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Friday - March 6, 2009

Game 11: Texas at Stanford

I, of course, did not make the trip out west for today's game against Stanford. I listened to the first inning on the radio as I drove home and then watched the rest of the game over the Internet for about $8. (I do not have access to CBS College TV via my cable system, sadly.) Well, I didn't see all of the 2nd inning but did get to see most of it.

Line-ups:

1 Travis Tucker, 2b 2 Brandon Loy, 3b 3 Brandon Belt, 1b 4 Michael Torres, dh 5 Tant Shepherd, lf 6 Cameron Rupp, c 7 Kevin Keyes, rf 8 David Hernandez, ss 9 Connor Rowe, cf - Chance Ruffin, p

1 Zach Jones, 3b 2 Colin Walsh, 2b 3 Joey August, cf 4 Kellen Killsgaard, rf 5 Jonathan Kaskow, dh 6 Brent Milleville, 1b 7 Toby Gerhart, lf 8 Ben Clowe, c 9 Jake Schlander, ss - Jeffrey Inman, p

Texas started things off very nicely when Tucker led things off by sending the second pitch he saw over the left field wall. Cool. Belt also reached on a double off the wall in right-center field. Shepherd later reached on a walk but he and Belt were stranded onbase when Rupp popped out to 1b in foul territory. Yes...Rupp started behind the plate. Whew. I was very glad to see him playing and not sitting on the bench nursing a sore collar bone.

Chance Ruffin started on the mound for Texas and the Cardinal went 3-up/3-down (fly out to rf, line out to 2b, ground out to ss) in the bottom of the 1st.

Texas scored 3 more in the 2nd. Keyes was hit by a pitch to start things off. Hernandez hit a sac bunt (3-4) to move Keyes to 2b. Rowe walked. He and Keyes advanced to 2b and 3b on a double-steal with Tucker at the plate. Tucker then singled up the middle (2 rbi). He then stole 2b and moved to 3b when the throw from the catcher got through to cf (E2). Loy hit a ground ball to the shortstop who tried to gun Tucker down at home. Alas, the ss rushed his throw and pulled the catcher off the plate. The catcher could not hold onto the throw and Tucker crossed the plate safely. He limped off the field after scoring, though; he seemed to jam his foot a bit as he crossed home plate. Belt singled to rf, moving Loy to 2b. Torres grounded out to 3b, moving Loy to 3b and Belt to 2b. Shepherd grounded into a 5-unassisted fielder's choice (the third baseman tagged Belt running from 2b) to end the top of the 2nd. Texas up 4-0.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Kiilsgaard walked. (There went the perfect game. Heh.) Kaskow struck out looking on 3 pitches. And, Milleville hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

And, now that I've caught up, on to the rest of the game...in list fashion:

