The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Sam Houston State
Baseball moves on to Sunday elimination game with 13-3 win over Sam Houston State
05.31.2008 | Baseball
The Longhorns logged 12 hits in the first two innings at Reckling Park and Kyle Russell hit two home runs to tie the Jeff Ontiveros' school career record with 55.
Russell finished the day 2-for-6 with two home runs and four RBI. It marked the fifth time this season and the 12th time in his career that the junior has planted two taters in the same game. Travis Tucker and Michael Torres had identical hit numbers each going 4-for-5 with one double and one triple. Tucker scored three runs and had one RBI. Torres logged two runs, four RBI and one stolen base.
Torres and Jordan Danks put immediate pressure on the Bearkats. Torres laced the first pitch of the game through the left side of the infield for a single and Danks followed with a two-run home run down the rightfield line to put the Horns up 2-0 less than one minute into the game. Russell followed with a solo home run for UT's first back-to-back home runs since April 28, 2007, staking Texas to a 3-0 lead.
The Longhorns added nine runs in the second inning. With one out, Tucker tripled off the wall in leftfield and Torres singled through the right side to inflate the cushion to 4-0. Danks followed with a walk and Russell homered to dead centerfield to inflate the cushion to 7-0. A two-run single by Preston Clark, an RBI single by Tucker and a two run triple by Torres ballooned the lead to 12-0.
Texas (38-21) logged 17 hits for the game. In addition to the heroics of the aforementioned Horns, Russell Moldenhauer went 3-for-5 with one run and Clark was 2-for-4 with one run and two RBI.
Ruffin (8-3) worked six innings, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out 10 to earn the win. It was his third 10-strikeout game of the season. Keith Shinaberry worked one scoreless inning and Stayton Thomas closed out the game allowing one run on two hits while striking out two over two innings.
Ryan Tepera (3-3) allowed six runs on seven hits and one walk over 1.1 innings and was saddled with the loss for Sam Houston State (37-25).
Texas returns to action on Sunday with a 2 p.m. elimination game against the loser of Saturday evening's Rice/St. John's game.
