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Friday - May 29, 2009

Game 56: Army at Texas (Austin Regional)

Texas played host to Army in the second game of the day in the Austin Regional. And, the Horns won 3-1. Whew. Brandon Belt was hit by a pitch at the edge of his helmet in the first inning. He dropped hard to the ground and flung his helmet off. The trainers and coaches ran out and it did not look very good. He was bleeding quite a bit. But, that always happens with head/scalp cuts. 'Turns out, he has a gash on his ear, a contusion below the ear, and a possible (slight?) concussion. Needless to say, he left the game and was taken to the hospital. Coach Garrido reported in the post-game report that Belt was feeling better and was starting to make jokes but that he'd be spending the night at the hospital. Coach Garrido does not expect Belt to miss much playing time should the Horns continue their winning ways. Good news.

Read on to find out how Texas reacted to the sudden loss of their first baseman when the back-up first baseman was already in the line-up at dh.

Today's starting line-ups:

Army	Texas
1 Zach Price, 2b 2 Andy Ernesto, cf 3 Clint Moore, ss 4 Joey Henshaw, dh 5 Kevin KcKague, 1b 6 Ben Koenigsfeld, lf 7 J.P. Polchinski, 3b 8 Kyle Fleming, rf 9 J.T. Watkins, c - Matt Fouch, p	1 Travis Tucker, 2b 2 Brandon Belt, 1b 3 Michael Torres, 3b 4 Cameron Rupp, c 5 Brandon Loy, ss 6 Preston Clark, dh 7 Kevin Keyes, rf Tant Shepherd, lf 9 Connor Rowe, cf - Cole Green, p

Here's how things played out:

