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Friday - March 26, 2010

Game 22: Texas at Texas Tech

I listened to the game on the radio. This report is based on the description provided by Criag Way and Keith Moreland this evening and a few things from GameTracker. I jotted notes for the first couple of innings as I was driving home so the details at the top of the game are a bit hazy.

Here's how things played out:

• 1st inning, Texas
• John Neely on the mound for the Red Raiders.
• Cole Walla (rf) singled (through the right side, I think).
• Brandon Loy (ss) moved Walla to 2b with a 1-3 sac bunt.
• Cameron Rupp (c) flew out to rf. Walla tagged up on the play and advanced to 3b.
• Kevin Keyes (dh) struck out swinging.
• Lead-off batter reached and then stranded at 3b.
• 1st inning, Texas Tech
• Jamodrick McGruder (2b) lined out to 2b.
• Joey Kenworthy (ss) lined out to 2b.
• Michael Reed (lf) walked (on four pitches, I think).
• Barrett Barnes (1b) homered over the lf fence.
• Scott LeJeune (rf) struck out swinging.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Kevin Lusson (3b) singled (up the middle, I think).
• Jonathan Walsh (lf) moved Lusson to 2b with a 1-3 sac bunt.
• Tant Shepherd (1b) grounded out to 2b, moving Lusson to 3b.
• Connor Rowe (cf) struck out swinging.
• Lead-off batter reached and then stranded at 3b.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 2nd inning, Texas Tech
• Jeremy Mayo (c) walked (didn't note the count).
• Kevin Whitehead (dh) doubled to right-center, scoring Mayo.
• Taylor Ashby (cf) reached on a fielder's choice. He bunted. The ball was fielded quickly by Jungmann who looked back to 2b and saw that Whitehead was far enough off the bag that he had a play. He threw to Loy (at ss) who tagged Whitehead for the out. Ashby safe at 1b.
• Nick Popescu (3b) struck out swinging.
• McGruder hit a homerun to lf. Keith Moreland said it would've been a routine fly ball to lf without the wind.
• Kennworthy singled past 2b.
• Reed grounded out to the pitcher.
• Texas down 0-5.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Jordan Etier (2b) grounded out to 2b.
• Walla grounded out to the catcher. He hit a chopper off the plate.
• Loy tripled to right-center.
• Rupp flew out to cf.
• Texas stranded a runner at 3b...not the lead-off batter this time, though.
• Texas down 0-5.
• 3rd inning, Texas Tech
• Barnes struck out swinging to start things off.
• LeJeune grounded out to 2b.
• Mayo doubled off the wall in left-center.
• Whitehead struck out looking!
• Texas down 0-5.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Keyes homered over the left-center wall.
• Lusson popped out to the shortstop.
• Walsh grounded out to ss.
• Shepherd singled past 3b into lf.
• Rowe popped out to 2b in shallow cf.
• Texas did not strand a runner in scoring position for the first time in the game...and the lead-off batter scored!
• Texas down 1-5.
• 4th inning, Texas Tech
• Barnes flew out to rf.
• Popescu popped out to the pitcher.
• McGruder grounded out to the pitcher.
• Yes! 1-2-3.
• Texas down 1-5.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Etier singled to right-center.
• Walla, sadly, hit into a 1-6-3 double play.
• Loy drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Rupp flew out to rf. Craig Way said it would've been a homer without the wind. Too bad.
• Lead-off batter reached but did not score. Again.
• Texas down 1-5.
• 5th inning, Texas Tech
• Kenworthy grounded out to 2b. Etier made a very nice play to field a ball that bounced over the pitcher's outstretched glove.
• Reed drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Barnes was hit by a pitch (on his helmet)...a breaking ball that got away from Jungmann. Runners at 1b and 2b with 1 out.
• Comment from Keith Moreland that Jungmann is really struggling with his consistency tonight...that he has no feel for his breaking ball.
• After the first pitch to LeJeune (a ball), Texas made a visit to the mound.
• LeJeune lined into cf for a single. Reed scored and Barnes moved up to 3b.
