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Saturday - May 21, 2011

Game 52: Texas A&M at Texas

It was very muggy at Disch-Falk for the start of Game 2 of the A&M series. And, we were warned that thunderstorms were in the offing. Sure enough, just as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was drawing to a conclusion in the middle of the 7th, lightening struck. And, the teams retreated to their respective locker rooms and a tarp was brought out to cover the mound. And, then the rain came. And, it came and came and came. With the game tied 4-4, we waited. After 90 minutes, the teams were back on the field. And, Texas scored the go-ahead run right away and an insurance run in the next inning and went on to win 6-4! The line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas A&M	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	8	2
Texas	0	0	1	0	0	3	1	1	-	6	12	0

The line-ups:

Texas		TAMU
Tyler Naquin (rf) Krey Bratsen (cf) Matt Juengel (dh) Jacob House (1b) Adam Smith (3b) Kevin Gonzalez (c) Brandon Wood (lf) Kenny Jackson (ss) Andrew Collazo (2b)		Brandon Loy (ss) Mark Payton (rf) Tant Shepherd (1b) Erich Weiss (3b) Paul Montalbano (lf) Jonathan Walsh (dh) Jordan Etier (2b) Cohl Walla (cf) Jacob Felts (c)

And, the play-by-play:

• 1st inning, TAMU
• Cole Green (rhp) on the mound for Texas.
• Naquin flew out to cf.
• Bratsen flew out to rf.
• Juengel was hit by a pitch. The ball grazed his shirt but it still count. It always makes me laugh when the crowd moans and groans at that call.
• With House at the plate, Juengel was caught stealing (2-6).
• 13 pitches (9 for strikes). As always the pitch-counts are my counts and are not official.
• 1st inning, Texas
• Michael Wacha (rhp) on the mound for TAMU.
• Loy flew out to rf...foul. The right-fielder ran into the gate down the rf line as he caught the ball. Nice play. And, ouch.
• Payton flew out to lf. Shallow fly ball down the lf line.
• Shepherd flew out to cf. High fly ball to deep cf at the warning track. Oh, for a little bit of a wind blowing out. Alas, it was muggy and the air was thick and dead.
• 2nd inning, TAMU
• House (who was left at the plate in the first) grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• Smith homered off the top of the lf wall just right of the 375 sign. ugh.
• Gonzalez struck out looking...at all three pitches. Sweet.
• Wood lined a single just over Etier's glove into rf.
• Jackson grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice.
• 13 pitches (11 for strikes).
• Texas down 0-1.
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Weiss grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• Montalbano singled past the ss into cf.
• Walsh lined a double down the rf line into the corner, moving Montalbano to 3b.
• Etier popped out to 2b.
• Side note. I've had Texas baseball season tickets since 1989. I've seen a whole bunch of baseball games. It feels like the Horns have popped out more times this year than they have in all the years I've been watching games at Disch-Falk in all the years I've been going combined. It's so bizarre. Can anyone explain this strange phenomena?
• Walla struck out swinging. Damn.
• Texas down 0-1.
• 3rd inning, TAMU
• Collazo grounded out to 3b.
• Naquin flew out to lf.
• Bratsen lined a single into cf and then stole 2b on the 3rd pitch to Juengel (after Texas had thrown a pitch-out on the 2nd pitch).
• Juengel grounded out to the pitcher (high bouncer).
• 19 pitches (14 for strikes).
• Texas down 0-1.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Felts lined out to cf. Nice hit. Too bad it was right at the center fielder.
• Loy lined a single into rf. Yes!
• With Payton at the plate, Loy moved up to 2b on a wild pitch.
• Payton grounded out to 1b (unassisted), moving Loy to 3b.
• Shepherd drew a full-count 7-pitch walk.
• With Weiss at the plate, Shepherd made a move toward 2b. The pitcher threw to 1b and Loy broke for home. The first baseman threw to the catcher and Loy made a move back to 3b. The catcher threw to 3b but the ball was low and skipped through to lf, allowing Loy to score (E2) and Shepherd to move up to 2b. Shepherd then moved up to 3b on a wild pitch (the next pitch).
• Weiss ended up drawing a full-count 7-pitch walk, putting runners at the corners.
• Montalbano grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice to end the inning. Nice play by the ss to cut the ball off behind 2b and flip to 2b for the force.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 4th inning, TAMU
• House grounded out to 2b.
• Smith tripled to right-center. Really nice hit. Ouch.
• Coach Johnson made a visit to the mound.
• Gonzalez struck out swinging!
• Wood struck out swinging! Yes! Wood tried to check his swing but no go.
• 15 pitches (11 for strikes).
• Game tied 1-1.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Walsh popped out to 1b.
• Etier popped out to shallow cf.
• Walla grounded out to 3b. Nice charge and throw by the third baseman.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 5th inning, TAMU
• Jackson struck out swinging.
• Collazo struck out swinging. That's 4 in-a-row!
• Naquin flew out to cf.
• 10 pitches (7 for strikes).
• Game tied 1-1.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Felts struck out looking.
• Loy popped out to 1b.
