June 1, 2008

Texas throttles Sam Houston State

By Allen Brown

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Contributor

HOUSTON - The Texas Longhorns’ bats came out swinging in a big way in Game 3 of the Houston Regional at Reckling Park, propelling the Horns to a 12-0 lead after two innings and allowing the Longhorns (38-21) to coast to an easy 13-3 victory Saturday over the Sam Houston State Bearkats (37-25).
 
After Michael Torres singled sharply on the very first pitch of the game for Texas, Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell hit back-to-back home runs to give the Horns a 3-0 lead before SHSU could record an out. While SHSU starter Ryan Tepera (3-3) was able to escape further damage in the first, the Horns jumped all over him in the second with one out as Travis Tucker tripled, Torres singled him in and then Danks walked. Bearkat coach Mark Johnson then summoned lefty Brent Powers to pitch to the left-handing hitting Russell. Russell worked the count to full and then blasted a tape measure home run to right center to give the Horns a 7-0 lead.

When the dust settled in the second inning, the Horns scored nine times on seven hits and an error and took a 12-0 lead.
 
“The game was pretty much decided in the first two innings," said Texas head coach Augie Garrido. "We controlled the momentum of the game (from that point) … (our hitters) built off of each other, that’s the way it works.”
 
Freshman ace Chance Ruffin made the 12-0 lead stand up as he worked six solid innings allowing seven hits and no walks while striking out 10. There was speculation that the Longhorn coaching staff would elect to remove Ruffin from the game once the Horns managed a 12-0 lead after their first two at bats. Coach Garrido succinctly summarized his decision to leave Ruffin in the game for six innings and ninety-four pitches.

“Did you ever see the Missouri score ?”, Garrido said, referring to UT’s momentous 31-12 loss to Missouri on April 11, 2008.
 
Coach Garrido did indicate that he felt that Ruffin could still come back on Monday if Texas has a game on Monday.

“I could pitch as many innings as my team needs me to pitch tomorrow,” Ruffin said, despite working six innings this afternoon.
 
Besides the two home runs from Russell and the Danks dinger, nine-hole hitter Travis Tucker and leadoff man Michael Torres both had four hits for Texas. Both were only a home run short of hitting of the cycle.
 
Coach Garrido was unsure of his pitching plans for Sunday but indicated that Austin Wood will likely start the Sunday early game but that Riley Boening and Brandon Workman were also options.