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April 6, 2010

Box Score | Quotes

AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 6 Texas Longhorns used a season-high 17 hits to maroon the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 16-3 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday night. 

Texas had seven players record multiple hits in the game and used a blend of small ball and power in the win. The Longhorns tallied two doubles, two triples and three home runs, but also took advantage of three stolen bases and four sacrifice bunts in the balanced offensive display.

Cameron Rupp led the hit parade going 3-for-4 with two doubles, one home run, two runs and four RBI. Tant Shepherd went 2-for-4 with one home run, three runs and one RBI. Kevin Lusson went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs and three RBI. Connor Rowe and Jordan Etier each logged two hits, one triple, one stolen base and two RBI. Cohl Walla and Russell Moldenhauer also chipped in with a pair of hits each.

In the top of the first, the Corpus Christi drew first blood.  A throwing error by third baseman Kevin Lusson on a grounder and another error on a fielder’s choice putout attempt at second put runners on the corners.  A single by Omar Garcia brought Hernandez home for the 1-0 lead.

Kevin Keyes started off the bottom of the second inning with a walk to first.  Russell Moldenhauer’s sac bunt advanced Keyes to second. Keyes moved up to third base after Lusson flied out to center field.  The score was evened after Keyes scored on a passed ball.  Connor Rowe walked and scored when Jordan Etier tripled the ball to centerfield, staking the Horns to a 2-1 lead.

With two outs in the top of the third, Hernandez homered down the leftfield line to knot the game at 2-2. 

Tant Shepherd was quick to answer with a homer of his own to off the H-E-B sign in leftfield.  Catcher Cameron Rupp, who doubled and moved to third on a single by Keyes, scored on a wild pitch.  After Keyes advanced to second on the same wild pitch, he scored on a single up the middle by Moldenhauer for a 5-2 lead.

The Longhorns continued their wave of runs in the fourth inning.  Freshman Cohl Walla began the inning with a single to the right side.  A sac bunt Brandon Loy propelled Walla to second base and he quickly stole third.  Walla scored off Rupp’s double down the left field line, upping the Horns’ lead to 6-2.

Run number seven for Texas was posted in the bottom of the fifth.  Moldenhauer singled through the right side to start off the Longhorns’ at-bat. He moved to third on a sac bunt by Lusson and a groundout by Rowe. Moldnehauer was pushed across home plate when Etier singled through the right side.

The bottom of the sixth saw more action from the home team when Rupp homered down the leftfield line, bringing Shepherd and Loy home.  Rowe notched two RBI when his triple to right centerfield scored Moldenhauer and Lusson who reached on a walk and single, respectively.

A pinch-hit single to centerfield put Islanders’ Matt Holland on first base in the top of the seventh. Cory Ege singled to put runners at the corners and another single by Caleb Marx allowed drove in Holland, making the score 12-3.

Texas responded with four runs in the seventh. Leading off the inning, Loy reached on an error to spark the rally. Shepherd singled through the left side and a groundout by Jonathan Walsh put two runners in scoring position. Keyes plated Loy with a groundout to shortstop. Moldenhauer walked to put runners at the corners and Lusson followed by launching a three-run home run down the rightfield line to inflate the cushion to 16-3.

Pitcher Kendal Carrillo (1-0) picked up his first win of the season with 1.2 innings of hitless relief, including one strikeout. Carrillo relieved starter Sam Stafford who worked 4.1 innings, yielding two runs, one earned on three hits and two walks while striking out four. Keifer Nuncio closed out the game with 2.0 scoreless innings, scattering one hit and one walk.

Madrid (0-2) was fitted with the loss after surrendering five runs on six hits and two walks in 2.1 innings.

Marx led the Islanders’ offense, going 2-for-4 with one RBI. Hernandez went 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs, one home run and one RBI.

Texas face-off against the Islanders once again on Wednesday with a 6:05 p.m. contest at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Texas Quotes
Head Coach Augie Garrido
On the game after last week:  I am really pleased with it, it is a game of ups and down and a game of adversity and we talked a lot about that.  We went to Oklahoma and played some of our best baseball and it helped bring the team together. The poor showing brought us together and you see tonight the potential offensively that we have with a good balance of power and speed to support the defense.  The one thing was we made a couple of errors on third base and gave away a run but what I liked about the way Kevin Lusson handled that is that he came back and had one of his most aggressive and best offensive nights. He really battled and was motivated about the disappointment of the error. I think we are going in the right direction team wise and attitude wise and I thought all along that this team is going to be able to score runs and tonight they showed how consistent they can be.

Pitcher Sam Stafford
On the longest start of the season: Coming in today I felt pretty good going into the first inning and up until the fourth I felt like I was cruising and then I lost focus a little bit. But in the fifth Kendal was able to come in and pick me up and get us out of the inning with no harm done.

On bouncing back after two errors in the first inning: That is a part of baseball. People are going to make errors, but we trust Kevin (Lusson) is going to make that play nine out of 10 times and he hits one 60-feet over the Wendy’s sign to redeem himself. You just have to stay focused.

Third Base Kevin Lusson
On taking advantage of their poor fielding: We always talk about productive at-bats and that sort of thing. When you have two strikes put the ball in play and make them get you out. That leads to errors and sometimes base hits. We were able to move guys over. We saw the ball well and all that combined the scoreboard showed it.

Outfielder Connor Rowe
On the game tonight: Coming off the first Big 12 sweep feels real good and confidence is high right now. Everybody has their confidence up right now. Pitching and hitting wise that is pretty much what it takes to have a good game and we put it all together tonight.

On the teams batting average in the future: A lot better than now. We are on the incline now and everyone is starting to swing better and getting hits. We started off the season slow and our pitching picked us up. We are starting to help them out by getting some runs, so definitely on the incline and a lot better than now.

Catcher Cameron Rupp
On responding after last week against Oral Roberts: It is awesome after last weekend we forgot about that and just moved forward. Coming out here and playing the way we did was just awesome.

On production at the plate: I am seeing the ball well and getting good pitches. Just staying confident is a big thing.