Baseball falls to Vanderbilt, 4-3, in 10 innings

Saturday, June 21

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

University of Texas

46-21

Vanderbilt

49-20

Texas Longhorns

Vanderbilt

Fr. Morgan Cooper pitched 4 2/3 in relief

Baseball falls to Vanderbilt, 4-3, in 10 innings

06.22.2014 | Baseball

Box Score

Vanderbilt walks-off on bases loaded infield single in the bottom of the 10th inning

OMAHA, Neb – The Texas baseball team fought back and forth with Vanderbilt in a College World Series elimination game Saturday night but ultimately fell on a bases-loaded infield single in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Texas (46-21) sees its season end one game shy of the CWS finals, finishing tied for third in the nation. After dropping their first game in the CWS, the Longhorns had won three straight elimination games to set up Saturday's matchup. Texas twice rallied from deficits to tie the game, but was unable to take a lead after knotting it 3-3 in the sixth.

Vanderbilt (49-20) rallied with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to win it. Texas reliever John Curtiss, after retiring the first two batters in the 10th, allowed a single before issuing a walk and hitting a batter to load the bases. Vanderbilt's Tyler Campbell then hit a slow grounder to shortstop C.J Hinojosa, who charged hard, fielded it cleanly and threw to first but not in time. Campbell's infield single scored Rhett Wiseman, sending Vandy to the CWS finals.

Texas received standout performances from a number of players. Freshmen Tres Barrera, Kacy Clemens and Zane Gurwitz, the Longhorns' 7-8-9 hitters, combined to go 4-for-12 with three RBIs and one run.

It was the performance from freshman right-hander Morgan Cooper that kept Texas in the game. Cooper replaced starter Parker French in the third inning and went 4 2/3, allowing two runs (one earned) while striking out five. Sophomore lefty Travis Duke pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings with two strikeouts to keep the score tied.

Gurwitz led the offense again with two hits and an RBI, while Clemens had a two-run single to tie the game in the fourth inning.

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, Texas was able to tie it up after C.J Hinojosa led off the inning with a double. A Collin Shaw single and Ben Johnson walk loaded the bases, and Clemens stepped to the plate and delivered a single up the middle to score two.

Vanderbilt took the lead back in the fifth inning when right fielder Rhett Wiseman came to the plate with runners on first and second with one out and lined a ball off of the wall in right for a run scoring double, making it 3-2 Commodores. Cooper escaped further trouble when Vanderbilt missed a squeeze play and a runner was eventually tagged out at third base in a run down.

The Longhorns would tie it up at three in the top of the sixth. Barrera led off the inning with a triple over the center fielder's head, and following a strikeout, Gurwitz singled through the left side for an RBI base hit.

The teams would then trade zeros the next three innings, before Vanderbilt won it in the 10th.

Vanderbilt's Hayden Stone (3-0), who was excellent in relief, earned the win. Stone allowed just one run on three hits in 5 2/3 while striking out eight. Curtiss (2-3) took the loss.

Texas, which was making a record 35th appearance in the College World Series, finished in the top four for the 26th time. Under head coach Augie Garrido, the Longhorns have finished in the top four six times since 2000.