The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas-Pan American
No. 2 Baseball blanks UT-Pan American, 12-0
05.03.2005 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas) went 3-for-3 and tallied a career-high six RBI while four UT pitchers combined on the Horns' 10th shutout of the season as No. 2 Texas (38-9) earned a 12-0 victory over UT-Pan American (14-37) in front of 4,217 fans at Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday, May 3.
After Texas starter Kenn Kasparek (Weimar, Texas) worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the top of the first with a double-play grounder, Seth Johnston (Boerne, Texas) connected on his sixth home run of the year with Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) on second via a single and wild pitch to stake the Horns to an early 2-0 lead. Despite the Broncs putting two runners on in each of the next two innings, the Longhorns managed to keep them off the board before taking advantage of a two-out error following two walks in the bottom of the third to push in front 3-0. Then, with the inning still alive, Todd Gilfillan (Austin, Texas) loaded the bases with an infield single in front of a bases-clearing double off the bat of Wheeless to give the Longhorns a 6-0 advantage.
An inning later, Stubbs drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on a RBI-base hit from Johnston to make it a 7-0 ballgame. A double from Will Crouch (Austin, Texas) then put runners on second and third before a sacrifice fly from Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) pushed the lead to 8-0. From there, Wheeless stepped to the plate with two on and two out and came through with his third home run of the year to make the score 11-0 in favor of the Longhorns. While Texas would tack on a single run in the sixth to establish a 12-0 advantage, UT-Pan American was held scoreless through the seventh by Kasparek, who struck out a pair while scattering six hits over five innings of work, and reliever Jordon Street (Austin, Texas), who worked two shutout frames.
The Broncs would look to break up UT's shutout bid in the eighth when right fielder Jacob Jones tripled to center field to open the inning, but reliever Clayton Stewart (Angleton, Texas) struck out the next two batters he faced before retiring his third hitter on a fly ball to right that Calvin Beamon (Aurora, Colo.) hauled in with a diving catch. Buck Cody (Oklahoma, City, Okla.) then worked a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the shutout victory for the Longhorns. While Kasparek earned the win to improve to 4-0 on the year, UTPA starter Ryne Foster incurred the loss.
Texas' offense, which tallied 14 hits on the evening, had six players record six multi-hit outings, including the tandem of Wheeless and Crouch, who each collected three hits, Stubbs, who went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and a stolen base, and Johnston, who scored three runs while driving in three more during a 2-for-4 effort. The Broncs, meanwhile, were led by designated hitter Zach Gordon, who went 2-for-4, and catcher Matt Eichel, who recorded a pair of hit in three at bats. Of additional note for UT, Gilfillan tallied his second two-hit game in as many starts, Stubbs and Johnston extended their current hit streaks to 14 and 11 games, respectively, and Crouch's three hits marked a career best.
Up next, the Horns travel to Lawrence, Kan., to open a three-game conference series with the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday, May 6 at 6 p.m. Central.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)