W: SMITH, Austin (1-0)
L:
Selvig, Cole (0-1)
S: MAUTERER, Vaughn (1)
BOX SCORE
RECAP
After falling behind in the 1st inning due to some inconsistency by RHP Charlie Hurley, the Horns starter was able to cruise through the next two innings without a hitch. In the 4th inning though, Hurley started cutting his sinker and ran into location issues, which ultimately saw him depart, leaving the Horns to utilize the bullpen much earlier than expected. The Horns got off to another slow start offensively, but that changed in the 3rd inning when Will Gasparino got the first hit of the game for the Horns, which was immediately followed by a double to RF by lead off man Jared Thomas. This all setup Peyton Powell at the plate to launch one over the RF wall after getting the ball up into the stiff wind blowing left to right.
Login to view embedded media
When Charlie Hurley departed, he did so with the bases loaded. Thankfully freshman RHP Easton Tumis came in and was able to get out of the jam without any damage. In the 5th inning, Tumis ran into trouble, ending up with the bases loaded but escaped with giving up just one run on a sacrifice fly.
Login to view embedded media
In the 6th inning, LHP Luke Harrison made his return from injury that saw him miss all of last year and he quickly settled in, putting San Diego down in order 1-2-3. Unfortunately a sinking liner to RF ate up Max Belyeu which put a runner on 3B for the Toreros. That error would be costly as he would be driven in by the very next batter when he hit a soft grounder to Flores at SS, tying up the game at 3-3.
Login to view embedded media
Texas was able to put up zeros in both the 8th and 9th inning, but unfortunately could not capitalize on their own chances. In the Bottom of the 8th, the Horns had two runners on base, but Dee Kennedy was thrown out going to 3B when he went because the wild pitch barely got away from the catcher. In the bottom of the 9th, Jack O’Dowd drew a 1 out walk, followed by a Porter Brown single. Unfortunately, Casey Cummings was over powered at the plate and Tommy Farmer popped up to end the scoring threat.
In the Top 10th, pinch hitter Ryan Ward hit a fastball to RF off the taco sign, a 2-run bomb, giving San Diego the 5-3 lead. Not deterred, Texas fought back and tied the game up in the Bottom 10th. Kimble Schuessler led off by crushing a ball over the head of the CF for a stand up double. Will Gasparino followed that up with a strikeout, but Jared Thomas hit a sinking liner to RF for a single, followed up by a Powell RBI single up the middle to make it a 5-4 ball game. Jalin Flores, who had been 0-4 on the day drew a walk to load the bases for Jayden Duplantier. Gumbo as Duplantier is known, hit a sac fly to CF on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, bringing Jared Thomas home and tying the game at 5-5. Unfortunately, Porter Brown hit a slow chopper to 1B to end the scoring threat and chance to walk it off.
Login to view embedded media
In the Top of the 11th, freshman RHP Cole Selvig gave up back to back singles, which put runners on the corners with no outs. He was lifted in favor of Heston Tole who got a strikeout, but surrendered the eventual winning run when there was delayed double steal, whereby Kimble threw down to 2B and the runner scored from 3B. This gave San Diego the 6-5 lead, one which they did not surrender.
Big Moment
With two runners on base and 2 outs in the Bottom of the 10th, Porter Brown was in prime position to walk it off and give Texas a series win. Instead his quiet start to the 2024 season continued as he rolled over on a pitch, slowly chopping it to 1B and ending the scoring threat.
Individual Performance
Last night Jalin Flores had the grand slam and tonight Peyton Powell was the one with the big fly. His three run HR gave Texas back the early lead, one that they unfortunately could not hold on to. Powell nearly hit another 3 run HR in the Bottom of the 10th, but it just went to the right of the RF foul pole.
Takeaways
The catcher position remains an issue as Texas has not been able to hold San Diego at bay on the base paths the entire weekend. While it can seem trivial, this puts a massive amount of pressure on the pitching staff and defense. In addition, the starting pitching has to go deeper into games and not allow opposing teams to eat into the Texas bullpen so early. Lastly, the offense has not had a lot of flow to it yet with guys like Jack O’Dowd and Porter Brown struggling to get going. After a really solid evening last night, Flores struggled today. The 20mph wind blowing in did not help and nor has the cold, but the Texas offense will need to find its footing fast.
Up Next
San Diego Toreros (1-1)
Sunday Feb 18th at 1pm