• 3rd inning, Texas
• Rupp grounded out to ss.
• Keyes reached on catcher's interference (the Stanford catcher reached forward to catch the pitch and got his glove between the bat and ball as Keyes swung at the pitch).
• Hernandez flew out to rf.
• Rowe struck out looking.
• Texas up 4-0.
• 3rd inning, Stanford
• Gerhart grounded out to ss.
• Clowe popped out to rf.
• Schlander walked.
• Jones grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• Texas up 4-0.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Tucker singled past a diving third baseman into lf.
• Loy reached on a 1-6 fielder's choice (sadly, a failed sac bunt).
• Belt singled through the right side, moving Loy (who was off with the pitch) to 3b.
• Which prompted a visit to the mound...with the entire infield. Augie Garrido took advantage to meet with his players as well.
• Torres reached on an error by the first baseman who took his eye off the ball (rolling on the ground 10 feet or so in front of the bag) to check on Torres' progress down the line and then missed picking up the ball as it glanced off the edge of his glove. Loy scored and Belt moved to 2b.
• Shepherd walked (4 pitches, I think...but am not sure) to load the bases.
• Rupp struck out (0-2 pitch, I think). He tried to hold up his swing but the home plate umpire said he went too far.
• Keyes popped out to ss.
• Texas up 5-0.
• 4th inning, Stanford
• Texas sent Jordan Etier to 2b for Travis Tucker. I noticed that Tucker stayed in the game after he scored in the 2nd (and appeared to jam his ankle) but maybe it started to bother him and they decided to give him a rest...with the 5-run lead and all. UPDATE. A quick note about this substitution. The folks on TV didn't notice the change. Nor did the official scorer. It is not listed in the game account on the Texas site or the Stanford site. The only reason I know was because I was listening to the radio intermittently during the game. I didn't listen the whole time because the radio broadcast was about 30 seconds ahead of the Internet feed. But, I did happen to be listening at this point (I'd gone to the kitchen to find a snack since I hadn't eaten any dinner) and Keith Moreland announced the change.
• Walsh grounded out to 1b.
• August flew out to rf.
• Kiilsgaard lined out to lf. Shepherd made a nice jump on the ball and caught it at a full run (toward the lf/cf gap).
• Texas up 5-0.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Hernandez grounded out to 3b.
• Rowe struck out.
• Etier lined a pitch just past 3b into lf for a single. First plate appearance and hit for the freshman! Hook 'em! They did show Tucker in the dugout with ice on his ankle when Etier went to the plate. Hopefully, they're just being careful and he'll be back on the field this weekend. I'm not counting on that, though.
• With Loy at the plate, Etier was thrown out (3-4) trying to steal 2b. A perfect throw that just beat Etier to the bag.
• Texas up 5-0.
• 5th inning, Stanford
• Kaskow flew out to lf.
• Milleville struck out swinging.
• Gerhart reached on a 5-pitch walk.
• Clowe singled to cf, moving Gerhart to 2b. (And, there goes the no-hitter. Heh.)
• Schlander singled into rf, scoring Gerhart. (Bye-bye shut-out. Heh.) Clowe had to hold up at 2b since Keyes got the ball back to the infield quickly.
• Skip Johnson made a trip to the mound and had a visit with the entire infield.
• Jones struck out to end the threat.
• Texas up 5-1.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Alex Pracher replaced Inman on the mound.
• Loy popped out to ss.
• Belt worked the count full, fouled off a couple of pitches, and then walked.
• Torres popped out to the catcher (foul).
• Shepherd hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice.
• Texas up 5-1.
• 6th inning, Stanford
• Walsh grounded out to the pitcher. The ball went off the heal of Ruffin's glove and he made a nice play to go back for the ball and get the throw in to 1b in time. Nice effort.
• August singled into cf.
• With Kiilsgaard at the plate, Ruffin made a pick-off throw to 1b. It ricocheted off Belt's glove and headed toward the rf fence. August made it all the way to 3b on the error (E3).
• Kiilsgaard grounded out to 1b, scoring August (unearned).
• Kaskow walked on 4 pitches.
• With a 1-1 count to Milleville, Skip Johnson made another trip to the mound.
• Milleville worked the count full, fouled off a pitch, and was then struck out looking.
• Texas up 5-2.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Rupp singled through the left side.
• With the count 2-0 to Keyes, Stanford sent Carey Schwartz to the mound, replacing Pracher.
• Keyes hit a sac bunt (3-4) to move Rupp to 2b.
• Hernandez reached on an infield single to 3b. Rupp had to hold up at 2b.
• Russell Moldenhauer (pinch-hitting for Rowe) reached on a 5-pitch walk to load the bases.
• Tim Maitland went in to pinch run for Moldenhauer.
• Etier hit into a 5-4-3 double play. So sad.
• Texas up 5-2.
• 7th inning, Stanford
• Maitland stayed in the game in cf for Texas.
• Gerhart struck out looking.
• Clowe flew out to rf.
• Schlander popped out to the catcher in front of the Stanford dugout (which is on the 1b side of the infield). Rupp made a very nice sliding catch. Purty.
• Texas up 5-2.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Loy fouled off several pitches before he finally struck out swinging.
• Belt grounded out to 1b (3-1).
• Torres singled up the middle.
• Shepherd struck out swinging.
• Texas up 5-2.
• 8th inning, Stanford
• Jones flew out to rf.
• Walsh grounded out to 2b.
• August flew out to cf.
• I wasn't counting pitches but that was a very quick inning. It felt like only 3 or 4 pitches.
• Texas up 5-2.
• 9th inning, Texas
• Rupp singled through the right side to lead things off.
• Augie took an offensive time-out to chat with Keyes before he went to the plate.
• When Keyes got to the plate, Stanford gathered with their coach for a visit on the mound.
• Keyes lined a 3-0 pitch into lf, moving Rupp to 2b. That's the second time this season I remember Keyes swinging away on a 3-0 pitch and getting a hit.
• Stanford sent Chris Reed in to the mound, replacing Schwartz.
• Hernandez struck out looking after fouling off a couple of pitches.
• Kyle Lusson (pinch hitting for Maitland...who did not make a plate appearance) doubled to the lf/cf gap. Rupp scored and Keyes moved to 3b.
• With a 1-0 count to Etier, Stanford sent Kyle Thompson to the mound, replacing Reed.
• Etier reached on a fielder's choice. On the play, the ball went to the shortstop and Keyes was caught in a run-down. Actually, not that much of a run-down: the out went 6-2 when the catcher tagged him out. However, Keyes kept the shortstop and catcher occupied for long enough that Lusson scooted up to 3b and Etier made it to 2b.
• Loy flew out to cf.
• Texas up 6-2.
• 9th inning, Stanford
• Chance Ruffin stayed on the mound for the Horns, hoping to throw a complete game.
• Kiilsgaard grounded out to ss.
• Kaskow singled through the right side.
• David Giuliani went in to pinch-run for Kaskow.
• Christian Griffiths (pinch-hitting for Milleville) worked the count full and then struck out swinging.
• Gerhart struck out swinging.
• Complete game for Ruffin!!
• Texas wins 6-2.

Texas goes to 11-0 on the season. Talk about purty.

Here's the line (from GameTracker):

One last note: at one point during the broadcast they announced that they (CBS College Sports) will be broadcasting one of the Nebraska games. I didn't pay attention to which game and it's hasn't been posted to the TexasSports.com page yet. I'm sure it'll show up soon. UPDATE: I got an email message telling me it'll be the April 9 (Thursday) game. Thanks for the note, Ruy.

Posted by Joanna at 10:55 PM