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Friday - June 19, 2009

Game 64: Arizona State at Texas (CWS)

Texas played home to the Sun Devils of Arizona State in the 12th game of the 2009 College World Series today. The start of the game was delayed a couple of hours due to rain in Omaha earlier in the day. I watched the game on ESPN2 and listened to the KVET radio broadcast by Craig Way and Keith Moreland, streaming over the Internet. I managed to sync the Internet radio stream with the ESPN broadcast on my TiVo and was in heaven (relatively speaking). Nice. It was so wonderful not hearing a word of the nonsense espoused by the folks in the ESPN broadcast booth. 'Wish I'd tried that earlier. This report is based on that combination.

Anyway...

Today's starting line-ups:

Arizona State	Texas
1 Drew Maggi, ss 2 Jason Kipnis, cf 3 Carlos Ramirez, c 4 Kole Calhoun, lf 5 Johnny Ruettiger, dh 6 Jared McDonald, 1b 7 Raoul Torrez, 3b 8 Matt Newman, rf 9 Zack MacPhee, 2b - Mike Leake, p	1 Michael Torres, 3b 2 Travis Tucker, 2b 3 Brandon Belt, 1b 4 Russell Moldenhauer, dh 5 Kevin Keyes, rf 6 Brandon Loy, ss 7 Cameron Rupp, c 8 Preston Clark, lf 9 Connor Rowe, cf - Cole Green, p

And, here's how things played out:

