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Sunday - March 4, 2012

Game 11: Arkansas at Texas (Houston College Classic)

Again, I listened to today's game on the radio and this report is based on that broadcast. Texas had another bad inning (the 5th) that proved its unraveling. Ricky Jacquez got his first start and loss of the year. He gave up 2 quick runs in the first and then settled down nicely before giving up a solo homerun in the 4th. Dillon Peters went in for the 5th and did not have a good outing which was not helped by a bad defensive decision. Sadly, this year's team seems to be very susceptible to falling into the trap of trying too hard. After falling behind by 5 in the 5th, the Horns did manage to get one run back but stranded 4 (3 in scoring position) in the final 5 innings of the game. In the 8th, they got the first two batters aboard on back-to-back singles but could not get a run across. They ended up losing 3-7 to Arkansas.

The line:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Arkansas	2	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	7	8	1
Texas	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	7	1

The lineups:

Arkansas	Texas
Tim Carver (ss) Jimmy Bosco (rf) Dominic Ficociello (1b) Sam Bates (dh) Matt Reynolds (3b) Matt Vinson (lf) Jake Wise (c) Jacob Morris (cf) Bo Bingham (2b)	Mark Payton (rf) Tim Maitland (cf) Erich Weiss (3b) Jonathan Walsh (lf) Brooks Marlow (2b) Jacob Felts (c) Collin Shaw (dh) Kirby Bellow (1b) Jordan Etier (ss)

And, here's how things played out:

