The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Dallas Baptist
No. 4 Baseball sweeps twinbill from Dallas Baptist
05.14.2005 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Rallying from behind in both games, No. 4 Texas (41-11) earned a doubleheader sweep of Dallas Baptist (32-23) in front of 4,935 fans at Disch-Falk Field on Saturday, May 14. After scoring seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to snap a 2-2 tie in the first game and plating nine, two-out runs in the contest, sophomore second baseman Clay Van Hook (Brenham, Texas) came up with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning to eclipse a 2-1 deficit and claim a 3-2 win for UT in the finale.
In the opening game, Dallas Baptist jumped in front 2-0 in the top of the first when with two outs and runners on second and third, left fielder Sean Burgess came up with an infield hit that allowed two runs to cross the plate on an errant throw. Responding quickly, Texas scored a run of its own in the bottom of the first when Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas) singled with two outs to drive in Robby Hudson (Redlands, Calif.), who singled to open the frame, stole second and moved to third on a deep flyout. One inning later, the Horns tied the score at 2-2 when Nick Peoples (Round Rock, Texas) reached second on a two-base error with one out, advanced to third on a fly ball to center field and then stole home. Of note, Peoples' steal of home marked the third time this season and the second time in as many games that a Longhorns player swiped home plate.
The game then settled into a pitcher's duel between starters Kyle McCulloch (Houston, Texas) for UT and Randall Taylor for Dallas Baptist as both hurlers held the respective offenses scoreless over the five innings. While McCulloch faced the minimum from the fourth through the seventh and allowed only two hits over his 7.2 innings, Taylor worked out of three jams during that span by allowing only four hits and inducing the Longhorns to strand four base runners. In the eighth, after J. Brent Cox (Bay City, Texas) relieved McCulloch and got out of a two-on, two-out situation, UT managed to place runners on the corners with two down via two walks, a passed ball and a steal. David Maroul (Benbrook, Texas) then lined a 1-1 pitch to left that the outfielder dove to make a play on, but when it dropped in front of his glove and rolled to the wall, Maroul came all the way around for an inside-the-park, three-run home run to stake Texas to a 5-2 lead. Continuing to bat in the inning, the Horns then had their next four batters reach on two singles, a triple, a double and a walk to plate four more runs with two outs and push the UT lead to 9-2. Trying to answer, the Patriots would place two runners on with one out in the top half of the ninth, but Cox fanned his next two batters to seal the win and notch his seventh victory of the season. DBU's Rodney Brantley, meanwhile, shouldered the loss in relief of Taylor, who struck out three and allowed only one earned run on seven hits over seven innings of work.
Offensively, Texas' 12-hit attack was led by four players with multi-hit efforts, including three-hit outings from both Wheeless and Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas), while the Patriots were paced by Ryan Olivo and Burgess, who each went 2-for-4 in the opening tilt.
The second game began with the Horns claiming a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Hudson was hit by a pitch and Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) dropped a bunt single in front of a sac bunt from Seth Johnston (Boerne, Texas) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Taylor Teagarden (Carrollton, Texas). It remained that way until the top of the fifth when the Patriots used a leadoff walk followed by two singles, including a run-scoring base hit from second baseman Matt Tucker to knot the game at 1-1. One inning later, Dallas Baptist again put two runners on behind two walks and received a two-out single from Jeremy Goldschmeding to pull in front 2-1. DBU starter Barrett Pliler, meanwhile, retired 10 in a row between the third and the sixth to keep the Horns off the board. Now down to their final three outs in the scheduled seven-inning finale, the Horns received a leadoff walk to Peoples to open the frame. Wheeless then dropped a bunt for a single before Kainer hit an apparent sac bunt that resulted in a high throw for an error to load the bases with no outs. From there, Van Hook lined the first pitch he saw through the left side to plate both the tying and winning runs. Earning the victory for Texas in relief was Adrian Alaniz (Sinton, Texas), who pitched a scoreless seventh, while the Patriots' Pliler incurred the loss.
Paving the way offensively in the second contest were four players with one hit apiece for Texas, including Van Hook who drove in two of UT's three runs, and Goldschmeding for Dallas Baptist, who went 2-for-3 with a RBI to account for half of the Patriots' four hits. Of additional note for Texas, which notched its 15th and 16th come-from-behind wins of the year, Stubbs singled in both ends of the doubleheader to up his current hit streak to 19 games, which ties him with Chris Edelstein for the fourth-longest hitting streak in school annals.
Up next, the Longhorns open the State Farm Lone Star Showdown with Texas A&M at Olsen Field in College Station, Texas, on Friday, May 20 with a 7 p.m. Central contest. Notably, the final two games of the series then shift to Disch-Falk Field for a 6 p.m. Central contest on Saturday, May 21 and a 12 p.m. Central tilt on Sunday, May 22.
