The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
No. 1 Texas earns 8-0 shutout over Kansas State
04.01.2005 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Sophomore Kyle McCulloch (Houston, Texas) scattered three hits during his first career complete-game effort to lead No. 1 Texas (25-4, 3-3 Big 12) to an 8-0 shutout victory over Kansas State (14-11, 1-6 Big 12) in front of 4,815 fans at Disch-Falk Field on Friday, April 1. Notably, the complete-game shutout marked the first recorded by a UT pitcher since J.P. Howell turned the trick against Eastern Michigan (7-0) on March 13, 2004.
After two singles in the bottom of the first placed runners on first and second with one down, Taylor Teagarden (Carrollton, Texas) came up with an RBI-double in front of a run-scoring single from Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas) and a safety squeeze bunt delivered by Dooley Prince (Sulphur, La.) to stake UT to an early 3-0 lead. Three innings later in the fourth, the Horns tacked on another run to push their advantage to 4-0 as a wild pitch with two outs and runners on the corners via two singles and a fielder's choice plated another score. The Wildcats, meanwhile, were limited to two singles over the first five frames by McCulloch, who also had his defense turn a pair of double plays behind him to keep KSU scoreless.
Back-to-back, two-out doubles from Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) and David Maroul (Benbrook, Texas) in the bottom of the sixth then made it a 5-0 game in favor of the Longhorns. Kansas State would threaten in the top of the seventh when center fielder Josh Dent led off with an infield single and stole second with no outs, but McCulloch retired the next three batters he faced to keep UT's five-run lead in tact. Following consecutive scoreless half innings in both the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, Seth Johnston (Boerne, Texas) came up with a two-run single to push Texas in front 7-0 after Calvin Beamon (Aurora, Colo.) was hit by a pitch and Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) doubled. Still alive in the frame, singles by Wheeless and Kainer then made it an 8-0 ballgame. From there, McCulloch, who faced only two batters over the minimum between the sixth and eighth, returned to the mound in the ninth and set the side down in order to seal UT's seventh shutout of the season. While McCulloch earned his sixth win of the year after walking only three and striking out five over nine innings, KSU starter Chase Mitchell incurred the loss despite working seven innings.
Paving the way for Texas' 13-hit attack were six players with multiple-hit efforts including Johnston, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI, Beamon, who scored twice and picked up two singles, and Kainer, who extended his current hit streak to a career-long seven games with a 2-for-4 outing in which he scored once and drove in one run. On the other side of the ledger, Kansas State was led by Dent, who collected two of the Wildcats' three hits.
The Horns and Wildcats continue this series at Disch-Falk Field at 2 p.m. Central on Saturday, April 2.
