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Tuesday - April 28, 2009

Game 42: Texas State at Texas

Texas beat Texas State 12-2 this evening. Now, that's more like it! 'Twas a good night at Disch-Falk. The Horns looked good. Nice and relaxed. I don't usually declare "Players of the Game" but I feel compelled to give props to Kevin Lusson (who got his 2nd start at 3b) and Stayton Thomas who earned his 2nd win of the year. Kevin went 4-for-4 with 2 doubles, a walk, 5 runs scored, and 2 batted in. He also made a couple of nice plays at 3b. Stayton pitched the middle 5 innings without giving up any runs; he gave up 3 singles, struck out 2, and hit two, while facing 18 batters. Very nice.

Today's starting line-ups:

Texas State	Texas
1 Tyler Sibley, rf 2 Bret Atwood, cf 3 Paul Goldschmidt, 1b 4 Keith Prestridge, dh 5 Spenser Dennis, lf 6 Ben Theriot, c 7 Kyle Livingstoe, 2b 8 Kyle Kubitza, 3b 9 Jason Martinson, ss - Garret Carruth, p	1 Michael Torres, dh 2 Travis Tucker, 2b 3 Brandon Belt, 1b 4 Kevin Keyes, rf 5 Tant Shepherd, lf 6 Kevin Lusson, 3b 7 Brandon Loy, ss 8 Preston Clark, c 9 Connor Rowe, cf - Brandon Workman, p

Texas stayed with the same line-up they used in Sunday's game against Kansas State. With a little change: Torres and Kevin Lusson switched positions; Torres went to dh and Lusson went in at 3b.

