according to GameTracker so maybe they're hoping the rain will hit soon. The Bears are 8-12 in Big 12 play going into today's game. The Bears are scheduled to play UT-Arlington in Arlington on Tuesday and Sam Houston State at home on Wednesday before their series with the Horns starts up on Friday.

Posted by Joanna at 4:45 PM