The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Tulane
Late rally falls short as No. 7 Baseball loses 4-2 to No. 12 Tulane
02.12.2006 | Baseball
HOUSTON -- The Longhorns plated two runs in the eighth and had the tying run in scoring position during that inning, but No. 12 Tulane held on for a 4-2 win over No. 7 Texas during the 2006 Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park on Sunday, Feb. 12.
The game marked the third and final contest of the tournament for both teams as the Green Wave improved to 2-1 on the season and Texas fell to 3-4 on the year after having its three-game winning streak snapped with the two-run loss.
After UT starter Randy Boone (Yoakum, Texas) worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the bottom of the first with his third strikeout of the frame, the Green Wave managed to load the bases with one out in the second on a walk, a single and a hit batter. Left fielder Nate Simon then lifted a sacrifice fly to left and provided Tulane with a 1-0 lead. Green Wave starter Billy Mohl, meanwhile, limited the Horns' offense to one hit while fanning three over the first three innings.
In the bottom of the fourth, Tulane placed runners on the corners with one out and received another sac fly off the bat of Simon to pull in front by a score of 2-0. One frame later in the fifth, the Green Wave loaded the bases with one out on a fielding error, a walk and a single before Warren McFadden came up with a fielder's choice to first base and gave Tulane a 3-0 advantage. On the other side of the ledger, Texas' offense had six of its next seven batters retired by Mohl to move the game to the latter half of the sixth. A Longhorns throwing error in the bottom of the sixth with two runners on base then resulted in another Green Wave run and made it a 4-0 ballgame with three innings to play.
While Mohl worked a scoreless seventh, Texas rallied in the eighth by putting runners on second and third with no outs via a double from Preston Clark (Rockwall, Texas) and a single off the bat of Brett Lewis (Rockwall, Texas). After Tulane reliever Daniel Latham got his first batter to ground into a fielder's choice to catch the runner at third in a run down, a passed ball on a strikeout followed by a pair of fielder's choice grounders brought in two scores to cut the Green Wave lead in half at 4-2. Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) then stole second to put the tying run in scoring position for UT with two away, but Latham induced his next batter to flyout and end the inning.
Texas kept the score at 4-2 after a second hitless inning of relief from Joey Parigi (Monterey, Calif.) in the bottom of the eighth, but Latham retired the Longhorns in order in the top of the ninth to preserve the win for the Green Wave. While Latham recorded his first save of the year with two hitless innings of relief, Mohl earned the win by striking out five and allowing only two unearned runs on six hits over seven innings. Boone, meanwhile, incurred the loss for Texas despite recording five strikeouts during his first start of the year.
Offensively, the Horns were led by Lewis, who went 1-for-3 with a run scored, and Stubbs, who went 1-for-4 with a RBI, while Tulane's five-hit attack was paced by Daniel Southard, who went 1-for-2 with a run scored and two walks, and Simon, who drove in two of the Green Wave's four runs on the afternoon. Notably, Texas, which outhit Tulane on the day by a 6-5 margin, went 2-1 during its three games at the 2006 Houston College Classic with wins over Houston and No. 2 Rice on Feb. 10 and 11, respectively.
Up next, Texas returns to Disch-Falk Field for a 2:30 p.m. Central matchup against UT-San Antonio on Tuesday, Feb. 14. For tickets, call 1-800-982-BEVO.