• 1st inning, TSTU
• Brandon Workman on the mound.
• Sibley was hit by a pitch.
• Atwood grounded out to the pitcher. Sibley moved to 2b on the hit and run.
• Goldschmidt popped out to ss in shallow lf.
• Prestridge singled to cf, scoring Sibley.
• Dennis grounded out to the pitcher.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 1st inning, UT
• Garret Carruth on the mound.
• Torres flew out to cf. The center fielder made a long run and then a nice over-the-shoulder catch to rob Torres of a double.
• Tucker singled up the middle.
• Belt hit a homerun into the TSTU bullpen in the lf corner.
• Keyes lined out to cf.
• Shepherd struck out swinging.
• Texas up 2-1.
• 2nd inning, TSTU
• Theriot drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Livingstone grounded out to 3b, moving Theriot to 2b.
• Kubitza flew out to cf (at the warning track just in front of the 405 sign in left-center). Theriot tagged up and moved to 3b.
• Martinson worked the count full, fouled off a couple of pitches, and eventually walked, putting runners at the corners. Skip Johnson, by the way, made a trip to the mound after the first pitch (a ball) to Martinson.
• Sibley hit a bloop single over 2b into rf, scoring Theriot and moving Martinson to 2b.
• Atwood grounded out to the pitcher. 3rd ground out to p through the first 11 batters!
• Game tied 2-2.
• 2nd inning, UT
• Kevin Lusson singled through the right side.
• Loy singled through the left side, moving Lusson to 2b. Coach Garrido took a quick offensive timeout after Loy watched two called strikes. Loy hit the next pitch. Nice.
• Clark advanced Lusson to 3b and Loy to 2b on a very nice 5-4 sac bunt. Purty.
• With Rowe at the plate, Lusson scored and Loy moved to 3b on a wild pitch.
• Rowe hit a single into rf, scoring Loy.
• Torres grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
• Texas up 4-2.
• 3rd inning, TSTU
• Texas sent Stayton Thomas to the mound, replacing Workman.
• Goldschmidt was hit by a full-count pitch. Tsk tsk.
• Prestridge grounded into a 4-6-3 double play...on a hit and run! Very nicely turned by Tucker and Torres.
• Dennis flew out to rf. Keyes made a long run to make the difficult play.
• 3rd inning, UT
• Tucker singled off the mound and into cf.
• Belt lined out to cf. Nice diving catch by the center fielder.
• Keyes flew out to cf.
• Shepherd lined out to cf.
• Dang.
• 4th inning, TSTU
• Theriot grounded out to ss. Loy made a fantastic back-handed grab and a long throw to make the out.
• Livingstone was hit by a pitch. First pitch, this time.
• Kubitza singled to lf, moving Livingstone to 2b.
• Martinson struck out looking.
• 4th inning, UT
• Kevin Lusson doubled to right-center (2-0 pitch).
• Insert visit to the mound. Coach Garrido took advantage of the time to visit with Loy and Clark.
• Loy grounded out to ss.
• Clark struck out looking.
• Rowe doubled down the lf line, scoring Lusson. The ball was just barely fair. Last week, with the luck the Horns were having, that ball would've been foul by inches.
• The Bobcats sent Tyler Brundridge to the mound, replacing Carruth.
• Torres grounded out to 2b.
• Texas up 5-2.
• 5th inning, TSTU
• 3-up/3-down: Adwood grounded out to p, Goldschmidt struck out swinging, and Prestridge grounded out to 2b.
• 5th inning, UT
• Also 3-up/3-down: Tucker grounded out to ss, Belt flew out to cf, and Keyes flew out to cf.
• 6th inning, TSTU
• Another 3-up/3-down inning: Dennis grounded out to 2b, Theriot (after fouling off several pitches) also grounded out to 2b, and Livingstone grounded out to 3b.
• 6th inning, UT
• Shepherd struck out swinging.
• Kevin Lusson drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Loy grounded out to 3b, moving Lusson to 2b. Very nice play by the third baseman who fielded behind the bag and had a long throw across the infield.
• Clark drew a 5-pitch walk.
• The Bobcats sent Lance Loftin to the mound, replacing Brundridge.
• Rowe singled to rf, scoring Lusson and moving Clark to 3b.
• Torres drew a 4-pitch walk to load the bases.
• Tucker drew a 5-pitch walk, scoring Clark.
• Belt struck out swinging.
• Texas up 7-2.
• 7th inning, TSTU
• Kubitza grounded out to 2b. Tucker made a nice back-handed stop and then threw to 1b in plenty of time.
• Martinson lined out to 2b.
• Yes, it was almost like the Bobcats took over the offensive bad luck the Horns experienced all week last week.
• Sibley reached on an infield single to ss. Loy made a stop deep in the hole and threw to 1b but off-line. Belt moved over and caught the ball, avoiding any sort of error.
• Adwood reached on an infield single to 2b (behind the 2b bag), moving Sibley to 2b.
• Suddenly, the hitting luck had changed.
• Goldschmidt hit into a 4-6 fielder's choice. Another nice play by Loy.
• Whew. Back on track.
• 7th inning, UT
• Texas State sent Aaron Taylor to the mound, replacing Loftin.
• Keyes singled up the middle. Texas sent Tim Maitland in to pinch-run for Keyes.
• Shepherd popped out to 2b.
• Texas State sent Jeff McVaney (lhp) to the mound, replacing Taylor.
• Kevin Lusson turned around and batted right-handed. He doubled into lf, scoring Maitland (who'd advanced to 2b on a wild-pitch).
• Loy reached on a full-count walk.
• Texas State sent Michael Russo to the mound, replacing McVaney.
• Clark singled to cf, scoring Lusson and moving Loy to 2b.
• Rowe popped out to 2b.
• With Tucker at the plate, Loy and Clark moved up to 3b and 2b on a wild pitch.
• Torres grounded out to 2b.
• Texas up 9-2.
• 8th inning, TSTU
• Texas sent Andrew McKirahan to the mound, replacing Thomas.
• Texas also sent Kyle Lusson in for Shepherd and and moved him to rf. Maitland stayed in and moved out to lf.
• Laurn Randell, pinch-hitting for Prestridge singled to cf.
• Dennis hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Yet another really nice defensive play by Texas. Loy fielded the ball deep in the hole and made a nice throw to Tucker who, in turn, made a nice relay throw to 1b.
• Theriot drew a full-count walk.
• Livingstone flew out to cf.
• 8th inning, UT
• Texas State sent Jordan Kopycinski in to catch, replacing Theriot.
• Jordan Etier, pinch-hitting for Tucker, singled off the second baseman. I was surprised it was ruled a hit rather than an error. If the second baseman had made a clean pick, it appeared he would've had plenty of time to throw Etier out at 1b.
• Texas State sent Covey Morrow to the mound, replacing Russo.
• Belt drew a 5-pitch walk, moving Etier to 2b.
• Kyle Lusson (batting out of order in Maitland's spot!) grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, moving Etier to 3b. I don't know if Texas State didn't notice, or chose not to do anything about, the out-of-turn batting since Lusson hit into a double play. I suspect it was the latter. If Lusson had reached base, Texas State could've appealed, Lusson would've been ruled out, the other runners would've had to return to their original bases, and Kevin Lusson would've been the next official batter...with Maitland completely missing his plate appearance. At least, that's how I read the rules.
• Maitland (now batting in Kyle Lusson's spot) was hit by a pitch.
• Kevin Lusson (again batting from the right side) singled to lf, scoring Etier and moving Maitland to 2b.
• Loy singled to left-center, scoring Maitland and Lusson.
• Clark drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Texas State sent Mitchell Pitts to the mound, replacing Morrow.
• Rowe grounded out to 3b.
• Texas up 12-2.
• 9th inning, TSTU
• Kubitza struck out looking. He was very unhappy with the call.
• Clint Vest (pinch-hitting for Martinson) flew out to rf. Another spectacular defensive play by the Horns. Kyle Lusson and Rowe both went for the ball and got to it at the same time. Rowe stayed on his feet and ran in front of Lusson. Lusson dove and made the catch. I thought Rowe made the catch until Lusson jumped up with his glove in the air. Wow. Collision narrowly avoided. Yikes.
• Sibley drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Atwood struck out swinging.
• Texas wins 12-2.

