The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas State
No. 7 Baseball slips past Texas State, 2-1
05.02.2006 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Preston Clark singled in Bradley Suttle with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to snap a 1-1 tie and lift No. 7 Texas to a 2-1 victory over Texas State in front of 4,717 fans at Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday, May 2.
The Longhorns' (33-15) win over the Bobcats (24-25) not only saw four UT hurlers combine to allow only one run on seven hits while striking out 10, but also extended the club's current winning streak to five games.
After a rain delay, which was 48 minutes in duration, pushed the game's start time back to 7:03 p.m. Central, the Bobcats jumped in front 1-0 in the top of the first as a two-out double off the bat of Cody Merrell scored Kyle Jones, who walked, from first. The Longhorns, meanwhile, put at least one runner on in each of the first three innings, but were held scoreless by Texas State starter Ryan Bennett. In the fourth, Texas again went to work as Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice and advanced to third on a wild pitch with one out. Suttle (Boerne, Texas) then singled into right field to tie the game at 1-1. While the Bobcats worked out of further trouble in that frame by getting a flyout after another single, both teams placed runners on in the fifth but were unable to score as the game remained deadlocked.
One frame later in the bottom of the sixth, UT put runners on first and second with one out courtesy of two walks. Despite the opportunity, Texas State reliever Jarod Garza came on and induced his first two batters to foul out to the first baseman and flyout to center field, respectively, and quell the threat. Texas State then had Merrell and Heath Keel come up with back-to-back, two-out singles in the top of the eighth to place the go-ahead run on second base, but UT reliever Keith Shinaberry (Austin, Texas) forced a flyout to keep the game tied at 1-1. Moving to the bottom of the eighth with two outs and nobody on base, Suttle doubled into the left-field corner before coming around to score on a Clark (Rockwall, Texas) single to give the Horns a 2-1 advantage. The game then moved to the ninth where Joseph Krebs (Bridgeport, Texas) emerged from the Longhorns' bullpen and struck out the side in order to cap off the one-run victory and earn his second save of the year. While Shinaberry, who worked a scoreless eighth, picked up the victory to improve to 2-0 on they year, Texas State's Justin Fiske shouldered the loss in relief.
Leading the way for the Longhorns' offense on the evening was Suttle, who went 2-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI, and Clark, who extended his current hit streak to career-best seven games with a 1-for-4 outing. The Bobcats, meanwhile, had their seven-hit attack paced by Merrell, who went 2-for-4 with one RBI, and Keel, who went 1-for-2. Of additional note for Texas, starter Kenn Kasparek (Weimar, Texas) fanned a season-best five over 4.2 innings of work and reliever Joey Parigi (Monterey, Calif.) worked 2.1 innings of one-hit relief.
Up next, the Horns open a three-game conference series against Kansas at Disch-Falk Field on Friday, May 5 at 6:15 p.m. Central.
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