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Sunday - May 31, 2009

Game 57: Texas at Boston College (Austin Regional)

This is a place-holder. It's clear that I'm not going to come close to finishing the recap of last night's game before I have to go back to Disch-Falk to watch the BC/Army game. I'm just posting this to let you know that...

...yes, I'm working on a game report for Game 57. It's just taking a bit longer than usual. I'll be back. Eventually.

UPDATE (June 2nd). I'm back with the report. Have at it...

So...how to do this game justice? I don't think there's a way. Texas beat Boston College in 25 innings. TWENTY-FIVE. The game lasted (officially) 7 hours and 3 minutes. That doesn't include celebration time. And, decompression time. It was 1:04 AM on the scoreboard clock when the Horns recorded the final out. I wasn't able to even think about going to sleep for another 2 hours or so. Too wired. Too keyed up. I'm betting most of the team took longer than that to wind down. And, I'm still feeling BC's pain. I'll say it again: it's not even a little bit fair that they had to lose that game. They played a spectacular game. It's just not fair. Here's the line (cobbled together from a few shots I took over the course of the evening:

Just look at that. How in the world did Texas record 20 hits and only score 3 runs? How did Texas commit 3 errors and only allow 2 runs (both earned...none of the errors led to runs)? How in the world did Texas throw 25 innings and only give up 8 hits? How? Well, here's how...

Today's starting line-ups:

Texas	Boston College
1 Travis Tucker, 2b 2 Brandon Belt, dh 3 Michael Torres, 3b 4 Cameron Rupp, c 5 Brandon Loy, ss 6 Preston Clark, 1b 7 Kevin Keyes, rf 8 Connor Rowe, cf 9 David Hernandez, lf - Chance Ruffin, p	1 Robbie Anston, cf 2 Matt Hamlet, 2b 3 Tony Sanchez, c 4 Mickey Wiswall, 3b 5 Mike Belfiore, dh 6 Barry Butera, ss 7 Andrew Lawrence, lf 8 Mike Sudol, rf 9 John Spatola, 1b - Pat Dean, p

Here's how things played out:

• 1st inning, Texas
• Pat Dean (lhp) on the mound for BC.
• Tucker singled past ss into cf.
• Belt moved Tucker to 2b with a 1-4 sac bunt.
• Torres grounded out to the pitcher, moving Tucker to 3b.
• Rupp struck out swinging.
• 1st inning, Boston College
• Chance Ruffin (rhp) on the mound for Texas.
• Anston grounded out to ss.
• Hamlet lined out to ss. Fantastic diving catch by Loy.
• Sanchez flew out to lf.
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Loy grounded out to 3b.
• Clark doubled to the cf/rf gap.
• Keyes hit a homerun into the Texas (visitor) bullpen! First pitch.
• Rowe singled into rf.
• Hernandez popped out to 1b (foul).
• Tucker grounded out to 2b.
• Texas up 2-0.
• 2nd inning, Boston College
• Wiswall flew out to cf.
• Belfiore flew out to lf.
• Butera grounded out to ss.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Belt grounded out to 2b.
• Torres singled into rf.
• Rupp struck out swinging.
• Loy singled into cf, moving Torres to 2b.
• Clark grounded into a 5-4 fielder's choice.
• 3rd inning, Boston College
• Lawrence flew out to rf.
• Sudol grounded out to 2b.
• Spatola struck out swinging.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Keyes doubled into the cf/rf gap.
• Rowe grounded out to the pitcher (failed sac bunt attempt, as Keyes could not advance).
• Hernandez grounded out to ss.
• Tucker grounded out to ss.
• 4th inning, Boston College
• Anston grounded out to 2b. Tucker stumbled a bit after gloving the ball but recovered easily to make the out.
• Hamlet reached on a full-count walk. There went the perfect game.
• Sanchez flew out to cf.
• Wiswall singled through the left side, moving Hamlet to 2b. There went the no-hitter.
• Belfiore singled through the right side, scoring Hamlet and moving Wiswall to 3b. On the throw home, Belfiore moved up to 2b. There went the shut-out!
• Which prompted a visit to the mound by Skip Johnson.
• Butera grounded out to ss.
• Texas up 2-1.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Belt struck out looking.
• Torres lined out to ss.
• Rupp struck out swinging.
• 5th inning, Boston College
• Lawrence singled into rf.
• As Sudol was about to bat, Skip Johnson and a trainer went out to check on Ruffin. Injury visit? Possible blister? No idea.
• Sudol reached on a 3-6 fielder's choice (Lawrence out on the play). And, then advanced to 2b on a throwing error by ss. On the play, the throw from ss to 1b was low. Ruffin (covering 1b for the double play) was unable to hold onto the ball and it ended up on the ground along the line beyond 1b. As Sudol ran past the 1b bag, he kicked the ball into foul territory along the wall near the tarp area. I don't know if it was deliberate or not but he ran on to 2b once the ball got away from the 1b area. He tried to reach 3b but was thrown out by Tucker, who'd rounded up the ball (4-5 on the out). Tucker's throw beat the runner to 3b by a second or so. Nice play by Tucker. I'm not sure what the ruling would've been regarding the kicked ball if Texas had not recorded the out. At any rate, this ended up being the only double-play in the game. The only one. And, it was a truly weird play.
• Spatola grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• 6th inning, Texas
• Loy singled through the left side.
• Clark popped out to 2b in shallow rf. Nice play by Hamlet.
• Keyes struck out swinging (full count).
• Rowe grounded out to 3b.
• 6th inning, Boston College
• Anston doubled over Rowe's head in cf.
• Hamlet advanced Anston to 3b on a 1-4 sac bunt.
• Sanchez flew out to dead cf at the wall, scoring Anston.
• Wiswall struck out swinging.
• Game tied 2-2.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Hernandez grounded out to ss.
• Tucker flew out to rf.
• Belt reached on a 7-pitch full-count walk.
• Torres lined out to cf. Anston made a great diving catch to rob Torres of a double and possible rbi.
• 7th inning, Boston College
• Belfiore grounded out to ss.
• Butera reached on an infield single to 2b. Tucker had trouble fielding the ball and ended up kicking it toward the tarp area down the rf line. Butera moved up to 2b on the fielding error. Mysteriously, the error was charged to ss in the official boxscore.
• Texas sent Austin Wood (lhp) to the mound, replacing Ruffin.
• Lawrence struck out swinging on the 11th pitch (9 strikes and 2 balls). Wow.
• Sudol grounded out to ss.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Rupp singled (off the pitcher's leg) into cf.
• BC sent Kevin Moran (rhp) to the mound, replacing Dean.
• Loy moved Rupp to 2b with a sac bunt down the 1b line (3-unassisted on the play; the first baseman fielded and tagged Loy for the out).
• Clark grounded out to the pitcher, moving Rupp to 3b. The pitcher fielded the grounder with his bare hand before throwing to 1b.
• Moldenhauer (pinch-hitting for Keyes) was hit on his back foot by the first pitch, putting runners at the corners with 2 out.
• Texas sent Kyle Lusson in to pinch-run for Moldenhauer.
• Rowe reached on an infield single to ss to load the bases. Rupp had to hold up to avoid being thrown out at home and then could not advance.
• Hernandez grounded out to 2b.
• 8th inning, Boston College
• Harry Darling (pinch-hitting for Spatola) reached on a full-count walk.
• BC sent JB MacDonald in to pinch-run for Darling.
• Skip Johnson made a trip to the mound after the first pitch (a ball) to Anston.
• Anston reached on a 1-6 fielder's choice (bunt attempt batted too hard to the pitcher).
• Hamlet flew out to lf.