All-in-all, a great game for the Horns. I hope they keep it up this weekend.

One quick comment about the "batting out of order" thing. The TexasSports.com report didn't really address the problem in the play-by-play but the line-up looks weird:

Torres, Michael dh
Tucker, Travis 2b
- Etier, Jordan ph/2b
Belt, Brandon 1b
Keyes, Kevin rf
- Maitland, Tim pr/lf
- Lusson, Kyle rf
Shepherd, Tant lf
Lusson, Kevin 3b
Loy, Brandon ss
Clark, Preston c
Rowe, Connor cf

Note how Maitland and Kyle Lusson both managed to have replaced Keyes in the line-up. And, Shepherd apparently never exited the game.

In the Texas State report, the line-up changes are correct (with Maitland taking Keyes' spot and Lusson taking Shepherd's). But, the play-by-play goes like so:

Texas State 8th - Maitland, T. to lf. Lusson, Ky. to rf for Shepherd, T. [...]

Texas Longhorns 8th - [...] Lusson, Ky. to rf for Maitland, T.. Maitland, T. to lf for Lusson, Ky.. [...]

Huh? All so confusing for people trying to keep track of the mess. I completely forgot to try and listen to the post-game show on the radio so have no idea if Keith Moreland asked Coach Garrido about it or not. Sigh...

Anyway, here's the line (from GameTracker):

Texas hosts Baylor on Friday night before the series moves to Waco for the 2nd and 3rd games. Note that start times have changed. The Friday game here in Austin is now slated to start at 8 o'clock to accommodate ESPNU. Yes, the game will be televised. Since they're starting so late on Friday, they've also changed the start times for the Saturday and Sunday games. Saturday's game is being pushed back from 4:00 to 6:30 and Sunday's game from 1:00 to 1:30.

Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 10:20 PM