• Mayo reached on a 5-4 fielder's choice, scoring Barnes. LeJeune out on the play. The ball was not hit hard enough to make the double play but Texas did try. Moreland commented that Lusson probably had a play at home.
• Whitehead was hit by a pitch...on the leg.
• Moreland noted that McKirahan was up in the bullpen.
• Ashby struck out swinging.
• Texas down 1-7. Ouch.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Keyes singled into left-center to lead things off for Texas.
• Which, peculiarly enough, prompted a pitching change. Jay Johnson (lefty) went to the mound, replacing Neely.
• According to GameTracker, opponents are hitting .429 against Johnson with runners on base. Go, Horns!
• Lusson lined out to cf. Nice diving catch.
• Walsh grounded into a 4-6 fielder's choice. Sigh...
• Shepherd was hit by a pitch, moving Walsh to 2b.
• Rowe struck out swinging. So much for .429, eh?
• Texas strands 2 this time...only one in scoring position, though.
• Texas down 1-7.
• 6th inning, Texas Tech
• Popescu grounded out to 2b.
• McGruder reached on a full-count walk.
• Kenworthy grounded out to 1b (unassisted). McGruder moved up to 2b.
• Reed lined into lf for a single, scoring McGruder.
• Which prompted a pitching change for the Horns. Texas sent Stayton Thomas to the mound.
• I'm pretty sure this marks Jungmann's worst outing at UT. Tech, like Nebraska, throws a lot of left-handed batters into its line-up.
• Barnes struck out looking after fighting off a few pitches.
• Texas down 1-8.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Bonham Hough went into rf for the Raiders...taking LeJeune's spot in the lineup. Got this info from GameTracker. Radio guys did not notice 'til after Hough's at-bat int eh bottom of the inning.
• For some reason I feel another lead-off homer headed our way.
• Etier worked the count full but then struck out swinging. 'Guess my feeling was off, eh?
• Craig Way commented that Etier is wearing jersey #30 tonight instead of #7. But, no explanation for the change. Hmmm...
• Walla was hit by a pitch.
• I think Keith Moreland said KVET would not be carrying next Sunday's game...that they'd be covering the football scrimmage instead. Sigh...
• Loy struck out looking (0-2 count).
• Rupp hit a pop-up into foul territory. Barnes and McGruder collided as they tried, but failed, to field the ball. McGruder was down for a few seconds but then got up and stayed in the game.
• Walla stole 2b with Rupp at the plate.
• At this point, things stalled out for a minute or so as a dust storm kicked up. I've been in Lubbock when the wind kicks up like that. No fun. I'm surprised it didn't last longer. I was driving in Lubbock once when one of those storms kicked up and I couldn't even see across the road. 'Had to pull over and wait for about 20 minutes before it was safe to drive. We used to watch the red wall of dust blowing over the town and just dread its arrival. Dust would get into everything...no way I'd ever try to wear contact lenses in Lubbock. No way.
• Rupp singled into rf, scoring Walla.
• Offensive timeout to allow Rupp (who wears contact lenses) to put solution in his eyes.
• Keyes grounds into a 4-unassisted fielder's choice. The second baseman fielded the ball and just beat Rupp to 2b.
• Texas down 2-8.
• 7th inning, Texas Tech
• Hough reached on an infield single to ss.
• Mayo moved Hough to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt.
• Whitehead drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Ashby's double-play ball hit Hough. Hough out on the play. Whitehead safe at 2b, Ashby safe at 1b. The official scorer did not credit Ashby with a single on the play. The rule is part of the immediate dead ball rule and states that if a fair-hit ball touches a runner in fair territory before touching an infielder, the ball is dead and the runner hit by the batted ball is declared out. Runner(s) advance if forced and the batter is awarded first base with a single. The out, by the way, is scored unassisted to the nearest fielder. In this case, the shortstop.
