The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Tech
No. 4 Baseball edges No. 19 Texas Tech, 8-7
03.25.2005 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Fending off a late rally from the Red Raiders, No. 4 Texas (23-4, 2-3 Big 12) earned a hard-fought 8-7 victory over No. 19 Texas Tech (17-8, 2-3 Big 12) in front of a crowd of 6,069 at Disch-Falk Field on Friday, March 25. Notably, the win clinches a series victory for the Horns as they have won the first two games against the Red Raiders in this three-game set.
Texas broke on top 1-0 in the bottom of the second when Taylor Teagarden's (Carrollton, Texas) leadoff double to left center yielded the game's first run when Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) came up with a two-out, infield single. David Maroul (Benbrook, Texas) then followed Kainer's at bat with his first home run of the year to stake UT to a 3-0 advantage. The Longhorns continued to add to their lead in the third when Seth Johnston (Boerne, Texas) reached on an error before Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas) connected on his first career home run with two outs to make it a 5-0 ballgame. In the very next frame, Maroul delivered a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly from Calvin Beamon (Aurora, Colo.) to push the Horns on top by a score of 6-0. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, were limited to one hit through four innings by UT starter Kyle McCulloch (Houston, Texas) before staging a two-out threat in the fifth by placing runners on second and third. McCulloch then registered his second strikeout of the game to end the inning and maintain the six-run lead.
After Texas tacked on another run via a bases loaded single by Kainer in the bottom of the fifth, Texas Tech countered by putting two runners on in the top of the sixth and plating both on a single by Cameron Blair and wild pitch to make the score 7-2. The Horns then came up with another run in the bottom of the frame after Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, moved to third on a balk and scored on a single up-the-middle by Johnston to grab an 8-2 lead. Continuing to battle back, the Red Raiders put together a two-out rally in the seventh where, after they strung together three straight singles to score one run, they proceeded to load the bases in front of a Blair grand slam to make it an 8-7 game. Still alive in the inning, Brian Capps then followed Blair's home run with a triple to left center, but reliever Buck Cody (Oklahoma City, Okla.), after a walk to Chris Williams, struck out his next batter to keep UT in front by one. Texas Tech would then put the tying run on second in the top of the eighth with two outs before J. Brent Cox (Bay City, Texas) came in to stop the threat. He then retired the first three batters he faced in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season. Picking up his fifth win of the year after tossing 6.2 innings and holding the Red Raiders scoreless over the first five frames was McCulloch, while Tech starter Brian Wyatt incurred the loss.
Sparking the Longhorns' offense, which recorded 10 or more hits for the third straight game, was Johnston, who extended his hitting streak to a career-long 11 games behind his fourth three-hit outing of the season. The trio of Teagarden, Kainer and Maroul also registered two hits apiece to pave the way for the UT attack, while combining with Wheeless to account for six RBI. Meanwhile, Texas Tech was led by Blair who went 2-for-4 with one run scored and five RBI, and the tandem of Matt Smith and Cody Fuller, who each tallied a pair of hits on the day while scoring three times and driving in one run.
Texas and Texas Tech conclude this three-game series at Disch-Falk Field on Saturday, March 26 at 1 p.m. Central.
