The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona State
Baseball comes back again to beat Arizona State
06.19.2009 | Baseball
June 19, 2009
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | 
OMAHA, Neb. -- Catcher Cameron Rupp and center fielder Connor Rowe hit solo home runs in the bottom of the ninth to give Texas a 4-3, walk-off win over Arizona State before a crowd of 23,257 Friday night at Rosenblatt Stadium.
The Longhorns, making their 32nd College World Series appearance in school history, improve to 8-1 in the NCAA Tournament and 49-14-1 on the season. Top-seeded Texas will now face third-seeded LSU in the best two-of-three Championship Finals, which begin Monday at 6 p.m. Central.
The Sun Devils, who were playing in their 21st CWS and collected 50+ victories for the 16th time in school history, finish the campaign 51-14.
Rupp launched his 11th dinger of the season over the centerfield wall with one out in the Texas ninth. Rowe then capped the thrilling come-from-behind victory by smashing his seventh long ball of 2009 over the leftfield wall with two outs.
Rupp (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI), Rowe (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI) and second baseman Travis Tucker (2-for-4, 1 RBI) all turned in multi-hit performances for the Longhorns.
Texas left-hander Austin Wood (3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO), who retired nine of 12 batters he faced, improved to 6-1 with the win.
Arizona State left-hander Mitchell Lambson (2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO), who surrendered both solo homers in the dramatic ninth, fell to 9-5 with the loss.
The contest was tied at two through five innings after the teams traded early runs. Arizona State pushed across scores in the third and fourth frames, while Texas plated runs in the third and fifth.
Left fielder Kole Calhoun put Arizona State on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the third before shortstop Drew Maggi gave the Sun Devils another lead with an RBI base knock in the fourth.
Texas third baseman Michael Torres evened things with a lead-off homer in the third before Tucker knotted the affair once again with an RBI single in the fifth.
Neither starter - Texas right-hander Cole Green (6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO) or Arizona State right-hander Mike Leake (6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO) - figured in the decision.
Calhoun recorded a 3-for-4 performance with one RBI to finish the CWS with three homers and 11 RBI. He also reached base in 13 of his last 16 plate appearances.
Center fielder Jason Kipnis (2-for-3, 2 R) and right fielder Matt Newman (2-for-3) added multi-hit efforts for ASU.
The result was UT's second win over Arizona State in the 2009 College World Series. The Longhorns also posted a 10-6 victory over the Sun Devils on Tuesday.
Texas was ranked No. 4 in the latest Baseball America and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls, while Arizona State was No. 2 in the latest Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls.
Friday evening's crowd pushes the 2009 CWS attendance total to 271,200 in just 12 games (average of 22,600).
