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Friday - March 12, 2010

Game 13: Iowa at Texas

Yet another nail biter! The Horns really need to get those bats going. I don't think our pitchers (not to mention those of us in the stands) can take much more of this. Taylor Jungmann pitched a whale of a game. He went 7.1 innings, threw 122 pitches by my count (89 strikes), faced 29 batters, gave up 5 hits, and 1 run (earned). He threw 3 wild pitches, walked 1, and struck out 17 batters. Seventeen! And, for all that? No decision. That's practically criminal.

Iowa scored 1 in the 1st. With 2 out, Ryan Durant singled (1-2 pitch) through the right side...and then stole 2b. Dallas Burke then doubled (1-2 pitch, again) down the lf line. Ouch. Sean Flanagan then struck out...first strikeout of the game for Jungmann. Jungmann struck out the side in the 2nd. He got another strikeout to start the 3rd, then a groundout, then gave up another 1-2 hit...this time a single, before striking out his 6th batter of the game. In the fourth: groundout, strikeout, groundout. In the 5th: 3 Ks. In the 6th: strikeout, single (1-1 count this time), fly out, strikeout. In the 7th: a leadoff single (1-0 count) followed by 3 Ks.

And, then the interesting 8th. First batter struck out swinging at a wild pitch and made it safely to 1b as the ball went all the way to the backstop. He was caught stealing on the first pitch to the second batter. Second batter reached base exactly the same way...wild-pitch strikeout that went all the way to the backstop! Bizarro. Jungmann then gave up a 5-pitch walk to the next batter (aside: his only walk of the game; he only went to 3 balls against 2 other batters...both of whom went on to strikeout) and, after throwing 122 pitches and striking out 17 batters, he was lifted for Stayton Thomas...who threw 2 pitches. Durant (he of the lone run scored in the first) grounded the 2nd pitch he saw from Thomas into a lovely 6-4-3 double play...the tail end of which, Tant Shepherd did a great job of scooping off the turf and just barely hanging onto. Whew. Chance Ruffin went in for the 9th: strikeout, fly out, strikeout. In the 10th: pop out (foul), line out to cf, strikeout. By my count, he threw 26 pitches (21 strikes...his first 9 pitches were all strikes), faced 6 batters, and struck out 3. And, got his 2nd win of the year.

On the offensive side, I have very little to report. In the 1st, Brandon Loy hit a 1-out single to lf and tried to stretch it into a double but was, sadly, thrown out 7-4 on a very nice play by the Iowa left fielder. Cohl Walla reached on an error in the 2nd...debatable play. A high throw from the ss pulled the first baseman off the bag but it looked like he might've tagged Walla as he was coming down. But, the first base ump was screened from the play and, really, Walla might have been stepping on the bag at the same time and the tie goes to the runner, right? Shrug. Kevin Lusson then hit into a 6-4-3 double play so...no matter. Paul Montalbano led off the bottom of the 3rd with a 5-pitch walk. After Connor Rowe and Jordan Etier struck out, Tant Shepherd was hit by a pitch. Brandon Loy then hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice. Kevin Keyes reached on a 1-out full-count walk in the 4th. He stole 2b and moved up to 3b on an error (the catcher's throw on the sb went into cf) but he was stranded at 3b. The horns went 3-up/3-down in the 5th and 6th. Kevin Lusson reached on a 2-out full-count walk in the 7th but was stranded at 1b. With 1 out in the 8th, Texas finally got their second hit of the game when Jordan Etier hit a homerun that just cleared the rf fence and fell into the Texas bullpen. Yes! Tant Shepherd then grounded out and Brandon Loy singled over the ss but was then forced out on a fielder's choice.

In the bottom of the 9th, things got rather interesting. Kevin Keyes singled on a little blooper over the shortstop. The Horns sent Tim Maitland in to pinch run for Keyes. Cohl Walla then hit a couple of bunt attempts foul before hitting a single through the right side. Maitland held up at 2b. Iowa had a visit to the mound but stayed with their starter. Kevin Lusson up. He squared to bunt and watched a strike go by. On the next pitch (a ball), the catcher almost threw Maitland out at 2b. Whew. Lusson advanced the batters on the next pitch, though, with a beautiful sac bunt (5-4) down the 3b line. Iowa finally replaced their starter. Jarred Hippen went 8.1 innings and gave up an earned run. He faced 33 batters, threw 105 pitches (71 strikes), gave up 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out 8. Great game. Wow. Nick Brown replaced him on the mound. Kyle Lusson (pinch-hitting for Montalbano) went down swinging. Russell Moldenhauer (pinch-hitting for Connor Rowe) also went down swinging. Damn. Two runners in scoring (ahem...winning) position with 1 out...and the Horns fail to score. Not pretty. Sigh...

The 10th started out the same way as Jordan Etier struck out, looking this time. But, then...magic. Tant Shepherd hit a towering homerun (first pitch) over the Texas bullpen to win the game. Wow!

The line...

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Iowa	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
Texas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	6	1

Geesh. This is too much stress. Sigh...

The Horns are now up for a double-header against Iowa tomorrow. The first game is scheduled for 7 innings and the second for 9. If the first game goes long, they'll switch and the second game will be a 7-inning affair. 'Hope the bats have more life tomorrow.

Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 10:24 PM