« Game 37: Texas at Texas A&M | Main | Game 39: Oklahoma State at Texas »
Tuesday - April 20, 2010
Game 38: UT-Arlington at Texas
Texas beat UT-Arlington 21-2 tonight. The line:
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UT-Arlington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Texas | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | - | 21 | 21 | 1 |
That 8th inning was just painful. We were on the verge of rooting for the Horns to hit into a double play to end the agony. 'Never thought I'd see the day. And, I was really wishing the teams had agreed to run-rule the game. But, that was not the case. The Horns basically quit running the bases in the 8th. My question: what's worse?...being run-ruled or having the other team stop trying? Oh well...on with the game report.
Sam Stafford started again. He threw 3+ innings and gave up 1 unearned run. By my count: he threw 63 pitches (39 strikes), faced 13 batters, hit one, walked 2, struck out 4, and gave up a single. Andrew McKirahan threw the next 2.1 innings for the win, improving his record to 2-1. He threw 18 pitches (11 strikes), faced 7 batters, and gave up a single. Stayton Thomas threw 0.2 innings and gave up 1 earned run. He threw 19 pitches (9 strikes), faced 4 batters, walked 1, struck out 2, threw 1 wild pitch, and gave up 1 hit (a triple). Keifer Nuncio threw the 7th and went 3-up/3-down with a strikeout. He threw 8 pitches (5 strikes). Hoby Milner threw the 8th. He struck out the side...but also gave up a double and threw a wild pitch, while throwing 14 pitches (10 strikes). Chance Ruffin went in for the 9th to get some work in (not having pitched on Saturday or Sunday) and faced 5 batters. He threw 12 pitches (9 strikes), struck out 1, and gave up two singles. More about those last two singles in a bit.
Here's how UT-Arlington scored their runs...
- 4th inning, UT-Arlington
- Sam Stafford on the mound,
- Jesse Payne (ss) was hit by a 1-1 pitch.
- Michael Choice (cf) drew a full-count walk.
- Steffan Guest (dh) reached on a fielder's choice. On the play, Kevin Lusson (3b) fielded a ground ball and threw wide to 2b. The ball went past 2b into rf. Payne scored (unearned) on the play and Choice was safe at 2b on the error.
- Texas sent Andrew McKirahan to the mound.
- Preston Beck (rf) hit into a 3-6-1 double play, moving Choice to 3b.
- Chad Comer (c) flew out to cf.
- 6th inning, UT-Arlington
- McKirahan still on the mound for Texas.
- Payne grounded out to 1b (3-1, p covered bag).
- Texas sent Stayton Thomas to the mound.
- Choice drew a 5-pitch walk and then moved to 2b on a wild pitch.
- Guest struck out swinging. Rupp dropped the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
- Beck then tripled to the cf/rf gap, scoring Choice.
- Comer struck out swinging.
So. About that error by Lusson in the 4th. He's been struggling a bit at 3b. He's been fielding just fine but seems to have something going on in his head when it comes to making the throw. And, it's been going on for a couple of weeks. But, it really came to a head over the weekend. I just looked through my score sheets for the 3 games against the Aggies and tonight's game. Lusson had 5 throwing opportunities and committed 3 errors in that time frame (1 error in 2 chances on the 16th, 1 error in 1 chance on the 17th, no errors in 1 chance on the 18th, and 1 error in 1 chance tonight). The throw tonight looked like it was 5 feet or so off-line. It looks to me like he's let it get into his head. Which really sucks. Coach Garrido went ahead and took him out of the game as the 5th inning started. He moved Jordan Weymouth (who's had a couple of brief appearances at 2b this season) in at 3b...and into the 6th spot in the line-up. The Mavericks decided to test Weymouth early on. The final batter in the 5th tried to bunt his way aboard but no go. Weymouth made a great charge on a ball bunted down the 3b line, scooped the ball up, and fired to 1b for the out. Nice. In the 9th, pinch-hitter Shane Hopkins hit a hard grounder down the 3b line. Weymouth made a really nice play to field the ball about 8 feet behind 3b and fired across the diamond to 1b. The ball looked like it was in time to me and most of the crowd at DFF but the 1b ump ruled the batter safe. The next batter lined into cf. (So, 2 hits charged to Ruffin that probably shouldn't have been but...that's the way the cookie crumbles.) And, the final batter of the game hit another grounder to 3b. Another nice long throw from Weymouth...this time in plenty of time.
About all that scoring by the Horns. It was raining hits and runs at DFF this evening. And, it's gotten awfully late. I just don't seem to have it in me to document all of 'em in my usual detail. So, you get an offensive summary instead. Sorry 'bout that. Here's how everyone did...
- Cohl Walla (lf): single + stolen base in the first, single + rbi + picked-off in the 2nd (uh-oh), bunt single + run scored in the 5th, solo hr in the 6th, strikeout swinging (2-2 count) in the 7th, walk + rbi + run scored in the 8th.
- Brandon Loy (ss): sac bunt in the 1st, walk + stolen base + run scored in the 3rd, double + rbi + stolen base + run scored in the 5th, fly out to cf in the 6th, walk + run scored, then ground out to 3b + rbi in the 8th (2 plate appearances).
- Tant Shepherd (1b): strikeout swinging (1-2 count) in the 1st, reached on error + run scored in the 3rd, walk + run scored in the 5th, single + run scored in the 6th, single + run scored then single + 2 rbi in the 8th (2 plate appearances).
- Cameron Rupp (c): fly out to rf in the 1st, 2-run homerun in the 3rd, strikeout swinging (1-2 count) in the 5th, double + run scored in the 6th.
- Jonathan Walsh (c): flew out to cf for 1st out then struck out looking for 3rd out in the 8th...poor guy. But, kinda funny, eh? I once saw the son of a friend of mine make the 1st and 2nd out of an inning and he was on-deck when the 3rd out was finally made. Oh well...
- Kevin Keyes (rf): flew out to cf in the 2nd (at the wall, cf had to jump to make catch), flew out to rf in the 3rd (again at the wall), sac fly + rbi n the 5th, single + 2 rbi in the 6th, single + rbi + run scored in the 8th.
- Kevin Lusson (3b): ground out to 2b in the 2nd, strike out swinging (1-2 count) in the 4th.
- Jordan Weymouth (3b): single + run scored in the 5th, reached on a fielder's choice in the 6th, triple + 2 rbi + run scored in the 8th.
- Russell Moldenhauer (dh): ground out to ss in the 2nd, single + run scored in the 4th, double + 2 rbi in the 5th, ground out to p in the 6th, single + rbi + run scored in the 8th.
- Connor Rowe (cf): single + run scored in the 3rd, fly out to lf in the 4th, pop up to 1b (foul) in the 5th, line out to rf in the 7th, single + run scored in the 8th.
- Jordan Etier (2b): sac bunt in the 3rd, single + rbi + picked off in the 4th (uh-oh) in the 4th, solo homerun in the 6th, ground out to 3b in the 7th, walk + run scored in the 8th.
Yep...two more Texas runners picked off at 1b. Other than that, a very nice offensive game for the Horns. I know not what's going on with all the picked-off runners this year. It's weird. We're up to 9, folks. Nine.
Oklahoma State comes to town this weekend. The Cowboys are 22-13 (5-7 Big 12) and are playing a game tomorrow night before traveling to Austin. Here's hoping the Horns improve their win-streak to 16 games!
Hook 'em!
Posted by Joanna at 11:55 PM