• Sanchez grounded out to 3b. Torres made a great stop behind 3b and then a long throw across the diamond. The throw was a little high but Clark caught it and made the out. Whew.
• 9th inning, Texas
• BC sent Wiswall from 3b to 1b and Anthony Melchionda in at 3b (taking MacDonald's spot in the line-up).
• Tucker popped out to shallow rf. The right fielder (Sudol) made a great running catch.
• BC sent Mike Belfiore (lhp) to the mound, replacing Moran. Belfiore stayed in the line-up at dh.
• Belt struck out swinging.
• Torres grounded out to 2b.
• 9th inning, Boston College
• Wiswall struck out swinging.
• Belfiore grounded out to the pitcher.
• Butera struck out looking.
• 10th inning, Texas
• Rupp struck out swinging (his 4th strikeout in 5 at-bats on Page 1 of my scoresheet).
• Loy popped out to ss.
• Clark grounded out to 3b. A great play by the new third baseman (Melchionda).
• 10th inning, Boston College
• Lawrence struck out swinging. He tried, unsuccessfully, to check his last swing.
• Sudol grounded out 1-4-3. The ball went off Wood's glove. Tucker made a nice adjustment on the ball, fielded, and threw to 1b for the out.
• Melchionda struck out swinging.
• And, thus ended the 1st page of my scoresheet for this epic game.
• 11th inning, Texas
• Kyle Lusson popped out to 1b (foul).
• Rowe flew out to lf.
• Hernandez struck out swinging.
• 11th inning, Boston College
• Anston grounded out to 2b. Tucker made a fantastic play to field the ball behind 2b, twirl, and throw to 1b for the out. Wow.
• Hamlet lined out to rf.
• Sanchez grounded out 1-3. He hit a line drive right at Wood who managed to knock the ball down. He lost his glove on the play and managed to recover, grab the ball, and throw to 1b for the out. Great presence of mind by Wood to make the play.
• I believe we hit the 3-hour mark during the bottom of the 11th.
• 12th inning, Texas
• Tucker struck out looking.
• Belt popped out to ss.
• Torres struck out swinging.
• 12th inning, Boston College
• Wiswall struck out swinging.
• Belfiore popped out to rf. Kyle Lusson made a very nice running catch on the play.
• Butera struck out swinging.
• 13th inning, Texas
• Rupp struck out swinging.
• Loy grounded out to ss.
• Clark doubled down the lf line. With the hit, Clark was the first batter to reach base for either team since Anston had reached in the 8th. A string of 28 batters had failed to reach base between those two at-bats.
• Tant Shepherd (pinch-hitting for Kyle Lusson) grounded out to 2b.
• 13th inning, Boston College
• Texas sent Tim Maitland into rf (taking Shepherd's spot in the line-up).
• Lawrence struck out looking.
• Sudol grounded out to ss.
• Melchionda grounded out to 3b.
• 14th inning, Texas
• Rowe flew out to cf.
• Hernandez singled through the right side.
• Tucker reached on a 6-4 fielder's choice.
• Belt singled into lf, moving Tucker to 2b.
• On the second pitch to Torres (a ball), both runners advanced (double steel). Which prompted a visit to the mound by the BC coaching staff.
• Torres struck out swinging. Damn.
• 14th inning, Boston College
• Anston grounded out to ss. Another stellar play by Loy.
• Hamlet struck out swinging.
• Sanchez reached on a 7-pitch full-count walk. First base-runner for the Eagles since Anston in the 8th.
• Wiswall grounded out to 2b.
• 15th inning, Texas
• Rupp grounded out to the pitcher. This play got everyone riled up. Rupp took off for 1b but fell to the ground after a couple of steps with pain in his foot from the ball fouling off the top of his foot. The umpires ruled that the batted ball did not hit his foot and he was called out. Coach Garrido argued the call vehemently to no avail. Rupp was also very upset and had to be restrained by Tucker and pushed back into the dugout. Thank you, Travis Tucker, for keeping a cool head. Rupp could've easily been called out if the home plate umpire (who made the initial call) had seen him.
• Loy grounded out to 3b.
• Clark struck out swinging.
• 15th inning, Boston College
• Belfiore grounded out to the pitcher.
• Butera struck out looking (3 pitches).
• Lawrence grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• 16th inning, Texas
• Maitland grounded out to 2b.
• Rowe popped out to 1b (foul).
• Hernandez flew out to rf. The ball was in the gap and the center fielder and right fielder almost ran into each other. Yikes!
• 16th inning, Boston College
• Sudol grounded out to 2b.
• Melchionda grounded out to ss. Another great play by Loy.
• Anston grounded out to the pitcher.
• 17th inning, Texas
• Tucker grounded out to 2b.
• Belt grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• Torres grounded out to ss.
• 17th inning, Boston College
• Hamlet reached on a full-count walk.
• Sanchez reached on a 5-6 fielder's choice. He was going for the sac bunt but hit the ball too hard.
• Wiswall struck out looking.
• Belfiore flew out to lf. Fantastic catch by Hernandez!!
• 18th inning, Texas
• Belfiore struck out the side: Rupp went down swinging; Loy and Clark went down looking.
• That was 13 straight outs for the Eagles. Wow.
• 18th inning, Boston College
• Butera struck out swinging. He tried to check his last swing but didn't quite make it.
• Lawrence grounded out to 2b.
• Sudol struck out swinging.
• 19th inning, Texas
• BC sent Matt Brazis (rhp) to the mound, replacing Belfiore (who stayed in the line-up in the dh spot).
• Maitland struck out swinging.
• Rowe reached on an infield single to ss.
• Hernandez singled into lf, moving Rowe to 2b.
• Tucker reached on a 6-4 fielder's choice, moving Rowe to 3b.
• BC sent Nate Bayuk (lhp) to the mound, replacing Brazis.
• Belt drew an 8-pitch full-count walk to load the bases.
