The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Dallas Baptist
No. 6 Baseball makes quick work of Dallas Baptist, 3-1
04.12.2011 | Baseball
April 12, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas -- A two-out, Kevin Lusson RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning broke a tie game and sparked the No. 6 Texas Longhorns to a 3-1 win over the Dallas Baptist Patriots at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Wednesday night in a game that took only 2:08 to play.
Texas (25-8) used four pitchers who combined to four-hit the Patriots (21-12), allowing just one unearned run while striking out nine and finishing the game with eight consecutive scoreless frames. Nathan Thornhill (1-0) picked up his first career win after pitching 2.1 scoreless innings in relief of starter Sam Stafford.
Dallas Baptist jumped on the Longhorns early, taking the lead in the top of the first after leadoff hitter Landon Anderson reached on a throwing error by Stafford. With one out, Jason Krizan doubled to right field, scoring Anderson to take a 1-0 lead.
However, in the bottom half of the inning, the Longhorns answered with a run on their own. Paul Montalbano started the rally with a one-out double before Erich Weiss hit a two-out grounder between second base and a diving first baseman to plate Montalbano and tie the game.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lucas Kephart started the inning with a hit by pitch and advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Etier. Alex Silver followed with a groundout to second base to move Kephart to third before Lusson hammered a double down the left field line to give Texas a 2-1 lead.
One inning later, Texas padded its lead after a leadoff walk to Brandon Loy and a single by Mantalbano to put runners on first and third. Tant Shepherd grounded into a double play the next at-bat, but it pushed Loy across home plate as Texas expanded their lead to 3-1.
Despite putting two runners on in both the second and third innings, the Patriots were unable to get any closer as the Texas relievers combined to pitch 6.1 scoreless innings. Stafford lasted 2.2 innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits while walking four and striking out two. Josh Urban entered in the sixth and pitched three 1-2-3 innings and striking out four before closer Corey Knebel entered in the ninth and earned his ninth save of the season.
Offensively, Montalbano lead Texas with two hits while Weiss and Lusson each recorded one RBI.
Starting pitcher Jared Stafford took the loss, falling to 3-3 after allowing three earned runs on six hits in 5.0 innings. Brandon Williamson pitched the final three innings in relief, allowing no runs on one hit. Kenny Hatcher led Dallas Baptist offensively, going 2-4 while Josh Wilson and Jason Krizan tallied the other hits.
Texas returns to action Friday when they host Texas Tech in a three-game series. The first pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
