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Saturday - June 11, 2011

Game 64: Arizona State at Texas (Austin Super Regional)

On Monday I wrote:

This Texas team really seems to have turned a corner. If they keep playing the way they did over the last couple of days, they will be in Omaha in a couple of weeks.

Sorry to say, the Horns did not, in fact, keep playing that way. Instead, this happened...

That "2" in the error column pretty much tells the story of what went wrong in today's game. Well, that and the fact that the Horns only managed to score 1 run off 8 hits.

The lineups:

Arizona State		Texas
Johnny Ruettiger (lf) Deven Marrero (ss) Riccio Torrez (3b) Joey DeMichele (dh) Zach Wilson (1b) Matt Newman (rf) Austin Barnes (c) Zack MacPhee (2b) Andrew Aplin (cf)		Tant Shepherd (1b) Mark Payton (rf) Brandon Loy (ss) Erich Weiss (3b) Paul Montalbano (cf) Jonathan Walsh (lf) Kevin Lusson (dh) Jacob Felts (c) Jordan Etier (2b)

Frankly, I'm not much in the mood for doing the play-by-play thing. Especially since I imagine most of you watched the game on TV if you weren't able to make it to Disch-Falk Field. But...what the heck? Here goes...

Play by play:

• 1st inning, Arizona State
• Taylor Jungmann (rhp) on the mound for Texas.
• Ruettiger reached on an infield single...a slow-rolling ground ball that went past the mound toward 2b. Etier tried to bare-hand the ball and toss it to 1b (his only chance at getting an out) but he was unable to round up the ball.
• Marrero reached on a 5-4 fielder's choice. Etier's relay throw to 1b for the double play was low and Shepherd was unable to dig it out.
• Torrez grounded out to ss. High bouncer to ss. Nice charge, field on the short hop, and throw by Loy! Marrero moved to 2b on the play.
• DeMichele grounded out to the catcher. A full-swing dribbler left the ball only a about 10 feet or so away from home plate. Nice play by Felts.
• 10 pitches (8 for strikes).
• 1st inning, Texas
• Brady Rodgers (rhp) on the mound for Arizona State.
• Shepherd grounded out to ss.
• Payton fell behind 0-2, worked the count full, and flew out to rf (high pop-up).
• Loy reached on an error by ss. The shortstop pulled his glove up just as the ball was about to get to him and dribbled into lf.
• Weiss grounded out to ss. The throw to 1b was offline (toward home plate). The first baseman, though, caught the ball and tagged Weiss before he could get to the 1b bag.
• 2nd inning, Arizona State
• Wilson popped out to ss near the lf line.
• Newman lined out to rf. Fantastic running catch by Payton in rf just shy of the warning track!
• Barnes grounded out to 1b (p covered bag).
• 7 pitches (5 for strikes).
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Montalbano grounded out to ss. Nice job by the ss to snag the ball headed into cf, spin and throw (as he was falling!) to 1b. Geesh.
• Walsh flew out to cf.
• Lusson lined a single into rf.
• Felts lined a single into lf. Lusson was on the run as he hit the ball and advanced to 3b!
• Sadly, Etier struck out swinging (3 pitches).
• Yep...runner stranded at 3b.
• [Oh yeah...now I remember why I shouldn't be doing a complete play-by-play. I'm tired and sleepy and am stopping now. Will resume tomorrow morning at some point.]
• [Several hours later, I am back. Y'all wouldn't really know the difference if I didn't put this note here, though. Would you? Nope. Anyway...]
• 3rd inning, Arizona State
• MacPhee grounded out to 1b (unassisted). The ball was bouncing down the line and probably would've gone foul but Shepherd grabbed it just before it had a chance to go foul and then tagged the batter for the out.
• Aplin lined a single just past Shepherd into rf. (9-pitch at-bat. Really? Yes...really.) Oh, wait. It was ruled an error. I don't think Shepherd actually touched the ball but I guess the ruling was that he should've gotten in front of it rather than try to back-hand it. Huh.
