The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 8 Baseball tops Baylor, 5-2
04.10.2011 | Baseball
April 10, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 8 Texas Longhorns went down early but fought back in the second half of the game to beat the Baylor Bears 5-2 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Sunday afternoon.
Texas improved to 24-8 on the season (9-3 Big 12) and claimed the series after splitting with Baylor (18-15, 5-7) on Friday and Saturday.
The Bears struck first with what would be their only runs of the game in the top of the second. Josh Ludy was hit by a Cole Green pitch to start the inning. After Green struck out Dan Evatt, he walked Joey Hainsfurther and Lawton Langford then singled to left to load the bases. Two batters later, Landis Ware sent a single to centerfield on an 0-2 pitch to score Ludy and Hainsfurther.
The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth when Texas halved the deficit. Jacob Felts reached base with a one-out single on a liner that a diving Steve DalPorto couldn't keep in his glove at second base for the Horns. Brandon Loy laid down a perfectly placed bunt that yielded no throw from the pitcher to put runners on first and second. After Paul Montalbano struck out, Erich Weiss singled to center to allow Felts to reach home from second.
The Longhorns evened the score in the sixth. Tant Shepherd opened the inning with a walk off Baylor reliever Jon Ringenberg and was sacrificed to second with a bunt from Jordan Etier. After Jonathan Walsh walked, Alex Silver drove a single through the left side of the infield to plate Shepherd.
Texas claimed its first lead of the game in the seventh. Montalbano led off with a single through the left side. After reliever Brad Kuntz hit Weiss with a pitch, Lucas Kephart bunted to the pitcher to sacrifice both runners into scoring position. Shepherd then sailed a two-RBI double along the left field line, scoring Montalbano and Weiss. Shepherd moved to third when Etier dropped a single in front of the left fielder and a Walsh squeeze bunt allowed Shepherd to cross home for the final tally of 5-2.
Sam Stafford earned the win for the Longhorns and up his record to 5-0. Stafford faced two batters, but he ended the top of the seventh by striking out Brooks Pinckard with a runner on third base in a 2-2 game. Green worked 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and three walks while striking out nine.
Corey Knebel picked up the save for Texas, his eighth of the season. He retired all six batters he faced over two innings, including two strikeouts.
Kuntz (0-1) was saddled with the loss for Baylor, allowing two runs on one hit and one hit batsmen. Trent Blank started the game for the Bears, giving up one run on five hits and two walks with one strikeout over 5.0 innings.
Shepherd led the Texas offense, going 2-for-3 on the day with one walk, two runs, one double and two RBI. Montalbano and Etier each added two hits.
The Longhorns return to action Tuesday when they face Dallas Baptist at UFCU Disch-Falk Field with first pitch slated for 6 p.m.
TEXAS POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Augie Garrido
On today's game: After a loss like last night many times you will see as a team show up really flat and it's depressing to come that close, come from behind, get the rally going, leave the tying or winning run on base at the final out and to miss the win. Today my concerns were that we would come out flat and we didn't do that. Cole [Green] had a spectacular first inning.
Senior pitcher Cole Green
On defeating Baylor: It was a great day. It was a nice day. We had some offense and I was able to throw good stuff today. Our defense played well today and it was a good win. It was a big win and I think this is a huge time for us to go 2-and-1 with a good team. Any time we play Baylor I know it's going to be a hyped up game. It's going to be a fun game. I'm glad we were able to go out and get the win.
Junior shortstop Brandon Loy
On his performance: I thought I played well. As a team we have been playing well lately and that's what it's about. We're having fun. We were a little upset about last night's loss so we wanted to come out here and play a good game and I thought we did that.
Freshman third baseman Alex Silver
On returning after missing the beginning the season due to treatments for Hodgkin's Lymphoma: I wouldn't say I was nervous because those games in the fall really help that out, but I was really excited. I wanted to contribute to the team and I'm glad we got the win today.
Senior first baseman Tant Shepherd
On the batting today: It's all about confidence and believing that it can happen. We know our coaches have confidence in us and all the pitchers have confidence and we have confidence in ourselves and it shows. It's our hits like today that raise the morale of the team, it was awesome.
Freshman outfielder Erich Weiss
On beating Baylor after the loss yesterday: Everybody did a great job to come back. We got down on ourselves after going down 2-0 but we knew there was a lot of time left in the game. Coming back was really cool. It started with some of the guys getting on base and moving runners over. Then we finally scored one and Coach [Garrido] really got us fired up.