• 1st inning, ASU
• Cole Green (rhp) on the mound for Texas.
• Maggi struck out swinging (2-2 count).
• Kipnis drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Ramirez struck out looking (3 pitches).
• Calhoun singled through the right side, moving Kipnis to 3b.
• Ruettiger grounded into a 4-6 fielder's choice.
• 21 pitches.
• 1st inning, Texas
• Mike Leake (rhp) on the mound (!) for ASU.
• Torres struck out swinging at a high-outside pitch (1-2 count).
• Tucker singled past 3b into lf.
• Belt out on a soft liner to 2b (had to make a leap to catch the ball, nice play).
• Moldenhauer struck out swinging (full count).
• 16 pitches.
• 2nd inning, ASU
• McDonald grounded out to 2b.
• Torrez struck out swinging (3 pitches).
• Newman singled through the right side.
• MacPhee struck out swinging (3 pitches).
• 13 pitches (33 on the day).
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Keyes struck out swinging (3 pitches). Like MacPhee, last batter in previous half-inning, he tried to check his swing but couldn't quite hold up.
• Loy flew out to rf.
• Rupp singled through the left side.
• Clark also singled through the left side, moving Rupp to 2b.
• Rowe struck out swinging (1-2 pitch).
• 13 pitches (29 on the day).
• 3rd inning, ASU
• Maggi popped out to 1b about half way down the line to the 1b bag.
• Kipnis singled past ss into cf (full count).
• Ramirez reached on a fielder's choice/E6. On the play Loy fielded behind 2b and flipped to Tucker. Bad toss. Both runners safe. Kipnis took advantage of the ball dribbling toward the mound to move up to 3b. Kipnis was running on the hit-and-run; Loy should've thrown to 1b.
• Calhoun singled into cf, scoring Kipnis and moving Ramirez to 3b. Rowe booted the ball to his left as he was about to field it, allowing Calhoun to reach 2b (E8).
• Ruettiger struck out looking (2-2 count). Yes!
• McDonald grounded out to 2b (full count, 8 pitches). Whew.
• 27 pitches (60 on the day).
• Texas down 0-1.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Torres started out 0-2, worked the count full, and then hit a homerun over the rf fence!!!
• Coach Murphy was shown complaining about something to the home plate umpire. I guess he was complaining about the pitch call but the ump's strike zone looked pretty good (and, moreover, consistent) to me. Which is the most you can realistically hope for. Shrug.
• Tucker grounded out to ss (nice job to field the short-hop and throw to 1b).
• Belt singled straight up the middle (Leake had to duck down to avoid the ball).
• Moldenhauer, sadly, grounded into a 3-6-1 double play. Craig Way said 3-6-3 but I think it was Leake covering 1b to end the play.
• 13 pitches (42 on the day).
• Game tied 1-1.
• 4th inning, ASU
• Torrez grounded out (hard grounder) to 3b.
• Newman struck out swinging (1-2 pitch).
• MacPhee doubled into shallow lf near the line. The ball was falling between Clark and Loy both chasing after it. They both slipped (on a wet spot?) and fell. Both missed the ball and MacPhee was able to reach 2b pretty easily.
• Maggi singled into cf (0-2 count), scoring MacPhee.
• Kipnis grounded into a 6-unassisted fielder's choice (Loy fielded and stepped on 2b for the out).
• 17 pitches (77 on the day).
• Texas down 1-2.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Keyes fell behind 0-2, worked the count full, fouled off a pitch, and then drew a walk. Purty.
• Loy reached on a 1-6 fielder's choice. He tried to bunt Keyes to 2b but hit the ball a bit hard and the pitcher made a nice job to field and throw to 2b in time to get the lead runner out.
• Rupp reached on a 5-4 fielder's choice. ASU had a chance to turn a double play but the relay throw from 2b was in the dirt and the first baseman was unable to catch it. It did not get far enough away from him to allow Rupp to advance to 2b, though.
• Clark struck out swinging (3 pitches).
• 12 pitches (54 on the day).
• 5th inning, ASU
• Ramirez grounded out to the pitcher.
• Calhoun drew a full-count walk. 1st walk of the day for Green.
• During Calhoun's at-bat, he hit a 3-1 pitch down the line in foul territory. Tucker chased after it and dove for the ball but missed it. He skidded along the grass and into the dirt/gravel warning track on his left shoulder and face. Ouch!!!
• Ruettiger singled over 3b into lf. Calhoun could only move up to 2b as he had to hold up to see if Torres would make the catch.
• Skip Johnson made a visit to the mound. (His second of the day. I forgot to note the first one. Sigh...)
• McDonald flew out to lf.
• Torrez flew out to rf (toward the cf/rf gap). Keyes and Rowe brushed against each other as Keyes fielded. Yikes.
• 18 pitches (95 on the day).
• 5th inning, Texas
• Rowe doubled down the lf line into the corner.
• Torres (after talking to Coach Garrido, who took an offensive time out) moved Rowe to 3b on a 2-3 sac bunt. Very close play. A tie is supposed to go to the runner but not in this case, apparently. Torres, by the way, did not square to bunt until the count went to 3-1. And then he bunted a ball that died at the plate just past the dirt area. Nice.
• Tucker (with the infield pulled in) singled into cf (2-2 count), scoring Rowe.
• The ASU pitching coach made a visit to the mound.
• Belt struck out swinging (full count).
• Moldenhauer grounded out to ss. Another close play. Not as close as the Torres play but close.
• 21 pitches (75 on the day).
• Game tied 2-2.
• 6th inning, ASU
• Newman singled into rf.
• MacPhee moved Newman to 2b with a 1-3 sac bunt.
• Maggi grounded out to 3b. Great dive and stop by Torres!!!
• Kipnis was intentionally walked, putting runners at 1b and 2b.
• Ramirez grounded into a 4-6 fielder's choice. Tucker made a great play to grab the ball and keep it from scooting through into cf. Yes!
• 16 pitches (111 on the day).
• 6th inning, Texas
• Keyes singled off the 3rd baseman. It was lined a bit to his right and should probably have been ruled an error as the ball went off his glove.
• Loy (who had a quick visit with Coach Garrido after the first pitch; a ball) moved Keyes to 2b with a 1-3 sac bunt.
• Rupp struck out swinging. The catcher dropped the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
• Clark lined out to cf (1st pitch). Damn.
• 10 pitches (85 on the day).
• 7th inning, ASU
• Texas sent Austin Wood (lhp) to the mound, replacing Green.
• Calhoun reached on an infield single to ss (deep in the hole, 2-2 count).
• Zach Wilson (pinch-hitting for Ruettiger) grounded out 5-4-3. Texas tried to turn a double play but Calhoun was running on the hit-and-run and was safe at 2b. Tucker did a nice job to get the relay throw to 1b in time, despite Calhoun hitting his foot as he slid into 2b.
• Riccio Torrez (pinch-hitting for McDonald) grounded out to 3b. Calhoun moved up to 3b.
• Raoul Torrez flew out to shallow rf. Tucker was running back for the ball but gave way to Keyes in rf. Whew.
• 18 pitches.
• 7th inning, Texas
• ASU sent Mitchell Lambson (lhp) to the mound for Leake and kept Riccio Torrez in the game at 1b.
• Rowe grounded out to the pitcher (1st pitch).
• Torres struck out looking.
• Tucker struck out looking (full count, 9 pitches).
• 14 pitches.
• 8th inning, ASU
• Austin Barnes (pinch -hitting for Newman and making his first appearance in the post-season for ASU) grounded out to 3b. Very nice play by Torres.
• MacPhee grounded out to 3b. A much more routine play for Torres this time. Heh.
• Maggi struck out swinging!
• 12 pitches (30 on the day).
• 8th inning, Texas
• Andy Workman went into rf for ASU (replacing Barnes in the line-up).
• Belt flew out to cf (1st pitch).
• Tant Shepherd (pinch-hitting for Moldenhauer) struck out swinging.
• Keyes struck out swinging (3 pitches). Ouch.
• 8 pitches (23 on the day).
• 9th inning, ASU
• Kipnis reached on an infield single to 1b (full count, 11 (!) pitches). Belt knocked the ball down and Tucker backed him up but threw wide of Wood covering 1b. Kipnis moved up to 2b on the error (E4). Ouch.
• Skip Johnson made a visit to the mound.
• Ramirez lined out to lf. Kipnis could not advance.
• Calhoun struck out swinging!
• Wilson tripled into the rf corner, scoring Kipnis. Keyes dove for the ball, trying to make the out but came up short.
• Riccio Torrez lined out to 2b.
• 22 pitches (52 on the day).
• Texas down 2-3.
• 9th inning, Texas
• Loy struck out swinging. Ouch.
• Rupp homered to dead cf!!!
• Clark popped out to the catcher behind home plate.
• Rowe homered over the lf fence to win the game!!!!! (First pitch.)
• Texas wins 4-3. Wow. And: WOW!!!!!

