Might as well start the thread. As you hopefully know by now, the game has been delayed till 2:35 pm. A large part of Texas is swamped right now. Here in northeast Texas, Bowie County has been declared a disaster area, as the Red River is well out of it's banks, to cause major flooding. The bridges to Arkansas and Oklahoma are both closed, so I guess it's not all bad. When the weather is dodged and play begins, look for much of what we have seen all year. Pitching will most likely dominate, the heavy air should help the pitchers also, unless a strong wind is gusting out. Parker French vs. Andrew Moore seems like another classic pitcher's duel, unless French is still suffering some soreness, in his arm. This is a big worry. Texas looks to generate enough runs to win, in whatever way they can. OSU is a lot like the other OSU to me, as in Oklahoma State, good hitting team, with some quality starting pitching, and good fielding. We know that the Cowboys had an inning, that they looked like the Bad News Bears, in the field, it cost them the Big 12 Championship game. Maybe the "dam" will break for the Beavers, at some point. The game is on LHN and ESPN3, the audio is texas.leanplayer.com. Lineups are coming and if anything changes about the start of the game.
NB all that water is headed right down the Red River to Shreveport, the local news here showed a video day before of the US 259 bridge going into OK and the water was only a few feet below the bridge and as you mentioned that one and the US 71 bridge at Fulton AR have since been closed....in the meantime lets open a little can of Longhorn whoopass on the Beavers.......HOOK EM'
Texas Lineup: Ben Johnson-LF Joe Baker-DH C.J. Hinojosa-SS Tres Barrera-C Collin Shaw-RF Zane Gurwitz-CF Brooks Marlow-2B Kacy Clemens-1B Bret Boswell-3B Parker French-RHP
The one that is 7 miles north of me, on Highway 8, that goes to Foreman, is closed, and my cousin's cattle, have been moved to higher ground. I may need to go assist some more later.
The hybrid field, of turf infield and natural grass outfield is different, haven't seen that, since the old field at Wichita State. The outfield is in bad shape, could be some slipping and the baseball may just go splat, on hits.
I remember bringing in a chopper to the Disch, during a Regional. The Memorial Day flood of, I think 1982. We beat Stanford and John Elway, best outfield arm I have ever seen in college ball. He played right field, not quite a Roberto Clemente arm, pretty close though.
Dan Law Field in Lubbock was infield turf/outfield grass until 2007. The outfield seemed to always be in terrible shape. Ground balls didn't roll in a straight line because of all the divots.
Andrew Moore, a right hander with outstanding number, like a 1.73 era and a 5 to 1 ratio of strike outs to walks, gets the start for OSU of the Beaver variety. His warm up pitches are completed and after a rain delay of about seventy minutes, the DBU Regional between the #2 and #3 seeds begins. Ben Johnson leads off batting right handed, for Texas. He takes three straight strikes, for a backwards K, one down. Baker bats righty, with one away. He takes a fast ball, on the outside corner, another K, two outs. Hinojosa bats righty, with two gone. A chopper to second goes 4-3 to retire the side in order. Moore looks as good, as advertised and OSU comes to bat.
Parker French, the senior right handed ace, for the Horns, looks for a good outing and Texas is going to need on it seems. Christian Donahue, the second baseman, leads off batting left handed, for OSU. He grounds a sharp single up the middle, to reach. Caleb Hamilton, the shortstop, bats righty, with one on. He squares and then draws the bat back and swings away, a ground ball to Hinojosa, by the bag, at second, goes 6U-3, for a double play. Two down for lefty hitting, Jeff Hendrix, the OSU center fielder. He foul tips a hard sinker into the mitt of Barrera, the K will end the frame. Nothing across in the first, so 0-0.
Moore back for the second for OSU, he looks tough. Barrera leads off, for the Horns, batting right handed. He swings at a fast ball shoulder high, for another K, one out. Shaw bats lefty, with one down. A lazy fly ball to center is two gone. Gurwitz bats righty, as two are retired. A two hopper to short goes 6-3, the side is down in order again. Moore is mowing down the Horns, so far and it remains 0-0, bottom of two.