• 1st inning, Army
• Cole Green (rhp) on the mound for Texas.
• Price grounded out to 2b.
• Ernesto grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• Moore drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Henshaw grounded out to 2b.
• 1st inning, Texas
• Matt Fouch (lhp) on the mound for Army.
• Tucker grounded out to 2b.
• Belt was hit on the head by a pitch. He fell to the ground in obvious pain and started bleeding. He was eventually helped off the field. And, then Texas had to figure out what to do because Preston Clark was already in the line-up in the dh spot. It looked like they toyed with the idea of sending Keith Shinaberry in at 1b. He started warming up along the sidelines. Then, it looked like they'd decided to go ahead and move Clark to 1b and send Cole Green in to run. Eventually (after about 10 minutes), Jordan Etier went in to pinch-run for Belt. Temporarily keeping the DH alive.
• Torres flew out to lf.
• Rupp drew a full-count 7-pitch walk, moving Etier to 2b.
• Loy flew out to cf.
• 2nd inning, Army
• Texas sent Preston Clark to 1b. With the move, Texas lost the dh and had to put Green into the line-up in the 2nd spot (replacing Etier).
• 3-up/3-down: McKague grounded out to 2b; Koenigsfeld grounded out to 2b; and Polchinski grounded out to 1b.
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Clark grounded out to 2b.
• Keyes grounded out to 3b.
• Shepherd reached on a slow bouncing infield single to 2b.
• Rowe flew out to cf.
• 3rd inning, Army
• 3-up/3-down: Fleming struck out swinging; Watkins did likewise; and Price grounded out to the pitcher.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Tucker drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Which brought Cole Green to the plate for the first time in his college career. He squared to bunt and hit a perfect sac bunt (1st pitch) down the 1b line, moving Tucker to 2b. He got a big hug from Coach Garrido and all kinds of props from his teammates as he went back into the dugout...with a huge grin on his face. Lots of fun.
• Torres singled through the left side, moving Tucker to 3b. Sadly, Coach Harmon's arm got stuck in crank mode and Tucker tried to score on a ball that really did not go very deep into lf. The throw from the left fielder beat him home by a good 2 or 3 steps. Dead man running. Out at the plate. Torres moved up to 2b on the throw home.
• Torres stole 3b on the 2nd pitch to Rupp.
• Rupp singled into cf, scoring Torres.
• Loy grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice to end the inning.
• Texas up 1-0.
• 4th inning, Army
• Ernesto struck out looking.
• Moore drew a full-count walk.
• Henshaw grounded out to 1b (unassisted), moving Moore to 2b.
• McKague lined out to rf. Keyes was running to his right and almost overran the ball as it started hooking back toward the rf corner. He reached up and grabbed the ball at just the last moment. Nice play.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Clark singled to cf.
• Keyes drew a full-count 7-pitch walk, moving Clark to 2b.
• Shepherd advanced Clark to 3b and Keyes to 2b with a sac bunt to the pitcher.
• Rowe squared to bunt and bunted foul. Then he did it again. Squeeze! The pitcher and first baseman both went for the ball and both pulled up at the last second thinking the other would get it. No chance for a play at the plate. The first baseman fielded and just nipped Rowe out at 1b (3-4). Clark scored and Keyes moved up to 3b.
• Tucker grounded out to the pitcher.
• Texas up 2-0.
• 5th inning, Army
• Koenigsfeld broke up the no-hitter with a single through the left side.
• Polchinski struck out swinging.
• Fleming drew a 5-pitch walk, moving Koenigsfeld to 2b.
• Which prompted a visit to the mound by Coach Johnson.
• Watkins hit into a 6-4-3 double play. The only double-play of the day for either team.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Cole Green up at the plate again. First pitch? Swinging strike. Second pitch? Called strike. Third pitch? Ball. Fourth pitch? Singled into lf. Yes, really. It was a thing of beauty. Cole Green now owns a 1.000 career batting average. Heh heh.
• Torres struck out swinging.
• Rupp flew out to rf.
• Loy did likewise. Green stranded at 1b.
• 6th inning, Army
• Price lined out to lf. Shepherd was running to the wall hard and had to make a last-second adjustment to snag the ball. Whew.
• Ernesto stuck out looking.
• Moore singled to lf.
• Henshaw flew out to lf.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Clark led things off with a double to the cf/rf gap. Purty.
• Keyes singled up the middle, scoring Clark.
• Shepherd tried to move Keyes to 2b with a bunt but he hit the ball a bit too hard and the first baseman, charging hard, fielded cleanly and threw Keyes out at 2b. No sac, Shepherd at 1b.
• Rowe grounded out to 3b, moving Shepherd to 2b. The third baseman booted the ball but kept his wits about him and recovered in time to get Rowe at 1b. Nice play.
• Tucker grounded out to the pitcher.
• Texas up 3-0.
• 7th inning, Army
• McKague singled past ss into cf.
• Koenigsfeld singled down the lf line (fair by a foot or so), moving McKague to 3b.
• Which prompted the 2nd visit of the day to the mound by Coach Johnson.
• Polchinski hit a sac fly to lf, scoring McKague.
• Fleming struck out looking.
• Watkins grounded out to 2b.
• Texas up 3-1.
• 7th inning, Texas
• The Horns sent Kyle Lusson to the plate to pinch-hit for Green.
• Lusson flew out to rf.
• Torres line out to lf.
• Rupp drew a full-count walk.
• Loy flew out to cf.
• 8th inning, Army
• Texas sent Austin Wood (lhp) to the mound, replacing Lusson in the line-up. They also sent Tim Maitland into lf, replacing Shepherd.
• Price grounded out to ss.
• Ernesto was hit by a pitch.
• Moore struck out swinging.
• Henshaw hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Army sent Tyler Anderegg (rhp) to the mound, replacing Fouch.
• 3-up/3-down: Clark flew out to cf; Keyes struck out swinging (full count, 5 pitches); and Maitland struck out swinging (full count, 8 pitches).
• 9th inning, Army
• 3-up/3-down: McKague grounded out to ss; Koenigsfeld struck out swinging (full count, 10 pitches); and Polchinski struck out swinging (full count) to end the game.
• Texas wins 3-1.

The line:

Whew. Nice game after the scare in the 1st. Cole Green had a fantastic game. His numbers: 7 innings, 27 batters, 1 earned run, 4 hits (all singles), 6 strikeouts, and 3 walks. Not to mention a sac bunt and single. Wow. I'm thinking he'll make the all-tournament team. What do you think? Heh.

The Horns now move on to face Boston College in tomorrow's late game. Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 11:17 PM