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Sunday - March 21, 2010

Game 20: Nebraska at Texas

Texas run-ruled Nebraska in 8 innings this afternoon, winning 13-3. Horns scored 4 in the 2nd, 6 in the 3rd, and 3 in the 8th. The 10-run rule is only in effect on getaway day for Big 12 games, by the way.

Another quick post from the field. Full report to come this evening. Watch for an update here.

UPDATE #1. Sorry to say, the day got away from me and I did not have time to write up the full game report. I'll do my best to get it online before Tuesday's game against Rice. A few quick notes, though:

• Brandon Workman pitched the complete game for the win;
• Brandon Loy had 3 hits on the day;
• Cohl Walla, Kevin Keyes, Jonathan Walsh, and Russell Moldenhauer each had two hits on the day; and
• Cameron Rupp hit his 3rd homerun of the year.

Today's game was very nicely played all the way around.

UPDATE #2. Okay...I'm back. Here's the line from Sunday's game:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nebraska	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	-	3	7	1
Texas	0	4	6	0	0	0	0	0	-	13	13	0

Yep, UT let another first-inning run across. Sigh. I really have to give two Nebraska batters a lot of credit for their performances this weekend, though: Adam Bailey and Cody Asche hit the heck out of the ball this weekend. They combined for 13 of Nebraska's 24 hits and accounted for 11 of 13 runs batted in. I dreaded seeing either of them walking up to the plate...especially if someone else was already aboard.

Ah well...on to the specifics of Sunday's game. It was cold out there but it wasn't as bad as it was on Saturday. I think it got up to 53 or so but the wind was blowing very strongly across from the lf corner to the rf corner throughout the game. And, how did things go? Like so...