I can't believe it. Wow. I love this team. I really do. Wow.

Here's the line (from GameTracker):

Radio post-game comments. From Coach Harmon: I don't know that you can have many endings like that and survive them! He gave credit to Cole...and then Leake who he said made a very gutsy performance. From Skip Johnson: Cole battled and got out of some tough innings. No doubt Cole's ability to get the change-up across made a great difference. They will probably go with Ruffin, Jungmann, and then Green in the Championship series.

Post-game comments from ASU: Coach Murphy opened saying that it's a pretty emotional time...pretty tough. Mitch has been good all year and again tonight but give credit to Texas for pulling through in the end. He's really proud of his club and what they accomplished this year. They are a team. A team. He said he's seen some great performances from some guys. He's privileged and grateful that he's been able to be around the players on this team. It's sad but he'd like to give great credit to Texas for winning the ball game. He thinks they'll be watching Mike Leake get inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame one day. Whenever we needed him to step up he did...and he did it again today. This team did all the things you want kids to do so they can go on in life and not be afraid as they go forward. They've done it all year, win or lose. He's as proud of this team as any team...maybe more proud...he's been around in the past. Mike Leake said this was the best team he's ever been on. Jason Kipnis said the loss will sit with him for awhile but the team is made up of a great group of guys. Kole Calhoun echoed the thoughts of the other two players. Mike Leake said he wanted the ball and wanted to be the player to take the team into tomorrow's game. He made a couple of mistakes but had the team in mind as he tried to make his pitches. Leake said Texas battled well and responded to every mistake. Jason Kipnis, regarding the final at-bat, gave credit first-off to Austin Wood and then said he was just determined to get on base. He battled off pitches until he put the ball in play. Then Zach Wilson who has such good potential came through for them and got the hit to score the run. Hats off to Texas for winning the game, though. Kole Calhoun said playing at the CWS was one of the best things he's ever gotten to do. This is something that he'll remember forever. Coach Murphy repeated again that he's proud of his team, adding that it's tough to handle when you lose and your season is over.

Before getting to the post-game comments from Texas we learned that the home team rotation for the final best-of-three series will go: Texas, LSU, and Texas (if it goes to 3 games).

Post-game comments from UT: Coach Garrido opened by recognizing ASU and the job they did with their program, the competitiveness of their team, their great pitching. He said you saw two great teams not being ready to give up. The two homeruns are about as dramatic as you can get. We struck out 12 times which is pretty amazing. He feels blessed that Texas won. How does it happen? It just does. Connor Rowe regarding his mindset said he was not thinking homerun and was surprised to be given the green light. He was sitting on the change-up which is what he'd been seeing all night so it worked out for him. Austin Wood said they're just going out there to do their jobs and we'll know by Wednesday if they're a team of destiny or not. Coach Garrido said he thinks LSU has played the best baseball all around in this tournament and most people will probably pick them as the favored team; but if it's about drama, we've got that. Rupp said they came into the dugout to start the bottom of the 9th a little upset but, like they do all year, they just competed and picked each other up. Rupp said he knew the ball was out when he hit it. Coach Garrido said losing today's game would've been the final good thing to happen to LSU and would've weakened Texas considerably in relation to where LSU is. He said they needed to win to give themselves a chance. When asked if they felt obligated to pick Austin Wood up in the bottom of the 9th, Rupp joked that it wasn't the first time the team had to pick up after him but it felt great. Rowe said he felt they still owed Wood a bit for the 25-inning game. Coach Garrido said he would expect Chance Ruffin to pitch the first game. They need to prepare by getting back to the fundamentals of the game. Two of the errors were really tough plays but they have to work more on getting back to their fundamentals because LSU has not made any mistakes so far this tournament. Augie talked about what a cruel game baseball can be but joked that it's better than gun-fighting or gladiator-fighting where you only get to lose once. Rupp said they'll take any win they can get. He said for the team to show composure and not get down helps them a lot...they'll play the same game no matter the situation.

So, Texas faces LSU in the Championship Series on Monday at 6 pm. Go, Horns!

Posted by Joanna at 11:28 PM