The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UIC
Baseball defeats UIC in season opener
02.20.2009 | Baseball
Feb. 20, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Longhorns had three pitchers combine to allow just one run on five hits to win the 2009 season opener, 6-1, against the UIC Flames in collegiate baseball action Friday afternoon at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Sophomore right-hander Chance Ruffin (1-0) earned the win, yielding one run on four hits and two walks while striking out three over 7.0 innings. Sophomore northpaw Stayton Thomas pitched one hitless, shutout inning, allowing one walk and striking out one. Freshman right-hander Austin Dicharry closed out the game, blanking the Flames in the ninth on one hit and one walk while striking out two.
The Longhorns manufactured one run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Travis Tucker led off the frame with a single through the right side of the infield. A sacrifice bunt by Brandon Loy and a wild pitch pushed Tucker to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Belt.
UIC knotted the game in the top of the second inning. Brett Schaeffer led off with a single through the right side, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single down the leftfield line by Rafael Garcia.
The Horns stampeded to four runs in the bottom half of the second to take a 5-1 lead. Kevin Keyes singled and Cameron Rupp singled to start the rally. Tant Shepherd placed a sacrifice bunt down the third base line and UIC pitcher Chris Kovacevich threw errant to first base allowing Keyes to score and putting runners on second and third. David Hernandez and Connor Rowe each plated a run with sacrifice flies to inflate the cushion to 4-1. The Horns reloaded the bases with Tucker getting hit by a pitch, Loy singling to rightfield and Belt walking. Preston Clark pushed the final run of the inning across, drawing a base on balls.
Texas tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Belt doubled to centerfield to drive in Loy, staking the Horns to a 6-1 lead.
The Longhorns were paced offensively by Tucker, Loy and Hernandez with two hits apiece. Tucker scored a pair of runs and Belt had two RBI.
Chris Kovacevich (0-1) was saddled with the loss for UIC. He yielded six runs, three earned on nine hits and four walks while striking out one over 6.0 innings.
Texas and UIC return to action for an old-fashioned doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch for the opener is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. with the second contest slated to start approximately 30 minutes after the first game ends.
TEXAS QUOTES
Associate Head Coach Tommy Harmon
General comments: That's a type of team we're probably going to have. We feel like we have a very strong defensive type club. We have enough pitching that we should be able to get enough innings out of different guys, to not to tax anyone. We feel like we can play defense, and catch and be able to manufacture enough runs with productive outs on sacrifice bunts and flies when we have guys on second and third. We also have guys who can move the ball out of the park as well.
On the new turf: The turf is different. It's not a hard turf that we've been used to for so many years. It plays a little bit slower than grass. The turf is going to help the defense. It slows the ball down, but it does it for the opponent as well.
On opening day: Opening day is a time that you're anxious and if you're not nervous on opening day, you probably shouldn't be in the game. When you're put into a different position, no matter how many times you've been there before in what arena, you're still anxious. We're glad it's over with. The kids did a great job with everything we've worked on and executed as planned.
On Chance Ruffin: Chance is kind of a special guy in the fact that all of last year and the one start this year, he's never been roughed up too much. I think he threw a few more pitches than he wanted to, but he was roughing it so that was good.
Freshman third baseman Brandon Loy
On opening day: It was a little nerve wracking. I had a lot of fun today.
On the team's performance: I think we did real well. We've been working real hard and practicing. We're doing something really good and everything is going well. We pulled out a win.
Sophomore pitcher Chance Ruffin
On his pitching: I'd say to get a win is good enough for me. But there are certainly some things to touch up on and do better next time. I'll be looking forward to the next opportunity.
Shortstop David Hernandez
On the absence of head coach Augie Garrido: We were all thinking about Garrido in the back of our head and what he was doing - if he was listening to the game. But I'm sure he'll be pretty happy with what we did today.
On what was most impressive about the victory: Our defense definitely stuck it out. Our pitching saw that and they were able to throw strikes, which is a little different from last year. It definitely was a good start.
Second baseman Travis Tucker
On the importance of Tant Shepherd's sacrifice bunt to spark a four-run second inning: We talk about the little things. Putting pressure on the defense is what we want to do. We want them to make plays on us. If they have a perfect game and make plays on us, then perhaps they'll win. We ended up getting a good bunt, which jump-started that inning and got everything going.
On whether the team can make improvements: There are a lot of things to improve on. We can always get better. We'll take this game, we'll analyze it and see what we all did wrong, and see what we can do better.
On the absence of head coach Augie Garrido: It was a little weird looking to your left at coach Harmon for the signs, but he did a really good job.
Left fielder Tant Shepherd
On the importance of his sacrifice bunt to spark a four-run second inning: Small ball puts a lot of pressure on the defense, especially when you have a quick runner out there like Kevin [Keyes]. They started to force things by trying to look at third and first. He [the pitcher] got rushed, overthrew first and that's what started our big second inning.
