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Saturday - March 21, 2009

Game 19: Texas at Kansas

The start of the game was not on the radio...they were covering the Women's basketball game. Which turned out poorly. Texas trailed much of the game, got within 2 with about 4 minutes left (woo hoo!) and then ended up losing to Mississippi State by 8. Season over. So sad.

At any rate, I "watched" the start of the baseball game on GameTracker while listening to the basketball game. And, then listened to the rest of the game on the radio...once it was joined in progress. By the way, Keith Moreland and Bill Little called the game.

The starting line-ups:

Texas	Kansas
1 Travis Tucker, 2b 2 Michael Torres, 3b 3 Brandon Belt, 1b 4 Russell Moldenhauer, dh 5 Kevin Keyes, rf 6 Preston Clark, c 7 Tant Shepherd, lf 8 Brandon Loy, ss 9 Connor Rowe, cf - Brandon Workman, p	1 David Narodowski, ss 2 Brian Heere, rf 3 Robby Price, 2b 4 Buck Afenir, c 5 Tony Thompson, 3b 6 Jimmy Waters, dh 7 Preston Land, 1b 8 Nick Faunce, lf 9 Jason Brunansky, cf - T. J. Walz, p

Texas went with a new line-up today. David Hernandez did not start. Instead, Brandon Loy moved to ss and Michael Torres went in at 3b. The Jayhawks went with the same line-up they used yesterday.

And, here's how things played out:

• 1st inning, Texas (from GameTracker): Tucker was hit by a 3-0 pitch. Torres advanced him to 2b on a sac bunt to the pitcher. Tucker advanced to 3b on a balk (with Belt at the plate, I guess). Belt struck out swinging. Moldenhauer grounded out to the pitcher. (Initially, GameTracker reported that Belt grounded out to 2b and Moldenhauer struck out. After the K to Moldenhauer, though, it showed Tucker standing on 3b. Weird. I "replayed" the previous plays and got the new story. Weird, I say.)
• 1st inning, Kansas (from GameTracker): Narodowski struck out swinging. Clark apparently dropped the ball and had to complete the out by throwing down to 1b. Heere struck out swinging. Price flew out to lf.
• 2nd inning, Texas (from GameTracker): Keyes flew out to cf. Clark did likewise. Shepherd grounded out to 3b.
• 2nd inning, Kansas (from GameTracker): Afenir doubled to rf. Thompson struck out swinging. Waters drew a full-count walk. Land flew out to ss. And, the radio broadcast joined the baseball game. Just in time to hear Faunce strike out (looking) on 3 pitches.
• 3rd inning, Texas: Loy lined out to lf. Rowe popped out to 2b in foul territory on the right side. Nice play by Price at 2b who had to make a long run. Tucker flew out (described by Keith as a hump-back liner) to lf.
• 3rd inning, Kansas: Brunansky struck out swinging. Narodowski reached on an infield single toward 2b. Workman, Belt, and Tucker all went for the ball and nobody covered the bag. Narodowski moved to 2b on a ball that got away from Clark. It appeared that Clark thought it was a foul ball. GameTracker reported it was scored as a stolen base. Keith seemed to expect it would be scored a wild pitch or passed ball. Heere reached on an infield single to 1b and moved to 2b on an error by 1b. Narodowski scored. Keith said Workman failed to cover 1b on the play and that Belt threw there expecting it to be covered. The ball went into the dugout. Keith did not agree with scoring a single; he felt it should be a 2-base error. Price grounded out to ss, moving Heere to 3b. Afenir lined out to ss. Texas down 0-1.
• 4th inning, Texas: Torres drew a 5-pitch walk. Belt also walked. Moldenhauer bunted down the 3b line, advancing the runners to 2b and 3b. Keyes struck out swinging. Damn. Clark grounded out to 3b. Double damn. The third baseman made it interesting by bobbling the ball and then throwing high. But, the first baseman caught the ball and tagged the bag in time for the out. Runners in scoring position with 1 out...and no hits for the Horns. Sigh. Texas down 0-1.
• 4th inning, Kansas: Thompson flew out to rf. Waters flew out to right center; nice running catch by Keyes. Land singled into lf. This happened, of course, because Bill Little said (as Land went to the plate) that Texas would do well to have a quick 1-2-3 inning. Tsk tsk tsk. Faunce singled into rf, moving Land to 2b. Which prompted a visit to the mound by Skip Johnson (2nd trip of the day, reported Keith). Brunansky popped out to ss in shallow lf. Texas down 0-1.
• 5th inning, Texas: Shepherd flew out to lf at the wall. Keith said the ball was about 3 feet short of leaving the park. Loy singled up the middle. First hit of the day for Texas. Rowe struck out swinging. Tucker grounded out to 2b. Texas down 0-1.
• 5th inning, Kansas: Narodowski grounded out to ss. Heere struck out looking. Heere grounded out to 3b. Nice play by Torres at 3b. Texas down 0-1.
• 6th inning, Texas: Torres flew out to cf. Belt drew a 5-pitch walk. Moldenhauer singled into rf, moving Belt to 3b. Which prompted a visit to the mound. Morgan Mickan went in to pinch-run for Moldenhauer. Keyes, who struck out in the 4th with runners in scoring position, homered (first pitch) to lf!!!!! First lead of the series for Texas. Kansas sent Cameron Selik (rhp) to the mound for Walz. Clark grounded out to 3b. Shepherd popped out to 2b. Texas up 3-1.
• 6th inning, Kansas: Afenir drew a lead-off walk. Grrrrr. Thompson singled to the rf/cf gap and moved to 2b on the throw to 3b as Afenir moved to 3b. Which prompted a pitching change: Taylor Jungmann went to the mound for Workman. Waters singled up the middle, tying the game. Land bunted toward 3b. Torres at 3b fielded and quickly threw to 2b to get the lead runner out. Faunce popped out to 2b. Jungmann fell behind 3-0 to Brunansky and then balked, moving Land to 2b. Brunansky went on to strike out swinging. Game tied 3-3.
• 7th inning, Texas: Loy popped out to 2b. Rowe singled into rf. Tucker tried to check his swing but grounded out to the pitcher, moving Rowe to 2b. Kansas sent Travis Blankenship (lhp) to the mound for Selik. Bill Little expected Texas to counter with a right-handed batter but the Horns left Torres in. Torres worked the count full, fouled off a couple, and then was hit by a pitch. Belt grounded out to 1b. Game tied 3-3.
• 7th inning, Kansas: Narodowski reached on a bunt single. On the play, he bunted the ball up down the 3b line and Torres dove for the ball but was unable to come up with it. Heere moves Narodowski to 2b on a sac bunt to the pitcher. Texas sent Austin Wood to the mound, replacing Jungmann. Price singled into left center, scoring Narodowski. Afenir struck out looking. Thompson flew out to lf. The ball just barely stayed in the park. Whew. Texas down 3-4.
• 8th inning, Texas: Cameron Rupp was announced as the new hitter in the dh spot. Which prompted Kansas to send Brett Bochy (rhp) to the mound for Blankenship. Rupp doubled into right center. Jordan Etier went to 2b to pinch-run for Rupp. Keyes flew out to rf. Etier tagged and moved up to 3b on the play. Kansas sent Colton Murray (rhp) to the mound for Bochy. Clark popped out to 2b. Shepherd grounded out to cf. Texas down 3-4.
• 8th inning, Kansas: Waters grounded out to ss. Land doubled to lf. Shepherd dove for the ball but missed it...thus giving up a double instead of a single. Which prompted a visit to the mound by Skip Johnson (his last "free" visit of the game). Faunce popped out to 1b in foul territory. Brunansky grounded out to 2b. Texas down 3-4.
• 9th inning, Texas: Kansas sent closer Paul Smyth (rhp) to the mound. Loy popped out to ss. Rowe grounded out to ss. Keith commented that it was an outstanding play by Narodowski at ss. Tucker reached on an infield single to 2b. Torres doubled down the lf line, moving Tucker to 3b. Which prompted a visit to the mound. Belt fouled off several pitches, worked the count full, and then flew out to deep lf. Damn. Texas loses 3-4.

You can chalk this one up to not getting needed hits at crucial times in the game, except for the big bomb by Keyes. Going into today's game, Texas had a team ERA of 1.79. Which is fantastic. But, as a team, they're hitting .276. They've got to get more hits. I'm sure hoping that comes around soon.

Jungmann took the loss. Blankenship (who faced only 2 batters...and hit one of them!) got the win for Kansas. 'Gotta love that, doncha? And, Smyth got another save.

Here's the line (from GameTracker):

Posted by Joanna at 4:37 PM