Baseball handed 9-1 defeat by No. 21 Texas Tech

Saturday, May 2

Austin, Texas

2 p.m.

University of Texas

24-23, 9-11

Texas Tech

28-20, 11-9

Texas Tech

Texas

05.02.2015 | Baseball

Box Score

Ben Johnson went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a double in the loss

AUSTIN, Texas — The Baseball team dropped game two of its three game set with No. 21 Texas Tech, 9-1, Saturday afternoon at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in front of a season-high 7,018 fans.

The loss today sets up a rubber match tomorrow at 1 p.m. to decide the series after Texas (24-23, 9-11 Big 12) won the opening game Friday night, 3-0, over the Red Raiders (28-20, 11-9 Big 12).

The UT bats couldn't get much of anything going all day off Tech starter Cameron Smith (6-3, 2.64 ERA) who went the distance, allowing just one earned on seven hits and one walk while striking out six to grab the win.

Ben Johnson managed three hits, a run scored and a double in the contest, giving him 23 multi-hit games this season including nine games with three or more hits.

Despite pitching effectively for nearly the entirety of his outing, Ty Culbreth (3-4, 3.40 ERA) took the loss for the Longhorns on the mound. The junior went six innings and allowed four earned on seven hits while striking out a career-high matching six batters. All of the damage came in the sixth inning when he gave up five hits that led to all four runs.

Three relief pitchers for Texas surrendered five runs in the seventh inning, but Kyle Johnston (2.42 ERA) and Andy McGuire (3.48 ERA) worked two scoreless frames to finish out the game.

Stephen Smith led the way for Tech in its scoring brigade in the sixth and seventh innings, driving in five runs, including a grand slam down the left field line in the seventh. Eric Gutierrez added three hits, two runs scored and an RBI in the win.

The first five innings played to a 0-0 tie thanks to excellent performances on the mound from Smith and Culbreth.

Smith worked out of a first and third one out jam in the first inning courtesy of a 6-4-3 double play ball, and a second and third two out spot in the fifth with an inning ending strikeout to keep the Horns off the board. Culbreth looked especially dominant over his first five, allowing just two hits while striking out five and not letting a runner to reach second base.

In the top of the sixth however, Texas Tech broke for four runs courtesy of five hits and two sacrifice flies, all at the expense of Culbreth. The Red Raiders then pounced for five more runs to make it 9-0 in the seventh, highlighted by the grand slam from Smith.

The Longhorns rallied for a run in the bottom of the eighth thanks to back-to-back one out doubles from Johnson and Zane Gurwitz, but Smith then settled down and recorded the final five outs without allowing another run.

Texas will send freshman righty Connor Mayes to the mound in the series finale, while Texas Tech has not announced a starter. The Longhorns will also recognize Senior Day prior to the game on Sunday.

QUOTES

Texas head coach Augie Garrido

Opening statement: The game is a game of momentum and we missed our opportunities early, starting with the first inning; we didn't score. We continue to hit the ball hard and made some quality outs and had some quality at-bats, but at the moment we needed to drive in a run, which has been our characteristic a lot this year, is when we took some bad at-bats, out of character at-bats, swinging at balls outside the strike zone and I guess you can say they're feeling the pressure of the situation and responding to it in a negative way, rather than a positive way. When they got to four [runs], it was a series of a ball off the handle of the bat that fell in between the second baseman and right fielder and then some bunts into some pretty good places and we didn't convert the outs. So they really got it rolling at that point, and then the grand slam speaks for itself. Once they had the four-run inning, it loosened them up a lot and they became more aggressive and more successful. I really thought we did a good job in the first part of the game getting ourselves into position to score, but we didn't convert them into runs and that led them into the downfall of the game in my opinion.

I thought Ty [Culbreth] pitched well. The things that happened to him in the four-run inning were really not a lot of his doing. We didn't get the outs on time and that led to base runners and finally led to four runs. They did a good job of taking quality at-bats with the runner on third. They got two runs that way and them extended the rally with a double, which really helped them score.

On where this season went wrong: I think that we had a lot of success and a lot of fight and a lot of expectations and a lot of that type of thing, and I think when we lost the first three-game weekend is where they started to feel differently about their ability to come back and their ability to win the game. And we've had problems with RBIs. Our leading RBI guy has 30. We have players with 145 or more at-bats with 18.

On if he sees hope in catching fire and making the tournament: I see hope in all that. We've talked to some people on that committee and we need to win tomorrow and obviously as many Baylor games and one remaining Texas State game as possible. We probably have to do well in the tournament, too. There is that hope. To quote the people that we talked to, and I'm not going to give any names, but to quote the people, "You're still on the radar."

Junior OF Ben Johnson

On the tough loss today: We have to move on from it and bounce back. We can still get a series win, so we have to learn from it, move on and push forward.

On Texas Tech capitalizing on opportunities and Texas not: Yes, they took advantage of some opportunities they had, obviously with the grand slam. They were able to get some sac[rifice] bunts to work for hits for them, and it just did not work out for us today. They kind of took the momentum, and once that happened we could not really bounce back. So, like I said, we have to get over it, move on and find a way to get it done tomorrow.

On if the team is putting too much pressure on itself: Maybe. At the same time, we have had some hard hit baseballs that haven't dropped, but that's no excuse. We have to find a way to put runs on the board.

On the mentality for the rest of the season: Try and win as many games as possible. If we were to win out, who knows what will happen. We just have to find a way to win games to give us a chance to find a way to get in [to the NCAA Tournament]. We know obviously the Big 12 Tournament is going to be huge for us, and we are going to have to go out there and win some games.

Junior LHP Ty Culbreth

On the loss today: That's a tough one, you know? I think we played well all the way around, we hit a lot of balls hard at the right times, but it was either right at somebody or they made a great play in the field. It's just going to have to be one that we swallow and worry about tomorrow.

On the offense not putting up any early runs today: I try not to think about that during the game. You can't control what they do; my job is to throw strikes and compete as well as I can. I'm not going to blame anybody, they [Texas Tech] just got timely hits at the right time. Credit to them for that; I am not going to say anything about our hitting. [Texas Tech] did well, they hit the ball well all day. It's just kind of unfortunate.

On how he felt about his performance today: I thought I did throw well today, and I attacked the mitt really well today. It's always my goal to throw strikes and let my defense work, and they did that for me today. Other than that, I felt that I had good command of all pitches even in the sixth [inning]. It was just unfortunate.

On if the team feels pressure to finish strong: In the locker room it's fine, we know what we have to do, it's no secret. We have to take it one day at a time, we can't start looking forward two months down the road and stuff. We just have to take care of tomorrow.

NOTES

- Ty Culbreth matched career highs with six innings pitched and six strikeouts (set last Saturday at TCU). The junior allowed just two hits in the first five innings before allowing four runs in the sixth.

- Ben Johnson recorded his 23rd multi-hit game this season with a 3-for-4 performance. It was his ninth game with three hits or more this season.

- Tres Barrera drew a walk and has now reached base in 44 of 47 games this season, including 10 straight.

- Texas has not made an error in the series, totaling 68 chances. The Longhorns are fielding at a .978 clip which ranks 19th nationally.