No. 16 Baseball falls to WVU, 7-6, in 10 innings

Saturday, March 14

Austin, Texas

5 p.m.

University of Texas

12-7, 1-1

West Virginia

8-7, 1-1

West Virginia

Texas

No. 16 Baseball falls to WVU, 7-6, in 10 innings

03.14.2015 | Baseball

Box Score

Horns trailed 6-0 early before battling back to tie, only to fall in extras

AUSTIN, Texas — Behind Connor Mayes' 6 2/3 scoreless innings of relief and a gritty offensive effort the No. 16 Baseball team rallied from a 6-0 deficit, but eventually fell to West Virginia 7-6 in 10 innings Saturday evening at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The Longhorns (12-7, 1-1) spotted the Mountaineers (8-7, 1-1) six runs over their first three frames, but scored six over their next four innings to knot the score at 6-6 where it remained through regulation. In the 10th, Ty Culbreth surrendered a bases loaded walk to KC Huth to bring in Kyle Davis for what proved to be the game-winning run.

Despite receiving a no-decision for his work, Mayes was brilliant in relief of starter Josh Sawyer, spinning 6 2/3 shutout innings of three-hit ball with 10 strikeouts to only one walk. The 10 punch-outs were not only a career high for the freshman from Lake Travis, but were the most by a UT pitcher since Cole Green had 10 vs. Brown on March 13, 2011.

At one point, Mayes sat down 15 consecutive Mountaineers before finally surrendering a walk with one out in the ninth inning.

With two outs and a runner on third in the ninth, Culbreth came in to relieve Mayes and promptly got a fly out to left field to end the inning. In the 10th, Culbreth gave up three singles (two infield) prior to the two-out walk to give WVU the lead.

In front of a season-high crowd of 6,411, Collin Shaw launched his first career home run in the bottom of the third inning to ignite the Texas bats with their first run of the day. The homer marked the Longhorns' seventh in 11 home games this season, after hitting just five in 33 games last season.

Ben Johnson and Taylor Stell had two hits and an RBI apiece for the Horns, and Michael Cantu paced the offense with a three hit (one double), one run, one walk and three-RBI performance.

One of Stell's two hits was an RBI double, and Johnson's second base knock was a leadoff triple to right center in the fifth inning that was nullified when he was picked off third by the catcher following a pitch in the next at bat.

Shane Ennis (1-0) earned the win for WVU by tossing 2 2/3 scoreless frames (one walk, two strikeouts) after entering for starter Ross Vance in the eighth inning. Vance allowed 10 hits, six runs (four earned), four walks and struck out five over the first 7 1/3.

West Virginia jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two and a half frames thanks to seven base hits, two walks, a balk and a fielding error.

The biggest blow of the three innings came in the top of the second with Texas already down 3-0. With runners on first and second and two outs, a single from Jackson Cramer through the right side went under the glove of Shaw in right field, allowing the fourth and fifth runs to come across.

Sawyer surrendered a leadoff walk in the third to end his day on the hill, and an RBI single from Cam O'Brien off reliever Connor Mayes pushed the advantage to 6-0 WVU at the end of three. Sawyer was lifted after walking the leadoff man in the third inning, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out three in his outing.

Texas struck back with their first run in the bottom of the third when Shaw delivered a bomb deep into the Texas bullpen in right field to make it 6-1. Though it was his first career long ball, Shaw is the Big 12 leader in extra-base hits this season with 14, and he entered the weekend tied for the NCAA lead in doubles (12).

The Longhorns continued to fight, as a two-out double to right field from Stell in the fourth scored Cantu from first base to make it 6-2. Cantu was able to narrowly score thanks to an impressive slide to avoid being tagged out at the plate.

Johnson led the bottom of the fifth with a triple to right-centerfield, but was quickly picked off third base by the catcher when he jogged back to the bag after a pitch. Shaw then flew out to center, and it looked as though the rally was over. However, following back-to-back walks, Cantu laced a double to the wall in right-center, scoring two to make it a 6-4 deficit.

The Horns rallied to tie it 6-6 in the sixth thanks to two unearned runs on West Virginia throwing errors. After a single and an error, a Zane Gurwitz bunt attempt was thrown to first and missed by the second baseman covering the bag, allowing a run to score and putting runners on the corners with no outs. Johnson then grounded into an RBI fielder's choice to tie the score. Shaw then ripped a hard grounder, but it was right at the second baseman for an inning-ending double play.

