No. 6 Baseball rallies for 4-3, extra innings win over No. 13 Rice

Sunday, February 15

Houston, Texas

1 p.m.

University of Texas

2-2

Rice

2-2

Texas

RICE

No. 6 Baseball rallies for 4-3, extra innings win over No. 13 Rice

02.15.2015 | Baseball

Box Score

Freshman Michael McCann provides game-winning double in the 10th inning

HOUSTON – Freshman Michael McCann laced a two-out, run-scoring double to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the 10th inning lifting the No. 6 Baseball team over No. 13 Rice, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at Reckling Park.

McCann's double came during a rally that started when Tres Barrera drew a two-out walk and Bret Boswell followed with a single up the middle. McCann swung at the first pitch he saw, a fastball, driving it down the left field line to bring in Barrera. It marked the first collegiate hit for the native of Round Rock, Texas, who was making his first career start.

Freshman pitcher Kyle Johnston came on in the bottom of the 10th with a runner on second and one out and closed it out. After issuing a walk to the first batter he faced, Johnston got a fielder's choice and then struck out pinch hitter Blake Fox to end it.

The win salvaged a series split for the Longhorns (2-2) who rallied from deficits in both of their victories.

Down 3-0 after six innings, Texas tied it up in the seventh. With two on and two out, Ben Johnson came to the plate and laced a ball to right field that was misplayed, going under the glove of Charlie Warren and all the way to the wall. That allowed both runners to score and Johnson to reach third base.

After Rice went to the bullpen for left-hander Austin Solecitto, the Longhorns countered with pinch-hitter C.J Hinojosa, who ripped a single to center field to score Johnson and tie the score at 3-3.

The game remained tied the final two innings, with Texas again receiving great pitching from the bullpen. Lefties Kirby Bellow and Ty Culbreth combined with Johnston for 5 1/3 scoreless innings. In the series, the bullpen allowed just two runs in 18 innings of work.

Starting pitcher Chad Hollingsworth opened the game with four scoreless innings including retiring the side in order in the third and fourth. He worked out of trouble in the first two innings, getting a 4-6-3 double play in the first and stranding a pair of Owls in the second.

Rice broke through in the fifth, however, loading the bases after two singles, a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk. Ford Stainback drove in the game's first run with a soft blooper just over the head of second baseman Brooks Marlow, and Leon Byrd followed with a two-run single to left field to make it 3-0.

Bellow came on with two outs in the inning and got an inning-ending groundout to strand two runners and prevent further damage. He worked a scoreless sixth inning and struck out the side in the seventh before giving way to Culbreth.

In the eighth and ninth, both teams had chances to take the lead. Rice's leadoff hitter reached in both innings, but each time Culbreth (1-0) worked around the trouble. In the ninth, Zane Gurwitz led off with a single but the Longhorns were unable to capitalize.

Rice again had a leadoff single to start the bottom of the 10th, and a sacrifice bunt moved the runner into scoring position. But Johnston (save: 1), in his first collegiate appearance, came on to shut the door.

QUOTES

Head coach Augie Garrido

On the freshmen stepping up in big moments: Well they have all been very successful in their own right [before coming to Texas]. [Kyle] Johnston, of the freshman pitchers, has had the most experience in that role and that's why we saved him for that role. He has actually pitched a lot in high school as a closer. He looked really relaxed, and the mature sign of his relaxation and his confidence in himself was, first of all, even recognizing the pickoff sign, and then executing it to almost perfection. The timing was really good on that, he was really aggressive, but still under control. That might be the highlight of the whole weekend. There were a lot of good things, and there were a lot of negative things, but I thought his performance was really good.

On left-handed relief pitchers Kirby Bellow and Ty Culbreth performing well this weekend: I think both of them really field their positions well, have good makeup, and they can pick guys off at first and still throw strikes. Situations don't rattle them much; they have been through a lot. We have high hopes for them and we very much need them. I was pleased with [Jon] Malmin and his performance. He didn't look rattled by anything, he just went out and pitched. The whole idea is to get better. You guys might get tired of coaches saying that, but the truth of the matter is that's it. We're not a championship team yet.

There are still too many holes in it, but we had a really rough day yesterday. We ran the gamut. We went from really competing in that first game, to being flat for six innings in the next game. But, that gave us a chance to talk about it before the game today. I thought the will to win [today] was the best it's been in any of the four games.

On three of the four starting pitchers not pitching five innings this weekend: They can go five innings in a practice environment. But, when you add the adrenaline rushes they get when they're competing in games, it does take innings away from them. That's what I think happened, they're just pumped.

On freshman catcher Michael McCann getting the game-winning hit: I think he is one of our best freshman hitters. He has been very consistent. I have been looking for a place to spot him, and we all talked about the importance of getting different people into the lineup for us. I think he's the most advanced hitter of the freshman class. I think [Patrick] Mathis has a very high upside to him, and so do some others, but I think [McCann] is the one who is the best hitter of all the freshmen.

POST SERIES NOTES

Texas Debuts: Eleven players made their collegiate debuts for Texas this weekend: freshman infielder Joe Baker, redshirt freshman third baseman Bret Boswell, freshman catcher Michael Cantu, freshman pitcher Kyle Johnston, freshman first baseman Travis Jones, redshirt freshman infielder/DH Connor Macalla, freshman catcher Michael McCann, freshman pitcher/infielder Jake McKenzie, freshman outfielder Patrick Mathis, freshman pitcher Connor Mayes, freshman pitcher Tyler Schimpf … Additionally, sophomore Kacy Clemens made his first appearance as a pitcher and sophomore Josh Sawyer made his first career start.

Clean Sheets: Six Texas pitchers finished the weekend with "clean sheets," not surrendering a run: Culbreth (3 1/3 IP), McKenzie (2 2/3 IP), Travis Duke (2 IP), Mayes (1 IP), Schimpf (1 IP) and Johnston (2/3 IP).

Turning Two: Texas turned four double plays in the four-game series. The Longhorns turned three in the opener and then one in the finale. Last season, UT ranked second in the nation with 71 double plays.

Johnson gets hot: Ben Johnson matched a career high when he had four hits in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The junior also had four hits as a freshman vs. UC Santa Barbara (March 10, 2013). For the weekend, Johnson went 8 of 15 (.444) with five runs, five RBIs and a home run.

Hitting safely: Texas had three players hit safely in all four games against Rice: Johnson, Boswell and Brooks Marlow.

Going Deep: Playing for the first time with a new ball designed with lower seems and expected to travel 15-20 feet further than the old ball, Texas and Rice combined for three home runs in the four-game series. Texas had two and Rice had one. In a four-game season opening series last year, there were two total home runs at Cal Berkeley, which has smaller dimensions (320-365-395) than Rice's Reckling Park (330-375-400).