• Ruettiger drew a 5-pitch walk, moving Aplin to 2b.
• Insert mound visit to the mound by Skip Johnson...the entire infield showed up to the meeting at the mound.
• Marrero reached on a fielder's choice. He hit a ground ball to the pitcher. Jungmann fielded and threw to 2b. Loy and Etier seemed unsure of who should take the throw. It looked like Etier pointed to Loy as Jungmann was throwing. The ball went directly to 2b...a little low but certainly catchable. Etier stabbed at it and the ball deflected off his glove into shallow cf. E4. Aplin scored. Runners at 1b and 2b.
• Torrez struck out looking.
• DeMichele blooped a double down the lf line scoring Ruettiger and moving Marrero to 3b.
• Wilson struck out swinging.
• 32 pitches (18 for strikes). Two unearned runs.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Shepherd reached on an infield single to 3b. Which could've been ruled an error. The third baseman made a nice stop on a ground ball headed through the left side and then threw high to 1b. The first baseman had to jump up off the bag to make the catch. He tried to tag Shepherd as he came down but Shepherd ducked under the tag.
• Payton moved Shepherd to 2b on a 5-3 sac bunt.
• Loy lined a single into cf, scoring Shepherd. Nice.
• Weiss singled through the right side, moving Loy to 3b. Loy was already two-thirds of the way to 2b when the ball scooted through the right side. Did Texas actually execute a hit & run???? Or was Loy stealing 2b?
• Insert full-infield visit to the mound.
• Sadly, Montalbano grounded into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning. Geesh. The pitcher just barely made it to the bag in time. Too bad.
• And, yep...another runner stranded at 3b.
• Texas down 1-2.
• 4th inning, Arizona State
• Newman lined out to cf.
• Barnes grounded out to the pitcher (unassisted). The slow bouncer was headed down the 1b line. Jungmann fielded on the run and kept running to 1b, beating the batter to the bag.
• MacPhee drew a 5-pitch walk and then moved up to 2b on a wild pitch with Aplin at the plate. On the wp, the ball was in the dirt and bounced about 12 or 15 feet away from Felts. No throw to 2b on the play.
• Aplin struck out looking.
• 19 pitches (10 for strikes).
• Texas down 1-2.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Walsh reached on an infield single that bounced over the pitcher. By the time the shortstop got to the ball, he had no play.
• Lusson popped out to 2b.
• Felts struck out looking (full count).
• A balk was called on the first pitch to Etier (no pitch...although, Etier did swing at it), moving Walsh to 2b.
• Etier struck out swinging (3 pitches; well...4 but the first one didn't count).
• Runner stranded at 2b this time.
• Texas down 1-2.
• 5th inning, Arizona State
• Ruettiger grounded out to 2b.
• Marrero grounded out to 3b.
• Torrez singled past the diving shortstop up the middle.
• DeMichele grounded out to 3b.
• 10 pitches (8 for strikes).
• Texas down 1-2.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Shepherd hit a hard fly ball to cf but it was run down by the center fielder. Nice play.
• Payton grounded out to 2b.
• Loy grounded out to 3b. Nice diving stop by the third baseman on a ball that was headed down the line for a double. Sigh...
• 3 up...3 down.
• Texas down 1-2.
• 6th inning, Arizona State
• Wilson lined out to cf.
• Newman grounded out to 1b (p covered bag).
• Barnes grounded out to ss. Fantastic play by Loy deep in the hole!
• 7 pitches (4 for strikes). The first two outs came on 2 pitches. Nice inning for Jungmann.
• Texas down 1-2.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Weiss struck out swinging.
• Montalbano grounded out to 2b.
• Walsh grounded out to 1b (p covered bag).
• 1-2-3. So sad.
• Texas down 1-2.
• 7th inning, Arizona State
• MacPhee grounded out to 1b (p covered bag).
• Aplin grounded out to 2b.
• Ruettiger grounded out to the pitcher (high bouncer).