• Popescu grounded out to 2b.
• Texas down 2-8.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Lusson grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• Walsh drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Texas sent Chad Bettis (righty) to the mound, replacing Johnson.
• Shepherd reached on a throwing error by ss. Walsh moved up to 3b on the play and Shepherd moved to 2b.
• Russell Moldenhauer, pinch-hitting for Rowe, fought off a few pitches and then struck out swinging.
• Etier fell behind, worked the count full, then drew a walk. Nicely done.
• Walla grounded out to the pitcher.
• The Horns left 'em loaded. Ouch.
• Texas down 2-8.
• 8th inning, Texas Tech
• Texas sent Kyle Lusson into the game in rf, and moved Cole Walla to cf.
• McGruder reached on a bunt single. He was hit by the throw from p to 1b.
• Texas argued that McGruder was not in the runner's lane when he was hit by the throw from Thomas. Lost the argument. Not surprisingly. And, Thomas ended up being charged with an error on the play. No bunt single. GameTracker also got messed up at this point, showing McGruder at 2b on the play. He was clearly at 1b, though.
• Kenworthy flew out to cf.
• McGruder moved to 3b on an error by the pitcher. Thomas made a bad pick-off throw to 1b...on the rf side of the bag away from Shepherd.
• Reed singled through the left side, scoring McGruder. Sigh...
• With Barnes at the plate, Reed was caught stealing (2-4?...radio guys did not say).
• Barnes drew a full-count walk.
• Hough also drew a full-count walk, moving Barnes to 2b.
• This is one painful game.
• Mayo singled to lf, scoring Barnes and moving Hough to 2b.
• Nooooooooooo!!!! Sigh...
• Texas sent Andrew McKirahan (lhp) to the mound, replacing Thomas.
• Stepen Hagen, pinch-hitting for lefty Whitehead, doubled over Kyle Lusson's head in rf, scoring Hough and Mayo. Lusson had a bead on the ball and the wind caught it and blew it over his head.
• Ashby grounded out to 3b.
• Texas down 2-12. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
• 9th inning, Texas
• Loy grounded out to 1b (p covered the bag).
• Rupp drew a full-count walk.
• Keyes got ahead 3-0, watched two strikes, fouled off a pitch, and then singled through the left side, moving Rupp to 2b.
• Kevin Lusson fell behind 0-2, watched a ball, then watched strike 3.
• Walsh doubled the first pitch he saw to the gap (did not hear which side but think it was to the cf/rf gap) to score Rupp and Keyes.
• Shepherd lined a single through the left side, scoring Walsh.
• Paul Montalbano (pinch-hitting for Kyle Lusson; UT going for left-handed batter vs. rhp situation)...
• Insert stolen base by Shepherd on first pitch to Montalbano.
• ...Montalbano grounded out to 1b unassisted to end the game.
• Texas loses 5-12.

The line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	5	11	2
Texas Tech	2	3	0	0	2	1	0	4	-	12	12	1

Note, this line shows the hit in the 7th by Tech that was not scored by the official scorer.

In the post-game interview, Coach Garrido commented that the Red Raiders used the weather conditions better than the Horns did. He also said he felt like if the Horns had sustained their rally in the 8th inning, they would've handled the pitching differently in the bottom of the inning and would've still been in the game with a chance to win in the 9th.

I suppose anything's possible. But, this year's Horns don't seem to have that little bit of magic that last year's team had. 'Course last year's team lost the magic during the final 3-game series of the year in Omaha, eh? I do hope they got it all out of their system this evening and come back to win the series.

A couple more note about the series. The start time for tomorrow night's game has been moved to 6:30 (originally scheduled for 5 o'clock) in the hope that they'll be able to avoid even stronger winds than they saw this evening and Sunday's game will be broadcast on FSN.

Hook 'em, Horns!

Posted by Joanna at 9:17 PM