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Monday - June 20, 2011

Game 68: North Carolina at Texas (College World Series)

Game 5 of the 2011 College World Series. First elimination game of the 2011 CWS. Texas played home to North Carolina. Took the afternoon off from work and did my usual. And, so...

The lineups:

North Carolina		Texas
Chaz Frank (lf) Ben Bunting (cf) Colin Moran (3b) Jesse Wierzbicki (1b) Tommy Coyle (2b) Jacob Stallings (c) Levi Michael (ss) Brian Holberton (dh) Seth Baldwin (rf)		Tant Shepherd (1b) Mark Payton (rf) Brandon Loy (ss) Erich Weiss (3b) Jonathan Walsh (lf) Paul Montalbano (cf) Jacob Felts (c) Kevin Lusson (dh) Jordan Etier (2b)

Play by play:

• 1st inning, North Carolina
• Cole Green (rhp) on the mound for Texas.
• Frank flew out to lf.
• Bunting lined a single (1st pitch) over the ss into lf.
• Moran flew out to cf.
• Wierzbicki singled into rf, moving Bunting (hit & run) to 3b.
• Coyle struck out looking.
• 16 pitches (10 for strikes).
• 1st inning, Texas
• Kent Emanuel (lhp) on the mound for North Carolina.
• Shepherd fouled off a ton of pitches before he finally lined out to lf at the warning track. Nice job by the UNC left fielder to chase the ball down. 10-pitch at-bat.
• Payton also lined out to lf. Just a couple of pitches this time, though.
• Loy struck out looking (2-2 count).
• 2nd inning, North Carolina
• Stallings drew a full-count walk.
• Michael lined a single into rf, moving Stallings to 2b. Damn. Nice at-bat.
• Holberton grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Stallings moved up to 3b. Close play at 1b. In super slow-mo, it looked like Holberton was safe at 1b.
• Baldwin flew out to rf at the warning track.
• 21 pitches (13 for strikes).
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Weiss struck out swinging (2-2 count).
• Walsh lined a single into cf. First pitch!
• Montalbano lined into a 7-3 double play. Oh my. Texas actually had a hit & run on? Walsh was at 2b when the left fielder made the catch down the line. The throw beat him back to 1b by a mile. Wow.
• 3rd inning, North Carolina
• Frank lined a single down the lf line and moved up to 2b on a fielding error by lf as Walsh had trouble fielding the ball.
• After the 1st pitch to Bunting (called a ball), the ump gave a warning to Coach Harmon ("That's enough, Tommy!") who was apparently complaining about his strike zone. Heh.
• Bunting lined a single into rf, moving Frank to 3b.
• Texas sent Hoby Milner (lhp) to the mound, replacing Green. So sorry Cole didn't have a better start today.
• Moran struck out swinging.
• Wierzbicki also struck out swinging!
• Coyle drew a 5-pitch walk to load the bases. Ouch.
• Stallings singled into shallow right-center, scoring Frank and Bunting. Coyle moved up to 3b.
• Michael flew out to lf at the warning track.
• Green's final numbers: 2+ innings, 11 batters, 2 runs (2 earned), 5 hits (all singles), 1 strikeout, 1 walk, 45 pitches (25 for strikes).
• 22 pitches (12 for strikes) for Milner.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Felts reached on a soft liner into shallow rf. The right fielder came close to catching the ball. Whew.
• Lusson reached on a failed sac bunt attempt. The ball went up the middle toward the pitcher who made a great job to field, turn, and throw to the ss covering 2b. 1-6 fielder's choice.
• Etier popped out to 2b.
• Shepherd flew out to shallow rf.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 4th inning, North Carolina
• Holberton grounded out to the pitcher.
• Baldwin drew a full-count walk.
• After the first pitch to Frank (a ball), Coach Johnson made a visit to the mound.
• Frank hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Sweet.
• 17 pitches (8 for strikes).
• Texas down 0-2.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Payton drew a 7-pitch full-count walk.
• Loy moved Payton to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt down the 1b line.
• Weiss lined out to shallow rf. Payton was about half-way to 3b and thrown out (9-6) for another outfield double play. Unbelievable. 11-pitch at-bat, by the way. Sigh...
• Texas down 0-2.
• 5th inning, North Carolina
• Bunting singled into rf. Three plate appearances, three hits.
• Moran flew out to deep lf down the line. Bunting tagged and moved up to 2b on the play.
• Texas sent Kendal Carrillo (rhp) to the mound, replacing Milner.
• Wierzbicki drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Coyle grounded out to 2b, moving Bunting to 3b and Wierzbicki to 2b.
• Stallings drew another 5-pitch walk.
• Scary: Carrillo started the first 3 batters off with 3 balls and then a called strike. Fourth batter started with one ball before the called strike.
• Michael flew out to lf. Whew.
• Milner's final numbers: 2.1 innings, 10 batters, no runs, 1 hit (single), 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, 43 pitches (23 for strikes).
• 19 pitches (7 for stirkes) for Carrillo.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Walsh worked the count full (which included 5 foul balls) and then popped out to the pitcher. So sad.
• Montalbano struck out swinging (2-2 count).
• Felts flew out to cf (1st pitch).
• Texas down 0-2.
• 6th inning, North Carolina
• Texas sent Sam Stafford (lhp) to the mound, replacing Carrillo.
• Holberton grounded out to the pitcher.
• Baldwin struck out looking.
• Frank flew out to cf.
• 1-2-3. Nice.
• Carrillo's final numbers: 0.2 innings, 4 batters, no runs, no hits, 2 walks, 19 pitches (7 for strikes).
• 11 pitches (8 for strikes) for Stafford.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Lusson struck out looking (full count).
• Etier popped out to the catcher behind the plate.
• Shepherd singled through the left side.
• Payton flew out to lf.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 7th inning, North Carolina
• Bunting grounded out to 1b (p covered bag).
• Moran singled up the middle (past a diving second baseman).
• Wierzbicki ground into a 4-6-3 double play. First pitch. Nice.
• 9 pitches (6 for strikes).
• Texas down 0-2.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Loy popped out to 2b.
• Weiss grounded out to 2b.
• Walsh lined a single over 2b into right center.
• Cohl Walla (pinch-hitting for Montalbano) popped out to 2b in shallow right field.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 8th inning, North Carolina
• Walla stayed in the game in cf.
• Coyle struck out looking.
• Stallings flew out to rf.
• Michael struck out swinging!
• 15 pitches (8 for strikes).
• Texas down 0-2.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Felts struck out swinging.
• Lusson flew out to lf.
• Etier popped out to 2b down the rf line and foul.
• By the way: 114 pitches (77 for strikes) for Emanuel through 8 innings.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 9th inning, North Carolina
• Greg Holt (pinch-hitting for Holberton) drew a 5-pitch walk.
• North Carolina sent Jeff Bouton in to pinch-run for Holt.
• After the first pitch to Baldwin (a ball), Texas sent Andrew McKirahan (lhp) to mound, replacing Stafford.
• Baldwin moved Bouton to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt.
• Frank flew out to lf.
• Bunting lined a double over the right fielder and off the base of the bullpen wall, scoring Bouton.
• Moran flew out to lf.
• Stafford's final numbers: 3+ innings, 10 batters, 1 run (earned), 1 hit (single), 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, 41 pitches (23 for strikes).
• 13 pitches (12 for strikes) for McKirahan.
• Texas down 0-3.
• 9th inning, Texas
• Emanuel still on the mound for North Carolina, going for the complete game shut-out.
• Shepherd popped out to 1b (foul).
• Payton grounded out to 2b.
• Loy flew out to rf down the line.
• Texas loses 0-3.

