The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Houston
Freshmen lead No. 14 Baseball to extra-inning win over Houston
03.02.2008 | Baseball
HOUSTON -- With one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, freshman Connor Rowe delivered a 2-0 offering to centerfield to drive in junior David Hernandez, propelling No. 14 Texas to an 8-7 win over Houston in collegiate baseball action at Minute Maid Park.
Hernandez started the game-winning rally with a single to right centerfield to lead off the 10th inning. Travis Tucker was hit by a pitch and runners moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Torres. The Cougars intentionally walked Jordan Danks to load the bases, bringing Rowe to the plate for his first collegiate at-bat.
Rowe was one of four freshmen to make major contributions in the win. Catcher Cameron Rupp went 3-for-5 with one double, one triple and four RBI. Starting pitcher Cole Green allowed just one run on one hit over the first six innings before exiting the game with five runs, four earned in 6.2 innings of work. Stayton Thomas (1-0) picked up the win as he allowed just one walk while striking out two over 1.2 innings.
Texas broke the scoring seal with four runs in the bottom of the first. Tucker drew a walk, moved to second on a Torres' sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. Danks singled through the right side to plate Tucker. Preston Clark was hit by a pitch to put runners at second and third and with two outs, Kyle Russell was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Rupp pushed all three runners across with a triple to the hill in centerfield.
The Cougars shaved a run off the lead in the top of the second when Bryan Pounds hit the first of his two home runs.
Texas inflated the cushion to 6-1 with two runs in the fifth. Clark hit a leadoff triple to the hill in centerfield and scored on Brandon Belt's first home run of the season over the leftfield fence.
An RBI single by Austin Goolsby, a bases-loaded walk by Bryan Tully and an RBI single by Chase Dempsey in the top of the seventh helped trim the lead to 6-5.
Texas tacked on a run in the bottom half of the seventh as Rupp hit a double to centerfield to plate Russell, giving the Longhorns a 7-5 lead.
Pounds' second home run of the game was a two-run shot in the ninth inning to knot the contest at 7-7 and force extra innings.
Texas returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a 3:15 p.m. contest at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Augie Garrido
On Connor Rowe: He has done very well in the practices recently and he's a really good runner, he's a great athlete and he has good power. Now we see that he has some make-up. I was excited about his turn at bat and I wasn't going to squeeze because I wanted to see what was going to happen; it was fun.
On Stayton Thomas: I'm proud of him more than I am surprised because he did what we asked him to do; locate the ball to the target and don't get caught up in whatever the results might be.
Connor Rowe
On his game-winning single: This was my first-at-bat as a Longhorn and I guess Coach could tell I was kind of nervous so he came out and talked to me. He told me just to relax like we have been doing the whole year. He told me to sit on the fast ball and not to swing at anything else. I waited until I got that fast ball and luckily it was right there. It felt really great and couldn't be more exciting for my first at-bat.
Cameron Rupp
Thoughts on the game: I felt great up at the plate and saw the pitches that I wanted and when they came I hit them. It just felt great up there, I was seeing the ball well and I was having fun up there. It was a great experience playing here at Minute Maid Park and the fans really came out and supported us. It is a great ball park to play in and it was just fun.
