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Wednesday - May 21, 2008

Game 54: Texas at Missouri (Big 12 Tournament)

I was driving to work this morning listening to a CD when I decided to tune into 1300 to see what Bob and Bucky were talking about this morning. And, they seemed to be talking to Craig Way. And, then I realized that Craig seemed to be broadcasting a game. Hmmmm...I wondered...are they replaying a game? What a bizarre thing to be doing. And, then I realized it was the Big 12 tournament! 9 o'clock on Wednesday already? Wow. How did that happen? Sigh...sometimes, it's hard being me.

Needless to say, no full report today. I'm at work. But, I can listen to the game while I set up a new computer for one of the labs. And, jot down a note or two as things go along. My mother called to say that the game is being streamed by cstv.com but I didn't go looking for it. It'll be too late for you by the time I post this but you might try looking for the next couple of games if you're interested. And, I don't know if it's free or not. KVET did announce that they'd be streaming their broadcast of all the Texas games for free.

Chance Ruffin on the mound for Texas; Rick Zagone on the mound for the Tigers. Line-up for the Horns: Michael Torres (dh), Travis Tucker (2b), Jordan Danks (cf), Preston Clark (3b), Kyle Russell (rf), Russell Moldenhauer (lf), Brandon Belt (1b), Cameron Rupp (c), and David Hernandez (ss). Look familiar? Yep.

Texas (visitor) scored first in the 2nd. Kyle Russell reached on a 1-out double to the lf/cf gap, moved to 3b on a single by Russell Moldenhauer, and then scored on a ground out by Brandon Belt.

In the 5th, Russell Moldenhauer reached on a walk and moved to 2b on a sac bunt by Brandon Belt. Cameron Rupp singled to put runners at the corners. David Hernandez reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Russell. Horns up 2-0. Yes.

Hmmmm...I left my office for about 30 minutes and came back to find things tied 2-2. Damn. Missouri scored 2 in the bottom of the 6th to tie things up (with 2 out, Seene singled and Priday hit a 2-run homer). The Horns went down in order in the top of the 7th. The first batter (Gray) of the 7th reached on a walk prompting a pitching change by the Horns. Cole Green went in for Chance Ruffin. Thigpen moved Gray to 2b on a sac bunt and then Gray advanced to 3b on a wild pitch. Yikes. Mach then grounded out on a slow-roller down the 1b line. No way for Gray to score. Folgia then struck out looking. Whew. Game still tied 2-2.

In the top of the 8th, David Hernandez reached on an error by ss. Keith felt the first baseman could've made more of an effort to catch the high throw...he might not have made the out but would've kept the runner at 1b. After failing to get a bunt down, Michael Torres hit a fly ball to cf. David tagged and moved to 3b on the play. Again, Keith criticized the Missouri fielder. He felt if the fielder had positioned himself correctly, he might've had a chance to throw David out at 3b. Missouri changed pitchers...sending Gibson to the mound. Travis Tucker, sadly, popped out to 3b. Jordan Danks fell behind 0-2, worked the count full, and then struck out swinging. Shucks. Game still tied 2-2.

GameTracker, by the way, froze for more than an inning two or three times. Very frustrating for those of us that had to be in and out. Sigh...

In the bottom of the 8th, Senne reached (I didn't hear how - update: GameTracker unfroze and it appears Senne singled to cf) with one out. Priday then walked to put runners at 1b and 2b with 1 out. Coleman struck out swinging. 2 out. Schmidt grounded out to 2b. Whew. Game still tied 2-2.

Sadly, the Horns went down in order in the top of the 9th. In the bottom, Thigpen reached on a 1-out single. Fischer went in to pinch run for Thigpen. Mach flew out to cf. Nice play by Jordan Danks. Fischer managed to steal 2b with Folgia at the plate. Runner at 2b with 2 out. Folgia went down swinging, however. Yes!

And, we go to extra innings. On the one hand, nobody's happy to be playing baseball at 9 in the morning. On the other hand, who knows when that 4th game of the day, scheduled to start at 7:30, will actually get started now that the first game is going into extra innings. That always seems to be happening at the Big 12 tournament. It's hard to get 4 games in. They did schedule more time for each game this year. In years past, they only scheduled 3 hours per game. This year, they've added an extra 30 minutes. We'll see how things are going come 7:30 tonight.

In the top of the 10th, Brandon Belt led things off with his first hit of the game. Cameron Rupp failed to get the bunt down and then went down swinging. David Hernandez singled through the left side, moving Brandon to 2b. Michael Torres flew out to shallow lf. And, Travis Tucker flew out to cf. Sigh.

In the bottom of the 10th, Lollis singled past Preston Clark (who was inching in, thinking Lollis might try to bunt his way aboard) into lf. Senne flew out to rf. Kyle Russell almost lost the ball but managed to make the catch. Priday singled to rf, moving Senne to 3b. Runners at the corners, 1 out. Deep breath. Skip Johnson made a trip to the mound. With not much going on in the bullpen, he left Cole on the mound. Craig did comment that Austin Wood had been warming up earlier and might be ready to go in. Sadly, Coleman singled to rf, scoring Lollis. Horns lose 2-3. Damn.

Posted by Joanna at 11:51 AM