Have to give credit to Kent Emanuel who pitched a great game. By my count, he threw 126 pitches (84 for strikes) and only gave up 4 singles. But, sadly, the Horns just did not seem to have much fire today. So very sorry to see them go out in 2. I was sure they'd win and was already trying to figure out how to change my dinner plans for Wednesday so I'd be able to watch the next game. Oh well...not meant to be, I guess.

The line:

Paraphrased comments from the post-game news conference:

• Coach Garrido's opening remarks: It was a brilliantly pitched game by their pitcher. He had command throughout the game from beginning to end. Texas had four hits and had opportunities. The coaches talked to the players about being aggressive and they were. Texas battled hard at the plate and competed in the game. It wasn't that he (Emanuel) was so overpowering or overwhelming that the Texas batters were doubting themselves. But they did get outplayed and that is the bottom line. He's proud of the leadership on this team. They took a team that was pretty scattered at the beginning of the year and got them together to get the team here in the first place. Texas brought 11 freshmen on this trip...5 of whom contributed a lot. Having 11 freshmen coming back next year who have had experience here will be good for Texas.
• Loy (on Emanuel): He mixed pitches early in counts and had us on our heels the entire game. He could throw 3 pitches for strikes where he wanted to throw them. Texas fought throughout the game...he just made it tough on the batters.
• Green (asked about his performance): Felt like he was leaving the ball up a little bit early in the game. They're a good team. Whenever he made a mistake they took advantage.
• Garrido (asked about the bats): The bats have made a dramatic difference offensively...and defensively too. The good thing about it is that it's balance for both teams. It wasn't about the bat in the two Texas games...it was about their teams, and their teamwork, and their ability to play. The game of baseball is alive and well with the new bats.
• Green (re. the bats): The bat brings the game back around to fundamentals, rather than just relying on homeruns.
• Loy (re. the bats): The bats didn't make much difference for Texas batters. It might have made more of a difference for last year's team which had a lot more power.
• Garrido (asked about the base-running decisions and error in the outfield): The players made a mistake in their estimate on the athleticism of the other team; both times the runners thought the fielders would not get to the ball. It could look bad in hindsight but that's what the coaches asked the players to do (be aggressive). What he's proud about was how many times Texas pitchers battled their way out of trouble. He concluded by saying that Texas never got the momentum in today's game.
• Loy (asked about their emotions): Obviously they're disappointed. They did not come here to be the first team to leave. They fought through so much stuff these past couple of weeks. It's tough to leave now. They obviously wanted the National Championship. But, they did some great things this year. It is tough that they did not get a Championship.

Sigh...more thoughts on the season in a separate post in the next day or two.

Hook 'em, Horns!

Posted by Joanna at 4:40 PM