• 1st inning, Nebraska
• Brandon Workman on the mound for Texas.
• DJ Belfonte (cf) grounded out on a sharply hit ball to the pitcher.
• Kale Kiser (2b) drew a full-count walk. With Adam Bailey due up.
• Adam Bailey (rf) doubled off the wall in the cf/rf gap, scoring Kiser. Sigh.
• Josh Scheffert (dh) struck out swinging.
• Cody Asche lined out to 3b.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 1st inning, Texas
• Tom Lemke on the mound for Nebraska
• Cohl Walla (cf) struck out looking (1-2 count).
• Brandon Loy (ss) drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Cameron Rupp (c) very sadly grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 2nd inning, Nebraska
• Lovely 1-2-3 inning.
• Tylar Farst (1b) struck out looking; Patric Tolentino (c) grounded out to ss; Boomer Collins (lf) grounded out to ss.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Wherein Texas bats around.
• Kevin Keyes (rf) reached no an infield single to ss.
• Kevin Lusson (3b) drew a 5-pitch walk, moving Keyes to 2b.
• Jonathan Walsh (lf) hit a 2-3 sac bunt, moving Keyes to 3b and Lusson to 2b.
• Russell Moldenhauer (dh) through the right side, scoring Keyes and Lusson.
• Tant Shepherd (1b) doubled to the lf/cf gap, moving Moldenhauer to 3b.
• Jordan Etier struck out swinging (2-2 count).
• Walla reached on an infield single (slow roller down the 3b line), scoring Moldenhauer and moving Shepherd to 3b.
• With Loy at the plate, Walla stole 2b. The catcher made no move to throw to 2b; he was looking at 3b all the way to see 3b Shepherd was going to take off.
• Loy singled through the right side, scoring Moldenhauer and moving Walla to 3b.
• Nebraska changed pitchers, sending Khris Tate in to replace Lemke.
• Cameron Rupp drew a 4-pitch walk to load the bases.
• Keyes hit a chopper off the plate that the pitcher managed to field on the run and reach out to tag Walla (running from 3b) out. He barely got to Walla. Wow.
• Texas up 4-1.
• 3rd inning, Nebraska
• In which Adam Bailey and Cody Asche come up to bat with runners on base. Again.
• Kyle Bubak (ss) struck out swinging.
• Belfonte reached on an infield pop-up that Lusson lost in the sun and wind.
• Kiser singled into rf, moving Belfonte to 3b. Hit and run. If Belfonte hadn't been on the move, causing Etier to break for 2b, I think it would've been a line drive out to 2b + possible double play at 1b. Alas, it did not go down that way.
• Bailey also singled into rf, scoring Belfonte and moving Kiser to 2b. Sigh.
• Scheffert popped out to ss. It was a soft pop-up just past the infield line over 2b. Loy made a nice over the shoulder basket catch to make the out.
• Asche singled up the middle, scoring Kiser and moving Bailey to 3b.
• Farst grounded out to 3b.
• Texas up 4-3.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• In which the wheels fall off for Nebraska, the Horns bat around again, and I have a disagreement or two with the official scorer.
• Lusson reached on a 4-pitch walk.
• Prompting Nebraska to change pitchers again. They sent Sean Yost to the mound.
• Walsh moved Lusson to 2b on a lovely 1-3 sac bunt.
• Moldenhauer reached on an infield single to 2b, moving Lusson to 3b. On the play, the throw from 2b went off the first baseman's glove and down the line toward home. Lusson broke for the plate. The pitcher fielded the ball and threw wildly home. Lusson safe on the error; Moldenhauer to 2b on the error.
• After all that excitement, Shepherd drew a 4-pitch walk. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Moldenhauer advanced to 3b on a wild pitch.
• Etier went for the squeeze but Moldenhauer stayed put at 3b and Shepherd moved to 2b on the 1-4 sac bunt. The official scorer did not credit Etier with a sac on the play. Not sure why not.
• Walla singled up the middle, scoring Moldenhauer and moving Shepherd to 3b.
• Loy doubled to rf, scoring Shepherd and Walla. The ball was hit toward pretty much straightaway rf but started blowing toward the rf line very quickly. The right fielder made a valiant effort to get to the ball and actually just got his glove on it but just couldn't make the catch. Thank you, wind!
• Cameron Rupp hit a homerun over the Wendy's sign. The wind might've given the ball a bit of distance but I think that one would've been out of the park on any day.
• Nebraska sent Mike Nesseth to the mound.
• Keyes grounded out to ss.
• The official scorer counted all six runs as unearned. I think they all should've been earned. Had the pitcher not made the throwing error, Lusson likely would've scored...and Moldenhauer would've been at 1b. With nobody out. He would've moved to 2b on the walk and then 3b on the sac by Etier. And, the rest played out like it played out makes all the runs earned. I guess the official scorer judged that Lusson would've been tagged out with a good throw, thus making the first out. And, Etier would not have been in position with two outs on the board to sac. But, I don't think you can assume that Lusson would've been tagged. It was gonna be close. But, you can't assume an out in that situation if it's not a force play and it's close. At least, I don't think you can. But, then, I guess it really doesn't matter. Earned versus unearned runs certainly have no bearing on the outcome of the game. Ah well.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 4th inning, Nebraska
• 1-2-3: Tolentino flew out to cf; Collins lined out to cf; and Bubak grounded out to 3b. Tolentino's ball likely would've been a homerun to lf if not for the wind blowing it back to cf.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Equally uneventful 1-2-3: Lusson and Walsh grounded out to 2b; Moldenhauer grounded out to 1b.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 5th inning, Nebraska
• 1-2-3 again: Belfonte grounded out to 3b (nice play by Lusson); Kiser popped out to lf (in foul territory, great catch by Walsh); and Bailey (with nobody aboard!) popped out to the pitcher.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 5th inning, Texas
• More of the 1-2-3 dance: Shepherd lined out to lf (nice charge and diving catch by the left fielder); Etier grounded out to 1b; and Walla grounded out to ss.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 6th inning, Nebraska
• Scheffert reached on an infield single...a slow roller that the pitcher almost fielded. Etier made a great scoop and throw and just barely missed getting the out at 1b.
• Asche (with a runner aboard) struck out swinging. Shocker.
• Farst flew out to cf.
• Tolentino hit into a 5-4 fielder's choice.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Another 1-2-3 inning (sigh): Loy and Rupp flew out to lf; Keyes flew out to rf (at the warning track, but still out).
• Texas up 10-3.
• 7th inning, Nebraska
• 1-2-3: Collins struck out swinging (Rupp couldn't hold onto the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out); Chad Christensen (pinch-hitting for Bubak) grounded out to the pitcher; Belfonte flew out to cf.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 7th inning, Texas
• In which Texas loads the bases with one out and then...nothing.
• Nebraska sent Ryan Hughes to the mound. Chirstensen stayed in at 2b and Bryan Peters went in for Kiser at 2b.
• Lusson struck out looking (1-2 count).
• Walsh doubled off the 3b bag and down the lf line.
• Moldenhauer drew a 5-pitch walk.
• The catcher misplayed the 2nd pitch to Shepherd. The ball went off his glove and all the way to the backstop on the left side. Walsh advanced to 3b on the passed ball. Moldenhauer, apparently napping at 1b since he did not advance (or maybe he just couldn't judge how far away the ball got from the catcher?), was replaced with pinch-runner Sam Stafford.
• Shepherd went on to draw a full-count walk to load the bases.
• Nebraska changed pitchers again and sent Luk Bublitz to the mound.
• Etier lined out to ss.
• Walla flew out to lf.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 8th inning, Nebraska
• Kiser was hit by a pitch.
• Bailey (with a runner aboard) singled through the right side, moving Kiser to 2b.
• Scheffert grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Kiser moved up to 3b on the play.
• Asche grounded out to 2b...with a runner in scoring position! Shocking.
• Texas up 10-3.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Loy reached on an infield single to ss.
• Rupp struck out looking (1-2 count).
• Keyes singled through the left side, moving Loy to 2b.
• Kyle Lusson went in to pinch-run for Keyes.
• Kevin Lusson drew a 5-pitch walk to load the bases.
• Walsh doubled off the wall near the 375 sign in the cf/rf gap, scoring Loy and Kyle Lusson, and moving Kevin Lusson to 3b.
• Paul Montalbano (pinch-hitting for Sam Stafford, who'd pinch-run for Moldenhauer in the 7th, if you'll recall), drew a 5-pitch walk to reload the bases.
• Nebraska sent Ryan Hander to the mound.
• Shepherd hit a sac fly to rf, scoring Kevin Lusson.
• Texas wins the game 13-3 due to the Big 12's 10-run rule on getaway day!

Whew. The Horns now face the Rice Owls at home on Tuesday in the rubber match of their 3-game series. Hook 'em, Horns!

Posted by Joanna at 2:50 PM