Freshman closer Chase Shugart, the right hander, comes in to try and finish things off, in a non save situation. Peterson, who was left at the plate on the pickoff, bats lefty, leading off for UCLA, as the DH. He walks on a full count pitch, UCLA has had runners in every inning. Bono bats lefty, with a man on. A wild pitch moves the runner second. Another full count and another wild pitch moves the runner and the walk puts two on. Jarvis bats righty, with runners on the corners. He is hit by a pitch and that loads the bases. Skip out and a pitching change is made.
Well, Skip put Shugart in....he loaded the bases....no outs.....FINALLY pulled him.....omg.....hope this isn't "Cal Revisited"..... Now, it's 7-5....runners on 1st and 3rd..... If Skip thinks Shugart is ready to be the closer, he better work with him a lot more...... Come on, Horns.....save the day!
The new Texas pitcher is righty freshman Nolan Kingham. He faces a pinch hitter, in righty hitting Jake Pries, the bases loaded. Another full count and he walks to force in a run. Texas leads 7-3. Another pinch hitter is Sean Bouchard, batting righty, bases loaded. A fly ball to lefty is a SF. Texas leads 7-4. Urabe bats lefty, at the top of the order, two on and one out. Another full count and another walk loads the bases again. Stephens bats lefty, with the bases loaded, one in and one out. A fly ball to center is another SF, runner tags and moves to third. Texas leads 7-5. Two outs and the tying runs on, for Filia, batting lefty, two down. A fly ball to left and that's the ballgame. It was an adventure all night, but Texas hangs on to win 7-5 and take the first game of a series, for the first time this season. That was tiring physically and mentally, need a break, be back.
Ugly game where both teams had wildness and errors to make the game higher scoring, than it should have been. What will help change things is when Morgan Cooper can assume the closer role or become a starter, then one of the other starters could be the closer. The freshmen looked shaky on the road, for the first time in a series, was afraid that might happen. UCLA stranded 16 runners in the game and Texas had 3 errors. I'm wondering if Josh Sawyer is hurt, he didn't pitch against Cal and isn't scheduled to start in this series. That's a big injury and explains some things too, if he is. It's still a win though and Texas needs all of those they can get. Texas is now 7-7, while UCLA drops to 6-7. Tomorrow Ty Culbreth, who has been outstanding all year, gets the start, as Texas goes for the series win. Let's hope it's a quicker and cleaner game for the Horns.
Glad to see the bats come alive. Either Augie has found the cure or decided to leave the hitters alone. Hope it continues.
