Austin Regional - Texas v Louisiana Tech - Game Recap

ZachattheDisch · Jun 4, 2022

Winning Pitcher: Tristan Stevens (6-6) - 3.2 IP, 4 Hits, 1 Run and 5 Strikeouts on 58 pitches
Losing Pitcher: Kyle Crigger (6-3) - 1 IP, 6 Hits, 3 Runs, 1 BB and 1 Strikeout on 34 pitches
Texas v. La Tech Box Score

Texas improves to 44-19 on the year while Louisiana Tech drops to 42-20 on the year with the loss.

QUICK SUMMARY

Texas wins 5-2
In front of a Texas Longhorn baseball record crowd of 8,502, the Horns did not take the easy route but in the end they came away with a win. That is all that matters, a WIN. The Horns move to 2-0 in the Austin Regional and now sit in the cat bird seat needing just one win to move on to the Super Regionals. The Longhorns did not find life easy against the Smithson Valley High School alum Ryan Jennings through the first 6 innings. Jennings consistently kept the Horns off balance with a changeup and breaking ball. Jennings fastball which ran up to 94mph was very inconsistent on the day which matched the home plate umpires strike zone which fluctuated on the outside. Gordon, who had a hard time locating his off-speed pitches early got into trouble in the first inning after hitting a guy and then walking the next batter, but was able to get a strikeout and a fly out to end the threat. That first inning was very indicative of his outing overall, where he had to battle with his fastball and occasional breaking ball to grind through outs. Things started to heat up in the bottom of the 1st inning when Ivan Melendez was hit by a pitch on his inside hand and then Murph was hit by a bit immediately afterwards. In the 2nd inning, Dylan Campbell, who got the starting nod for the second day in a row came up big with a two out solo shot over the LF fence to give Texas an early 1-0 lead. The next batter, Trey Faltine was hit by a breaking ball in the shoulder and the umpire and Philip Miller had to step in to prevent things from getting out of hand between the pitcher Jennings and Faltine who exchanged words. After words were exchange between Coach Pierce and the umps and then by the LaTech coach and the umps, the meeting of the minds conferred on the infield and eventually gave both teams a warning. In the 4th inning, LaTech evened up the score at one a piece as the DH Burchfield led the inning off with a double to RF in which DC made a bad break and could not come up with the catch at the foul line. LaTech then used a successful sac bunt to move the runner over to 3B and the 9 hole hitter Elliott singled up the middle to score LaTech's first run of the game. Lucas once again battled back though to get two pop ups to end the threat. In the 6th inning, Gordon who was still struggling got the first out of the inning via a long fly out, but gave up a single to the very next batter and his day was done. Stevens came in and despite giving up a single to put runners on the corners with 2 outs was able to get a strike out looking to end the threat. In the 7th inning, LaTech turned to their star reliever and single season appearance record holder RHP Kyle Crigger with the game tied 1-1. He started off brightly by striking out Trey Faltine, but Hodo stepped to the plate and hit a breaking ball through the left side for a 1 out single. Kennedy then hit a slow rolling dribbler towards 3B on an 0-2 count in which he had guessed poorly on the first two pitches, setting up Ivan Melendez who lined a 1-1 slider into left center to score Hodo and put runners on the corners giving Texas the 2-1 lead. Murph immediately followed that up with a liner to left center on a sinker for an RBI single to give Texas the 3-1 lead. Not finished yet, Austin Todd lined one through the left side to put Murph on 2B, but Ivan was given the green light and a good throw and bad slide saw Ivan get tagged out at home. Once again, poor base running cost Texas a run, but thankfully did not cost them the game. Skyler Messinger was up next with 2 outs and runners on 1B and 2B and the Kansas transfer came through again for the Horns as he hit a double down the LF line for an RBI double to give Texas the 4-1 lead. Refusing to back down, LaTech got a run back in the 8th inning as they got another lead off double down the RF line and then hit a single to center field to put runners on the corners with just 1 out. LaTech scored the runner from 3B on a soft chopper to Ivan's right in which he flipped to Stevens covering and just got his foot down. LaTech could not get anything else though as Stevens got another big strike out to end the top of the 8th inning. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Texas was able to get the run back as Faltine led off with a double over the LF head and then advanced to 3B on a Hodo sac bunt. Hodo's sac bunt was after he fouled a bunt off his face on the first pitch, but muscled through to get the job done for the Horns. LaTech went to the bullpen with EK due up to bring in a lefty, but Coach Pierce countered with Mitch Daly who sent a long fly ball to the warning track in CF to drive in Faltine and give Texas the 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the 9th, Tristan Stevens was back out a strike out swinging, fly out to Hodo and then a strike out looking to end the game and put Texas within one way from a Super Regional.

BIG MOMENT

Star Reliever Kyle Crigger entering the game in the 7th inning. Texas did something tonight that very few teams can say they have done, bat around Kyle Crigger. Hodo and EK set the table and Golden Spikes presumptive favorite Ivan Melendez came through in the clutch to bring in the run and send the Texas fans into euphoria. Murphy Stehly, who has had an extremely impressive year followed suit to give Texas a 3-1 lead, which was all they would have needed on a night when Lucas Gordon did not have his best stuff but gritted his way through 5.1 IP of just one run baseball.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE TO NOTE

Defensively, Douglas Hodo in CF is just a fun guy to watch. He takes excellent routes, reads the ball really well off the bat and has great speed and athleticism to rarely get beat. His throw to Skyler at 3B to record the out was absolutely massive.
Offensively, Ivan Melendez gets the nod as he hit a slider away into left center for an RBI single which gave Texas the 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish.

THE ARMS

Lucas Gordon did not have his best stuff tonight, but giving up 9 hits and only allowing 1 run through 5.1 IP is impressive in itself. Gordon gritted through it and was able to hand the ball to Stevens who while not perfect got the job done. Stevens texted Coach Pierce earlier this season and told him, "I do not care what my role is whether starter or closer, I want to help the team win. It is why I came back to Texas. I love playing for Texas and I love playing for this team. I came back to win a championship and end my season with a dog pile." Shoutout to Lucas Gordon as well during Stevens outing as he was the energy guy, waving his towel and bringing it for Tristan while on the mound. THAT is a team and that is when the guys are playing for each other and the name across the chest!

TAKEAWAYS

It is simple. Win ONE game. Win one game and Texas is off to the Super Regionals (looking like a road trip to Greenville North Carolina will be in order). Whether by slugging 20 runs or patching together a bullpen day 2 innings at a time, ALWAYS WIN ON SUNDAY!

UP NEXT

Texas will play the winner of Air Force v. Louisiana Tech Sunday night at 7pm. The game will be televised on Longhorn Network.
Air Force will play Louisiana Tech Sunday at 1pm - GO AIR FORCE!

HookEm 🤘

Travis Galey · Jun 4, 2022