• After Bayuk fell behind 2-1 to Torres, one of the BC coaches made a trip to the mound.
• Torres flew out to lf on the next pitch.
• Texas stranded 3. Best chance to score in just about forever.
• 19th inning, Boston College
• We crossed the 11 o'clock hour sometime during the top of the 19th.
• Melchionda grounded out to 2b.
• Anston grounded out on a slow bouncer to 2b.
• Hamlet drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Sanchez singled through the left side, moving Hamlet to 2b.
• After getting ahead 0-2 to Wiswall, Wood threw a wild pitch, allowing the runners to move up to 2b and 3b.
• Wiswall struck out swinging.
• 20th inning, Texas
• The Eagles sent Dave Laufer (rhp) to the mound, replacing Bayuk.
• Rupp flew out to lf.
• Loy struck out swinging. The catcher dropped the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
• Clark doubled down the lf line!
• After Kevin Lusson (pinch-hitting for Tim Maitland) got ahead 3-0 in the count, BC went ahead and walked him intentionally.
• Texas sent Jordan Etier in to pinch run for Lusson.
• Rowe went down swinging. Ouch.
• 20th inning, Boston College
• Texas kept Etier in the game in rf.
• Belfiore grounded out (high bouncer) to ss. Yet another nice play by Loy.
• I started to marvel 'round about this part of the game at how sharp the defense was playing. For both teams, really. They'd been playing for over 5 hours and were not missing a step. Not even a little bit of a sign of fatigue.
• Butera singled into cf.
• Lawrence was hit by the first pitch, moving Butera to 2b.
• Texas sent Austin Dicharry (rhp) to the mound, replacing Wood. Huge standing ovation from the crowd. The BC team joined in. Nice.
• I think Spenser Payne was announced as a pinch-hitter for Sudol before Wood was replaced...but I'm not sure. I did not note what happened but he did not bat.
• Instead, Mike Augustine pinch hit. And, he reached on a 3-6 fielder's choice, moving Butera to 3b.
• Melchionda flew out to cf. Whew.
• 21st inning, Texas
• BC kept Augustine in at 1b and moved a lot of other players in the field. Wiswall moved from 1b back to 3b. Melchionda moved from 3b to 2b. Hamlet moved from 2b to lf. Lawrence moved from lf to rf. (Sudol had been in rf.)
• Hernandez popped out to the catcher behind the plate.
• Tucker struck out swinging.
• The Eagles sent Chris Kowalski (rhp) to the mound, replacing Laufer.
• Belt reached on a 7-pitch full-count walk and then stole 2b on the 2nd pitch to Torres.
• Torres grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• 21st inning, Boston College
• Anston struck out swinging. Rupp dropped the ball and had to tag Anston to complete the out. Anston tried to check his swing but the home plate ump ruled he'd swung. He apparently shared a few words of disagreement with the home plate ump. The ump seemed to give him a bit of a warning and then Anston's word choice apparently went too far. At least that was the impression we got as he was promptly ejected from the game.
• Hamlet flew out to cf at the wall. Fantastic catch by Rowe.
• Sanchez flew out to the warning track in lf.
• 22nd inning, Texas
• BC moved Lawrence from rf to cf (Anston's position in the field). They moved Hamlet from lf to rf. They moved Belfiore into lf. Which meant the Eagles lost the dh spot. So Kowalski took Anston's spot in the line-up. The clock also hit midnight.
• Rupp singled into lf.
• Loy moved Rupp to 2b on a 2-4 sac bunt.
• Clark grounded out to 3b.
• Etier flew out to cf.
• 22nd inning, Boston College
• Wiswall grounded out to ss. Another great play by Loy who caught up to a slow grounder and threw quickly to 1b to make the out.
• Belfiore drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Butera struck out (3 pitches).
• Lawrence popped out to 1b.
• 23rd inning, Texas
• Rowe singled through the left side.
• Hernandez moved Rowe to 2b with a 3-4 sac bunt.
• Tucker reached, sadly, on a 1-5 fielder's choice.
• Belt singled to rf, moving Tucker to 3b!
• Torres flew out to cf. Sigh.
• 23rd inning, Boston College
• Augustine struck out swinging.
• Melchionda got ahead 2-0, prompting a visit to the mound by Skip Johnson.
• Melchionda grounded out to 2b on the next pitch.
• Kowalski (the pitcher, remember) flew out to cf. This was apparently his first at-bat at BC.
• 24th inning, Texas
• Rupp grounded out to 2b.
• Loy grounded out to 3b.
• Clark singled up the middle.
• Etier got ahead 2-0, prompting a visit to the mound by the BC staff. Sadly, Etier went on to strike out looking.
• 24th inning, Boston College
• Hamlet grounded out to ss.
• Sanchez flew out to lf.
• Wiswall singled into lf; he moved up to 2b on wild pitch (the 6th pitch) to Belfiore.
• Belfiore grounded out to 3b.
• 25th inning, Texas
• BC sent Mike Dennhardt (rhp) to the mound, replacing Kowalksi.
• Rowe reached on a 5-pitch walk.
• Hernandez moved Rowe to 2b on a sac bunt down the 1b line (1st pitch). The first baseman fielded the ball and tagged Hernandez out.
• Rowe moved up to 3b on a wild pitch (3rd pitch) to Tucker.
• Tucker singled past 2b into rf, scoring Rowe.
• Tucker's plate appearances: single (1st inning), 4-3 (2nd), 6-3 (4th), f9 (7th), p9 (9th), k-looking (12th), 6-5 fielder's choice (14th), 4-3 (17th), 6-4 fielder's choice (19th), k-looking (21st), 1-5 fielder's choice (23rd), single (25th). 0-for-10 stretch between those 2 singles. Heh.
• Belt struck out looking.
• Torres hit into a 4-6 fielder's choice.
• Texas up 3-2.
• 25th inning, Boston College
• Butera struck out swinging.
• Lawrence grounded out to 2b.
• Augustine grounded out to 2b.
• Game over. Texas wins 3-2. Wow.