The squads remained tied over the next three frames despite Texas having a good opportunity in the bottom of the ninth with runners on first and third and two away, but Ennis got Cantu to chase a pitch out of the zone to end the threat.

In the top of the 10th, Culbreth had two outs and a runner on first (single) before two infield hits loaded the bases. The lefty had a 1-2 count on Huth before tossing three straight balls to give West Virginia the lead.

Texas' attempt to bounce back in the bottom half was shut down when Connor Macalla ripped a hard liner to second base that was caught, and Bret Boswell was doubled off first, ending the game.

The rubber match between the two teams is tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. from UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

QUOTES

Head coach Augie Garrido

On overall thoughts of the game: I thought that we battled really well. We played really well to come back into it. We showed a lot of grit and a lot of competiveness. Obviously, there were mistakes that you can see as clearly as I can where we could've outscored them in the regulation nine innings. However, from my point of view, coming back like that and playing the way they played and giving themselves a chance to win and then enduring the tough little plays that were all involved in the 10th inning and losing the game by one in the top of the 10th, is always difficult. But I feel like the team is going in the right direction. I think it continues to grow and develop the way we hoped it would, and I think this will just be another experience that we'll learn from and be even more competitive as a result of it.

On the team's post-game demeanor: Their demeanor was the same as it was as they competed. They weren't deflated as a result. They understood that the good far outweighed the bad.

On what he thought about the team's fight: The mentality of not quitting, of not being entitled… I'm satisfied. They fought. They fought like Longhorns should fight. They played with grit. They played to win. I'm satisfied.

On playing in the Big 12 this season, having two games in a row go extra innings: I think it's going to be like this every time. I hope it is because it makes you better. It's going to be very challenging, but that's what makes you better.

Senior OF Collin Shaw

On his overall reaction of the game: It was a hard-fought game. We didn't lay down. We came back from a pretty big deficit, and that says a lot about our team and what we're going to bring to the yard every single day. Just fight every single inning. We didn't come out on top, but we learned a lot about ourselves.

On the team's post-game demeanor: Obviously we were deflated about the loss, but at the same time, we were like 'wow, it's over?' We were so in the moment of the battle and it just kind of ended on a line drive like that. We'll just be ready to play tomorrow and come out with a lot of fire and try and win the rubber match.

On Connor Mayes at the mound: He was awesome. That was pretty cool to see him come out of the bullpen and battle as a freshman and come in during a tight spot and attack the mitt. He just pitched awesome.

Freshman RHP Connor Mayes

On when it clicked for him against WVU: The first inning was rough. I had to get adjusted, see what they were like. Once I got out there again, started using my slider a little bit, which was a new pitch the way I've been using it lately, once I started throwing it for strikes and they started swinging and missing it was like 'alright, now we're pitching.' It felt good.

On his changeup: In high school, you can kind of blow it by with the fastball, but I think I've learned here in Texas and in college, the hitters, they can hit the fastball. You've got to mix it up. I think the big change tonight was I started throwing my off-speed a lot better, and that made the fastball even better. When we're using a changeup that's a great change of speed, it makes the fastball look faster and makes the changeup look slower. With the slider, we throw it up, throw the fastball up and then come low with the slider. It makes it hard to hit. It worked out really well. Michael Cantu did a great job behind the plate. Skip (Johnson) did a great job calling pitches.

NOTES

- Freshman Connor Mayes' 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings were the most by a Longhorn since Cole Green struck out 10 vs. Brown on March 13, 2011.

- Mayes retired 15 straight Mountaineers during one stretch tonight, and he is yet to allow a run in 12 1/3 innings in relief on the year.

- After surrendering just one run in eight innings tonight, the Texas bullpen boasts a 1.60 ERA on the season (78 2/3 innings).

- Collin Shaw blasted his first career home run in his 356th career at bat today. It was his Big 12 leading 14th extra base hit, and he entered the weekend tied for the NCAA lead with 12 doubles on the year.

- Shaw's homer tonight was Texas' seventh at home in just 11 games, after hitting five in 33 games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in 2014. The Longhorns have now hit 10 home runs in their last seven games (14 total).

- Three of the offense's six runs were scored with two outs on the evening, giving them 56 of 109 runs (51.4%) scored on the year with two down.

- Five Texas runs were scored when the leadoff man reached safely, making it 80 of 109 runs (73.4%) on the season when the leadoff batter gets on.

- Ben Johnson (.435) was 2-for-5 on the evening with a triple and an RBI. The junior left fielder currently leads the Big 12 in hits (37), batting average (.435) and total bases (57). It was the 12th multi-hit game for Johnson.