FINAL
Texas Longhorns (21-3, 6-1 SEC) - 15
Missouri Tigers (9-15, 0-7 SEC) - 4
BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Jared Spencer (3-1)
Losing Pitcher: Ian Lohse (0-4)
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RECAP
In the Top 1st, with 2 outs and nobody on base, SS Jalin Flores came to the plate and on a 1-2 count got a 90mph fastball right down the pipe and absolutely CRUSHED it to LF. The LF was kind enough to give a half assed trot towards the fence for his pitcher as the ball went 418 feet with an exit velo of 105 and a 35 degree launch angle giving the Horns an early 1-0 lead.
In Bottom 1st, LHP Jared Spencer went to work and racked up two strikeouts in the process, retiring the side in order.
In the Top 2nd, 1B Kimble Schuessler got his first HR of the season as he got an 86mph fastball up at the letters and sent it over the left CF wall for a solo shot to make it 2-0 Horns.
In the Bottom 2nd, Jared Spencer retired the side in order again as he cruised through another easy inning, needing only 8 pitches.
In the Top 3rd, took things to the next level and really bust the Tiger pinata as they put up a 7 spot on the board. YES, another game, I believe the 8th of the year that they have scored 7 runs in a single inning.
2B Ethan Mendoza got things started by drawing a lead off walk (of course). RH Max Belyeu then hammered the first pitch he saw to CF for a 2 run HR to make it 4-0 Horns.
SS Jalin Flores and C Rylan Galvan drew back to back walks against the starter Ian Lohse of Missouri. Those walks prompted the Tigers to go to the pen after a lengthy injury timeout. Pinch hitter freshman DH Cole Chamberlain then drew a walk to load the bases, still with no outs.
1B Kimble Schuessler then made it 5-0 Horns as he hit a breaking ball softly off the end of the bat and the pitcher threw wide of home plate. Not finished yet, CF Will Gasparino then hit a single through the left side to score to runs to make it 7-0 Horns. After Casey Borba hit a deep fly ball to CF, just missing a home run himself by hitting a bit off the end of the bat, Tommy Farmer came to the plate. Rancher as he is affectionately known hit a single to the left side, bringing home another run to make it 8-0 Horns.
That brought lead off man 2B Ethan Mendoza back to the plate and this time he his a hard grounder to the left side for a single, once again loading the bases, still with just 1 out.
RF Max Belyeu then drew a walk to bring in another run, the 7th of the inning to make it 9-0 Horns.
In the Bottom 3rd, Jared Spencer who had sat for over 30 minutes struggled to find his rhythm and had to go deep in the count against all four batters he face, giving up a 2 out walk, but bouncing back to get a big swing and miss to end the frame and keep it 9-0 Horns.
In the Top 4th, DH Cole Chamberlain led off with a single to the right side. 1B Kimble Schuessler then followed that up by getting hit by a pitch. On a 2-2 count, CF Will Gasparino hit a big fly to LF that would land halfway up the scoreboard for a 3 run HR to make it 12-0 Horns.
Despite 3B Casey Borba hitting a double to left field and Tommy Farmer getting hit by a pitch to put two runners on, still with no outs, the Horns were unable to capitalize any further.
In the Bottom 4th, Jared Spencer quickly got the first two batters out, but then give up back to back singles. Spencer bounced back though to get a fly out to RF to end the threat and keep it at 12-0 Horns.
In the Top 5th, the Tigers once again went to the bullpen looking for some help to put out the scorching red hot bats of Texas. C Rylan Galvan led off the inning with a walk...Geez, sound familiar? After DH Cole Chamberlain struck out swinging, 1B Kimble Schuessler hit a single up the middle putting runners on the corners with just 1 out. That brought CF Will Gasparino to the plate, who proceeded to CRUSH the first pitch he saw to CF where it bounced 3/4 of the way up the batters eye for his second 3 run HR of the night and giving the Horns a 15-0 lead.
In the Bottom 5th, Jared Spencer was once again on the mound for the Horns. He gave up a lead off single on a pitch that he left over the plate, but got some help from his friends as he induced a ground back to SS Jalin Flores who flipped to 2B Ethan Mendoza who then relayed to 1B Kimble Schuessler. Just how you draw it up! The next batter hit the first he saw from Spencer to Borba who made a nice play, flashing the leather and sending it to the 6th inning with the Horns up 15-0 still.
In the Top 6th, the Tigers went to the bullpen....kind of. They brought in a position player to pitch so that they did not burn any more arms for the double header tomorrow. Throwing mostly 73mph breaking balls, he retired the side in order.
In the Bottom 6th, the Tigers finally broke through putting up a crooked number to make the 7th inning more interesting.
Missouri led off with a double to left CF, following be a fly out to LF, moving the runner to 3B with just 1 out. The Tigers got their first run in as the next batter hit a grounder up the middle in which Jalin Flores made an outstanding defensive play to get the out. That made it 15-1 Horns.
Jared Spencer then issues back to back walks as he began to tire and lose some of his command. The next batter then hit a single to LF scoring another run to make it 15-2 Horns. That prompted Jim Schlossnagle to go to the bullpen and bring in RHP Thomas Burns.
The first batter that Burns faced, he got behind early and gave up a hard hit double to right CF which plated two more runs to make it 15-4 Horns and threatened to ruin a possible run rule. After Burns walked the next batter, he was able to bounce back to get a strikeout against the 9 hole hitter to preserve the 15-4 lead.
In the Top 7th, the Horns got a lead off walk from Rylan Galvan, but that was it offensively.
In the Bottom 7th, RHP Thomas Burns was back on the mound and retired the side in order, getting a line out to RF in which Max Belyeu made a heck of a defensive play and then got back to back strikeouts to seal the victory.
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BIG MOMENT
In the Top 3rd with the Horns already holding a 2-0 lead, 2B Ethan Mendoza led off with a walk. That brought RF Max Belyeu to the plate and on the first pitch he saw got a hold of a pitch over the heart of the plate and crushed it to CF for a 2 run HR to give the Horns a 4-0 lead and kick off what would become a 7 run inning.
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INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
GO Willy G go!
Will Gasparino went 3-5 on the night with 8 RBIs on the back of two 3 run HRs.
The first home run was 376 feet with an exit velo of 100 and an audacious launch angle of 43. The second HR was 437 feet with a 110mph exit velo.
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TAKEAWAYS
On a night when the wind was blowing out, you knew there were going to be some big flies and that absolutely ended up the case. Thankfully, they were all for the Horns as Jared Spencer did a great job of keeping everything on the ground.
The Horns needed to come out firing as they were playing in a small, windy stadium with an even smaller crowd which can sometimes deaden the teams enthusiasm. No such issue tonight as the Horns provided the fireworks from the get go and keep their foot on the pedal in every inning except one.
On the mound, Jared didn't do just a good job of keeping the ball low, he also gave the Horns 5.2 innings allowing the Horns to use Thomas Burns for the last 1.2 innings to preserve the bullpen for tomorrow when they will need all the arms as they will play 18 innings of ball.
Outside of the play, tonight's win represents the best start to conference play in 13 years. That isn't too bad at all. Obviously there are far tougher series ahead, but the Horns need to stay locked in and get the sweep.
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NEXT UP
Horns will play a double header tomorrow starting at 2pm with the second game starting 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Both games will be 9 innings.