Offensive numbers (going down the line-up):

1. Tucker: 2-for-12, 2 singles, 1 rbi, 2 strikeouts, 1 stolen base
2. Belt: 2-for-8, 2 singles, 1 sac bunt, 3 strikeouts, 3 walks, 2 stolen bases
3. Torres: 1-for-12, 1 single, 2 strikeouts
4. Rupp: 2-for-11, 2 singles, 6 strikeouts (wow)
5. Loy: 2-for-9, 2 singles, 2 sac bunts, 2 strikeouts
6. Clark: 4-for-11, 1 run scored, 3 doubles, 1 single, 2 strikeouts
7. Keyes: 2-for-3, 1 run scored, 1 homerun, 1 double, 2 rbi, 1 strikeout
   - Moldenhauer: 0-for-0, hit by pitch
   - Kyle Lusson: 0-for-1
   - Shepherd: 0-for-1
   - Maitland: 0-for-2, 1 strikeout
   - Kevin Lusson: 0-for-0, 1 walk (intentional)
   - Etier: 0-for-2, 1 strikeout
8. Rowe: 4-for-10, 1 run scored, 4 singles, 1 walk
9. Hernandez: 2-for-9, 1 run scored, 2 singles, 2 sac bunts, 1 strikeout

Look at all those batters in the 7th spot. And, no other substitutions.

And, the pitchers:

• Ruffin: 6.1 innings, 24 batters, 2 earned runs, 5 hits (1 double, 4 singles), 2 strikeouts, 1 walk
• Wood: 13 innings, 46 batters, 0 runs, 2 hits (both singles; he did not give up a hit for the first 12.1 innings pitched!), 14 strikeouts, 2 walks, 1 hit batter, 1 wild pitch
• Dicharry: 5.2 innings, 20 batters, 0 runs, 1 hit (single), 4 strikeouts, 1 walk, 1 wild pitch, win

And, one more time...the final line:

I love how the game started with Travis Tucker hitting a lead-off single. He did not get another hit for almost 7 hours. And, that was the last hit of the game. Lovely bookends.

I wish I had time to add up more of the numbers. But, I want to get this online so I'm gonna leave it be for now. I hope to do more later. But, there are more games to come so that may not happen.

Posted by Joanna at 9:55 AM