The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Alumni game
Baseball varsity tops alumni in annual Alumni Game
01.28.2006 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Six Varsity pitchers held the Alumni to five hits while the offense scored 11 times to lead the 2006 Longhorns to an 11-3 victory over the UT Baseball Alumni Team in front of 2,512 fans at Disch-Falk Field during the 23rd annual Alumni Game on Saturday, Jan. 28.
With the win, the Varsity now holds a 13-6 advantage in the all-time series between the current Longhorns and former players.
The Varsity jumped in front 2-0 in the top of the first as a sacrifice fly from Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) following a hit batter, a walk and double steal plated one run, and Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) came up with a two-out, RBI-double to bring in another. After Varsity starter Kyle McCulloch (Houston, Texas) worked three perfect frames, the Horns tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth on a solo home run from Bradley Suttle (Boerne, Texas) via an error and wild pitch to break on top 4-0.
While the Varsity would tack on a single run in the fifth to take a 5-0 advantage, two more runs in the sixth courtesy of four singles, a walk and a wild pitch made the score 7-0 in favor of the 2006 Horns. The Alumni, who had been held to only a pair of walks through five, would tally their first hit of the afternoon on a one-out double from Ryan Russ in the bottom of the sixth. Will Crouch then followed Russ with a run-scoring single to break up the shutout bid and make it a 7-1 game.
Following a scoreless seventh by both sides, the Varsity loaded the bases in the top of the eighth on a double by Todd Gilfillan (Austin, Texas), a single from Bryan Herrera (Austin, Texas) and a walk. An RBI-groundout and a base hit off the bat of Clay Van Hook (Brenham, Texas) then gave the Varsity a 9-1 advantage before a double play ended the frame. Although Brooks Kieschnick lifted a sacrifice fly with two on in the bottom of the eighth to bring home the second Alumni run, Herrera delivered a two-run double with two outs in the top of the ninth to push the Varsity lead to 11-2. Curtis Thigpen would launch a one-out, solo round-tripper in the bottom of the frame to cut the lead to 11-3, but Kenn Kasparek (Weimar, Texas) retired his next two batters to preserve the victory for the Varsity.
Leading the way for the Varsity was Chais Fuller (Fairfield, Calif.), who went 3-for-5 on the day, and the trio of Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas), Herrera, and Brett Lewis (Rockwall, Texas), who collected two hits each. Russ, meanwhile, led the offensive attack for the Alumni with two hits to go along with two runs scored. On the pitching side, McCulloch and freshman Riley Boening (Yoakum, Texas) each recorded two strikeouts for the Varsity over a combined four innings, while Scott Dunn, Justin Simmons and Clayton Stewart each recorded a scoreless inning of work for the Alumni.
Up next, No. 1 Texas opens the 2006 regular-season on the road against the Toreros of the University of San Diego on Friday, Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. Central. Following that three-game weekend series, the Horns then return to Disch-Falk Field for their home opener against the Broncs of UT-Pan American on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 2:30 p.m. Central.