• 6 pitches (5 for strikes). Another really nice inning for Jungmann. If only the offense could get something going, eh?
• Texas down 1-2.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Lusson grounded out to 3b.
• Felts lined a single into rf.
• Tim Maitland (pinch-hitting for Etier) singled through the right side, moving Felts to 3b! The throw from rf hit Felts as he was sliding into 3b. I heard someone say that Felts would've been out if the ball hadn't hit him but the third baseman was 3 or 4 feet off the bag toward the outfield waiting for the throw so the throw was not online for the out. Had it been online, it certainly would've been a close play.
• Shepherd grounded into a 5-2 fielder's choice, moving Maitland to 2b. Felts was on the move with contact (according to Coach Garrido in the post-game interview) and was thrown out easily on the weak grounder to 3b. He made a weird slide at the plate...he started to slide and then sort of popped up and weakly stumbled into the catcher. Buster Posey on his mind? Dunno. It was ugly, though. Ugh.
• Arizona State sent Mitchell Lambson (lhp) to the mound, replacing Rodgers.
• Payton, very sadly, popped out to 2b.
• Runner out at home and then runner stranded at 2b.
• Texas down 1-2.
• 8th inning, Arizona State
• Christian Summers went in at 2b (taking Maitland's spot in the lineup).
• Marrero drew an 11-pitch full-count walk. After falling behind 0-2. Yeah. Really. Ugh.
• Torrez moved Marrero to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt.
• Texas sent Hoby Milner (lhp) to the mound, replacing Jungmann. Nice standing ovation by the crowd, thanking Jungmann for his years at Texas.
• DeMichele singled to lf, scoring Marrero.
• Wilson drew a 5-pitch walk, moving DeMichele to 2b.
• Newman flew out to lf.
• Texas sent Kendal Carrillo (rhp) to the mound, replacing Milner.
• Barnes grounded out to 3b.
• Final numbers for Jungmann: 7.1 innings, 30 batters, 3 runs (1 earned), 3 hits (all singles), 3 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 wild pitch, 104 pitches (66 for strikes).
• Final numbers for Milner: 0.1 inning, 3 batters, 1 hit (single), 1 walk, 17 pitches (9 for strikes).
• 5 pitches (2 for strikes) for Carrillo.
• Texas down 1-3.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Loy grounded out to the pitcher. The hard-hit ground ball was headed into cf but somehow found its way into the pitcher's glove. The ball got away a bit and the pitcher had to chase it down but he did so in time to make the out.
• Weiss grounded out to 2b.
• Montalbano struck out swinging.
• Yep. 1-2-3.
• Texas down 1-3.
• 9th inning, Arizona State
• MacPhee flew out to rf.
• Texas sent Andrew McKirahan (lhp) to the mound, replacing Carrillo.
• Aplin reached on an infield single to ss deep in the hole.
• Ruettiger struck out looking.
• Texas sent Corey Knebel (rhp) to the mound, replacing McKirahan.
• Marrero grounded out to 1b (unassisted).
• Carrillo's final numbers: 0.2 innings, 2 batters, no runs, no hits, no nothin', 7 pitches (3 for strikes).
• McKirahan's final numbers: 0.1 innings, 2 batters, 1 hit, 1 strikeout, 8 pitches (5 for strikes).
• Knebel's final numbers: 0.1 innings, 1 batter, 5 pitches (3 for strikes).
• Texas down 1-3.
• 9th inning, Texas
• Walsh lined out to lf.
• Cohl Walla (pinch-hitting for Lusson) struck out looking.
• Felts flew out to rf.
• Yep...one last 1-2-3 inning for good measure.
• Texas loses 1-3.

Whew. Jungmann pitched a good game. Alas, he did not get the offensive support he needed to overcome a couple of unexpected defensive mishaps on the field. And, hat tip to Arizona State. They played a good game.

I hope the Horns respond (as they usually do) with a big win this evening...and another tomorrow! People keep talking about the fact that Texas only lost one 3-game series this year. They really need to hold onto those winning ways here!

Posted by Joanna at 11:39 AM