• 1st inning, Arkansas
• Ricky Jacquez (rhp) on the mound for Texas.
• Carver lined a single (first pitch) into cf.
• Bosco singled through the left side past the diving ss, moving Carver to 2b.
• Ficociello lined a full-count double to left-center, scoring Carver and Bosco. Ouch.
• Skip Johnson made a visit to the mound. (Dillon Peters up in the bullpen for Texas.)
• With Bates at the plate, Ficociello moved up to 3b on a wild pitch.
• Bates struck out swinging (full count, 7 pitches). Felts dropped the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
• Jacquez is throwing a lot of pitches to start things off.
• Reynolds also struck out swinging (full count, 10 pitches).
• Vinson grounded out to 2b.
• 33 pitches (21 for strikes) for Jacquez.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 1st inning, Texas
• DJ Baxendale (rhp) on the mound for Arkansas.
• Payton grounded out to 2b.
• Maitland was hit by the first pitch.
• With Weiss at the plate, Maitland was caught stealing (2-6).
• Weiss grounded out to 2b on the next pitch.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 2nd inning, Arkansas
• Wise popped out to ss in shallow lf.
• Morris flew out to rf.
• Bigham struck out swinging. Felts could not hold onto the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
• 10 pitches, 7 for strikes.
• Texas down 0-2.
• 2nd inning, Texas
• Walsh flew out to lf.
• Marlow drew a 5-pitch walk.
• Felts reached on a fielding error by 3b, moving Marlow to 2b.
• Shaw struck out swinging. Some controversy as the 1b ump called two swinging strikes on Shaw (saying he did not hold up). Bad form as Shaw is a left-handed batter and 1b ump not in position to make that call. Wow.
• Bellow singled through the left side, scoring Marlow (unearned). Felts moved up to 3b on the throw home and Bellow moved to 2b. Close play at 3b on throw from c after the run scored.
• With Etier at the plate as the count went to 3-1, the home plate ump issued a warning to the Arkansas head coach.
• Etier went on to strike out swinging .
• Texas down 1-2.
• 3rd inning, Arkansas
• Carver struck out swinging.
• Bosco struck out looking.
• Ficociello drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Ficociello was caught stealing (2-6?) with Bates at the plate. Nice!
• 19 pitches, 9 for strikes (I think...I lost track a bit during Bates' at bat).
• Texas down 1-2.
• 3rd inning, Texas
• Payton flew out to rf (in right-center).
• Maitland struck out swinging. The catcher dropped the ball so had to throw down to 1b to complete the out.
• Weiss doubled down the line into the lf corner.
• Walsh hit a double off the first baseman's glove down the rf line, scoring Weiss!
• Marlow flew out to cf after fouling off several pitches.
• Game tied 2-2.
• 4th inning, Arkansas
• Bates grounded out to p.
• Reynolds homered to lf. Ouch. Glad nobody was on.
• Vinson drew a 5-pitch walk.
• After the first pitch to Wise (a ball), Skip Johnson made a visit to the mound. (Dillon Peters warming up in the bullpen.)
• Wise grounded out to ss in the hole. Nice play by Etier and Bellow!
• There were quite a few throws to 1b during Wise's at-bat, by the way.
• Morris popped out to c down the 1b line in foul territory.
• 22 pitches, 10 for strikes.
• Texas down 2-3.
• 4th inning, Texas
• Felts grounded out to 3b (1st pitch).
• Shaw grounded out to 2b.
• Bellow grounded out to p.
• Sigh. 1-2-3.
• 5th inning, Arkansas
• Texas sent Dillon Peters (lhp) to the mound, replacing Jacquez.
• Bigham reached on a infield single off the pitcher toward ss.
• Carver moved Bigham to 2b on a 1-3 sac bunt down the 1b line.
• Bigham moved to 3b on a wild pitch with Bosco at the plate.
• Bosco reached on a fielder's choice. Bellow at 1b fielded the ball and tried to get the runner from 3b at home but the throw was off-line. Bosco got an rbI and moved up to 2b on the throwing error.
• Ficociello was hit by a pitch.
• Joe Serrano (pinch-hitting for Bates) singled through the right side, scoring Bosco and moving Ficociello to 2b.
• Ficociello moved to 3b and Serrano to 2b on a passed ball.
• Reynolds watched 3 balls (including the passed ball) before Texas went ahead and threw the final ball out for an intentional walk to load the bases.
• Texas sent Austin Dicharry (rhp) to the mound, replacing Peters.
• Vinson drew a 4-pitch walk. Ouch.
• Wise hit a sac fly to cf, scoring Serrano. The ball was hit deep enough that the runners from 1b and 2b were both able to tag up and advance.
• Morris struck out swinging. He tried to hold up but was rung up by the 1b ump on appeal.
• Ugly inning. I think all the runs ended up being earned since the error was only called on Bosco's advance to 2b which was nullified by the following batter being hit by a pitch.
• 16 pitches (8 for strikes) for Peters. 9 pitches (4 for strikes) for Dicharry.
• Texas down 2-7.
• 5th inning, Texas
• Etier drew a 4-pitch walk.
• Payton grounded out to 2b, moving Etier to 2b.
• Maitland also grounded out to 2b. Etier moved to 3b.
• Weiss struck out looking.
• Sad face.
• Texas down 2-7.
• 6th inning, Arkansas
• Bigham doubled down the lf line into the corner.
• Carver moved Bigham to 3b on a 1-3 sac bunt to the mound.
• Bosco struck out swinging (at all three pitches).
• Ficociello grounded out to 1b. Great play by Bellow to knock the ball down and then get it to Dicharry covering the bag to get the batter and save the run. Nice.
• 9 pitches, 4 for strikes.
• Texas down 2-7.
• 6th inning, Texas
• Arkansas sent Nolan Sanburn (rhp) to the mound, replacing Baxendale.
• Walsh singled up the middle.
• Marlow drew his second 5-pitch walk of the day, moving Walsh to 2b.
• Felts grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Walsh moved up to 3b on the play.
• Walsh scored on a wild pitch (the first pitch) with Shaw at the plate.
• Shaw struck out swinging.
• Texas down 3-7.
• 7th inning, Arkansas
• Serrano singled through the right side past the first baseman.
• Serrano was picked off (2-3) on a pitch-out with Reynolds at the plate. The Horns almost picked him off on 2 previous attempts during the Reynolds at-bat.
• Reynolds went on to draw a full-count walk.
• Vinson flew out to cf.
• Wise grounded out to 3b.
• 16 pitches, 8 for strikes.
• Texas down 3-7.
• 7th inning, Texas
• Bellow struck out swinging.
• Etier grounded out to 3b. Etier was thrown out of the game after arguing that he was safe. Sigh. Dave Yeast is such a bad umpire.
• Payton singled through the right side.
• Payton moved up to 2b on a wild pitch to Maitland (first pitch).
• Maitland grounded out to 3b.
• Texas down 3-7.
• 8th inning, Arkansas
• Texas sent Christian Summers to ss, replacing Etier who was ejected in the bottom of the 7th.
• (Justin Peters warming in the bullpen for Texas.)
• Morris grounded out to 3b.
• Bigham grounded out to p.
• Carver popped out ("hump-back liner" according to Craig Way) to 2b.
• 7 pitches, 5 for strikes.
• Texas down 3-7.
• 8th inning, Texas
• Arkansas sent Derrick Bleeker in at rf, replacing Bosco.
• Weiss worked the count full and then singled through the right side.
• Walsh singled through the right side, moving Weiss to 2b!
• Arkansas made a visit to the mound and decided to make a pitching change. Barrett Astin (rhp) in, replacing Sanburn.
• Marlow struck out looking (3 pitches).
• Felts reached on a 5-4 fielder's choice. Weiss advanced to 3b. (Walsh out on the play.)
• Shaw struck out swinging.
• Damn. What a wasted opportunity. Sigh...
• Texas down 3-7.
• 9th inning, Arkansas
• Texas sent Parker French (rhp) to the mound, replacing Dicharry.
• Bleeker grounded out to p on the 3b side of the mound.
• Ficociello grounded out to 2b.
• Serrano drew a full-count walk.
• With Reynolds at the plate, French was called for a balk by Dave Yeast. Yeast would not tell the pitching coach or the pitcher what French did to get the balk call. Terrible umpire.
• Reynolds flew out to cf.
• 20 pitches, 12 for strikes.
• Texas down 3-7.
• 9th inning, Texas
• Bellow struck out swinging.
Summers out on a bunt attempt (2-3).
• Payton struck out swinging.
• Texas loses 3-7.

Sad day. Coach Garrido said in the post-game interview that it's hard to see but the team is getting better. He also commented that the players are still pressing too hard when things go wrong. But, he pointed out that they held their own for most of the game against a top-5 team. So...yeah.

Horns next play Dallas Baptist at 4 on Tuesday at Disch-Falk Field. Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 2:31 PM