French out to try and hold the fort, for Texas in the second. First baseman KJ Harrison, leads off, batting righty, for OSU. He swings through the hard sinker, and the 2-3 put out, completes the K. The right fielder, Elliot Cary, bats lefty, with an out. A little hopper to second and the 4-3 is two gone. DH, Billy King, bats lefty, with two outs. He goes down swinging, the K, retires the side in order Two gone so far and as you might expect, tied 0-0.
Moore returns to the hill for the Beavers. Marlow leads off batting lefty, for the Horns. He is rung up, on the outside corner fast ball, it's a wide zone today. Clemens bats lefty, with one out. He walks and is the first runner, for the Horns. Boswell bats lefty, in the nine hole, with one on and one out. Boswell on the full count pitch, helps Moore out, swinging at the low pitch, for a K and two gone. Johnson bats righty, with a man aboard and two outs. He sends a soft liner to second to end the frame. Bottom of three and nada runs to report.
French starts the third, for the Horns, trying to keep pace with Moore. Kyle Nobach, the left fielder, for OSU leads off, batting righty. A full count, the first for French, and ground ball to Hinojosa and the 6-3 is one gone. The catcher is Logan Ice, batting lefty, with one out. A liner to left, is a single, for a base runner. Michael Gretler, the third baseman bats righty, in the nine slot, with one on and one away. A tight slider is taken for a called K, so two gone. Top of the order is Donahue again, batting lefty, with a man on and two outs. For the second time in two trips, he grounds a single up the middle, for two men on. Hamilton bats righty, with two aboard and two outs. First real threat of the game. A come backer on a 3-1 pitch will end the jam and retire the side. Three played and still 0-0.
Moore back and it's his turn to keep the 0' going on the board, for OSU. Baker will lead off, for the Horns, batting right handed. He slaps a high hanging fast ball, for a single to right center, the first Texas knock of the game. Hinojosa up batting righty and most likely to bunt. He does and the pitcher has it and tags Hinojosa, the 1U sac, is one out, Baker to second. Barrera bats righty, with a runner in scoring position, one down. A single up the middle and Baker scores, another hanging pitch, he pays for it. Texas leads 1-0. Shaw bats lefty, with one on and an out. Suddenly the pinpoint control is gone, for Moore. A hard liner to right drops, for another single. A nice splat as expected, when the ball landed. Coach comes out for a talk and a full blown conference. He leaves and back to play. Gurwitz bats righty, with two on and one down. Full count and a big early pitch comes and he fouls off a pitch head high. Then a curve ball is popped up and the second baseman has it, for two gone. Marlow bats lefty, with two aboard and two outs. He walks on four pitches to load the bases. Clemens bats lefty, with the bases loaded, and two outs. He doesn't have an rbi, this season. Really need a run or two more here, had a great chance, for a crooked number. He K's swinging and that ends the jam. Texas gets one, but you could have done much more, they lead 1-0, bottom of the fourth.
French pitches with a lead, as the OSU fourth starts, for the Horns. Hendrix leads off, batting lefty, for the Beavers. A high foul pop and Barrera is under it, then Boswell takes it away, he loses it and Barreara has it, for a 5-2 pop out. That's different, isn't it. "Clean living is finally paying off", so people know what I mean, on this board, yes cryptic quote. Harrison bats lefty, with an out. He is hit on the elbow, to reach. Cary bats lefty, with one on and one down. A pitch in the dirt and the runner advances, as the throw was wide, or they had him, it's a wild pitch. A ground ball goes through, on the left side, for a single, the runner has to hold at third. Skip is out, for the first time and after a quick word is back to the first base dugout. King bats lefty, with runners on the corners and one out. He sends a shot off of Clemens' glove and into right field, run scores. Game tied at 1-1. Righty hitter Nobach, has runners still on the corners and one down. Now it's OSU, with the big chance to put up that crooked number. A single by Marlow, does just that. OSU leads 2-1. Ice bats lefty, with two aboard and one out. A ground ball to short and it goes 6-4-3, for the twin killing, to end the inning. OSU answers right back and takes a 2-1 lead, after four.