• Payton lined out to cf.
• Game tied 1-1.
• 6th inning, TAMU
• Bratsen struck out swinging!
• Juengel also struck out swinging!
• And, then...sigh...
• House lined a single over Green's head into cf...and then stole 2b about half-way through Smith's plate appearance.
• Smith drew a full-count 8-pitch walk.
• Gonzalez was hit by a 1-0 pitch to load the bases.
• Wood singled up the middle, scoring House and Smith. Gonzalez moved p to 3b. Walla could probably have thrown Gonzalez out at 3b but, instead, made a rather lazy throw to 2b (or so it seemed).
• Jackson lined a single into rf, scoring Gonzalez and moving Wood to 2b.
• After the first pitch to Collazo (a ball), Texas sent Nathan Thornhill (rhp) to the mound, replacing Green.
• Collazo reached on an infield single off Weiss at 3b to load the bases. Loy got to the ball and stopped it from getting into the outfield but was visibly limping after he got back up. Yikes.
• Texas sent Hoby Milner (lhp) to the mound, replacing Thornhill.
• Naquin struck out looking. Whew.
• After all that, Texas struck out the side. Yep, I'm shaking my head at that one.
• Pitch counts: Green (29, 19 for strikes); Thornhill (4, 2 for strikes); and Milner (4, 3 for strikes).
• Texas down 1-4.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Shepherd grounded out to ss.
• Weiss reached on an infield single to 2b. The second baseman made a nice play to stop the ball but was running hard away from 1b toward lf and had no chance to make a throw.
• Montalbano lined a single into rf, moving Weiss to 3b.
• Walsh struck out swinging.
• Etier singled up the middle, scoring Weiss and moving Montalbano to 2b.
• TAMU made a visit to the mound after the first pitch to Walla (a ball).
• Walla reached on an infield single to 3b, loading the bases. The third baseman dove to his right and stopped the hard hit grounder but it dribbled away from him into foul territory. He did save a run on the play.
• Kevin Lusson (pinch-hitting for Felts) singled up the middle, scoring Montalbano and Etier, and moving Walla to 2b.
• TAMU sent Joaquin Hinojosa (rhp) to the mound, replacing Wacha.
• Loy grounded into a 5-unassisted fielder's choice to end the inning.
• Game tied 4-4!
• 7th inning, TAMU
• Lusson stayed in the game at catcher for Texas.
• Bratzen reached on a 3rd-strike wild pitch that went all the way to the backstop.
• Juengel hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Nicely played by Weiss.
• House grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• 9 pitches (7 for strikes).
• Game tied 4-4.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Insert 90-minute rain delay. The Aggies were on the field warming up and lightening was on the radar a short distance away. The teams went into their locker rooms and the grounds crew covered the mound. Within a couple of minutes it was raining cats and dogs. Hinojosa remained on the mound after the delay.
• Payton singled to rf but slid just past the 2b bag on the wet turf and was tagged out (9-6) as he tried to stretch the single into a double. If the turf hadn't been wet, I'm sure he would've been safe. He beat the throw in from rf. Too bad.
• Shepherd drew a full-count walk.
• TAMU sent Brandon Parrent (lhp) to the mound, replacing Hinojosa.
• Weiss singled through the right side, moving Shepherd to 3b.
• Montalbano blooped a single into rf down the line, scoring Shepherd and moving Montalbano to 2b.
• TAMU sent Nick Fleece (rhp) to the mound, replacing Parrent.
• Walsh grounded out to 1b (unassisted), moving Weiss to 3b and Montalbano to 2b.
• Etier grounded out to 2b.
• Texas up 5-4.
• 8th inning, TAMU
• Milner remained on the mound for Texas.
• Smith popped out to 1b (just foul in front of 1b).
• Gonzalez popped out to the catcher (also foul). Really nice play by Lusson to catch the ball in front of the Texas dugout.
• Wood struck out looking.
• 16 pitches (10 for strikes).
• Texas up 5-4.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Walla struck out swinging.
• Lusson reached on a fielding error by ss. The ball skipped under his glove and between his legs into shallow left-center.
• Loy grounded out to 1b (unassisted), moving Lusson to 2b.
• Payton lined a double into right-center, scoring Lusson. Nice.
• Texas sent Tim Maitland in to pinch-run for Payton.
• Shepherd flew out to lf, just shy of the warning track.
• Texas up 6-4.
• 9th inning, TAMU
• Maitland stayed in the game in lf. Montalbano moved over to rf.
• Charlie Curl (pinch-hitting for Jackson) grounded out to 2b. Really nice play by Etier to charge the ball and throw Curl out at 1b.
• Collazo drew a 5-pitch walk.
• After throwing 2 balls to Naquin, Texas sent Corey Knebel (rhp) in to pitch, replacing Milner.
• Two more ball thrown to Naquin put runners at 1b and 2b.
• Bratsen struck out swinging. Purty, purty, purty job by Knebel!
• Juengel hit into a 5-unassisted fielder's choice to end the game!
• Pitch counts: Milner (10, 4 for strikes) and Knebel (6, 4 for strikes).
• Texas wins 6-4.

Milner earns the win to move his record to 6-3 and Knebel gets his 16th save of the season!

Nice win for the Horns. Here's hoping they can complete the sweep. The game will be on Fox Sports so you can watch on TV if you can't make it to Disch-Falk field. Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 2:34 PM