Texas tries not to be swept in a second straight Big 12 series and tries to keep hope alive of finishing 26-26 for the regular season. Game can be seen here and audio on texassports.com. WVU vs. Texas (Sunday) - WVU Athletics Line-ups on the way:
More information here as we await for the line-ups to be posted. West Virginia vs. Texas WVU line-up:
Connor Dotson will make his first start of the season, a right hander, with a 4-4 record and an era of 5.20. Travis Jones leads off for Texas, as the DH, batting right handed. Grounder to third is a 5-3 first out of the game. Right fielder is Patrick Mathis, batting lefty, with an out. He bloops a single into left field, over the shortstop's head, for a runner. Tres Barrera is the catcher, batting righty, with a man on and an out. He K's swinging, on a head high fast ball, two outs. Kacy Clemens, the first baseman, bats lefty, with one on and two gone. He also K's, this one looking at a fast ball, on the inside corner, to end the inning. Nothing for Texas, WVU will come up to bat, for the first time.
Kyle Johnston, a sophomore righty hander, will be the starting pitcher for the Horns. He has a 3-1 record and an era of 2.95. Kyle Zarbnisky, the centerfielder, bats lefty, leading off for WVU. He walks, for a lead runner. Right handed hitter is the DH, Kyle Davis, with a man on. He squares and takes a couple of strikes. A full count and he walks, for two aboard. Darius Hill, the left fielder, bats lefty, with two on. A wild pitch moves the runners up to second and third. A fly ball to fairly shallow right field, the runner comes home, but the throw is not good, so a SF, one down. WVU leads 1-0. Ivan Vera, the third baseman, bats righty, with one on and one out. He chops it high to the right of the mound, Johnston fields and throws it over Clemens at first, it's a single and an E-1, for another run. WVU leads 2-0. Jackson Cramer is the first baseman, with a man on and one away. He lines a single to right and it goes by Mathis, for another run and another error, an E-9. WVU leads 3-0. Righty hitter is Ray Guerrini, the catcher with a man on and still one out. He K's swinging, on the curve ball, two down. Caleb Potter plays left feild, with one on and two down. He grounds to short, the 6-3 will end the frame. WVU out to the lead again at 3-0, after one played, one of the runs unearned.
Dotson will pitch the second, with the lead, in his first start of the year. Zane Gurwitz leads off, the centerfielder, for the Horns. He sends a driver over the right fielder's head, for a double. Third baseman is Kody Clemens, batting lefty, with a man on. He takes a fastball, right down the middle, the K is one away. Righty batter is Joe Baker, the shortstop, with one on and one out. He K's swinging, on a high fast ball, for two gone. Ty Rand, the left fielder, with one on and two away. A liner up the middle and the second baseman dove and had it for a moment then lost it, the run scores, it's an infield hit. WVU leads 3-1. Righty hitter is Jake McKenzie, the second baseman, with one on and two gone. He K's looking on a fast ball on the inside corner, to end the inning. Dotson K's the side and five of the six outs are strike outs, but Texas gets on the board, WVU leads 3-1, bottom of two.
Johnston will come back and pitch the second, for the Horns. The Mountaineers will lead off with their second baseman, the lefty hitting Kyle Gray. He walks, for another lead runner. Jimmy Galusky, the shortstop, bats righty, with a man on. He bunts and the sac goes 1-3, for an out, runner to second. Lefty hitter is Zarbnisky, the top of the order, one on and an out. A full count and he walks, to put two on. The DH is Kyle Davis, batting righty, with two on and one away. A grounder to short and it's off the glove of Baker, looked like a dp, but it's a single, a run scores. WVU leads 4-1. Hill bats lefty, with two on and one down. He grounds a single through the right side, another run scores. WVU leads 5-1. Vera bats righty, with runners on the corners, one away. A double play ball to third and the throw to second is dropped on the transfer to the throwing hand, a 5-4 force. This is what has killed Texas, just falling apart defensively, two down, was an easy dp, run scores. WVU leads 6-1. Cramer bats with a man on and two down. He walks, to put two aboard. That's all for Johnston, pitching change.
The new pitcher for Texas is Connor Mayes, the right handed sophomore. Texas has just unraveled, as a team, been this way, the entire series. Guerrini bats righty, with two on, and two away. A very close pitch, should have been strike three, but not called means a full count. Runners go and a liner to left that one hops the wall toward the line, two more score. WVU leads 7-1. Potter bats righty, with one on and two gone. Grounded to third and the 5-3, will end the inning. WVU adds four more and leads 7-1, after two.
Dotson back for the third, he must be loving his first start of the year now. The Horns lead off with the top of the order in Jones, batting right handed. Huth comes in to play center and Zarbnisky will move to left field. A full count and he K's swinging, on a foul tip, on a fast ball, one away. Mathis bats lefty, with an out. He lines a ball by the first baseman and down the line, for a double. Righty hitter is Barrera, with one on and one out. A high pop by the plate and the third baseman comes in and drops it, just foul, no play. He K's swinging again on a high fast ball, two gone. Kacy Clemens bats lefty, with a man on and two down. He walks, to put two on. Righty hitter is Gurwitz, with two on and two down. A fly ball to left and the wind blows out that way today briskly and it just gets out over the leaping left fielder, who bangs off the wall and seems to be ok, a three run homer. WVU leads 7-4. Kody Clemens bats lefty, with two gone. He grounds to short, the 6-3 will end the inning. Texas gets three back and WVU leads 7-4.
Mayes back to the mound, for the third frame for WVU. Gray leads off, batting lefty. Grounder to short and the 6-3 is one down. Right batter is Galusky, with an out. A fly ball to center and it's two down. Zarbnisky will bring back the top of the order, with two away, batting righty. Another grounder to short goes 6-3, side down in order. Three played now and WVU leads 7-4.
Dotson will stay on and pitch the fourth for WVU. Texas sends up a pinch hitter for Baker, in Bret Boswell, who will probably stay in and play short, batting lefty. A full count and he walks, for a lead runner. Rand will bat righty, with a man on. He swings at a pitch that bounced in, the K is one away.. McKenzie bats righty with one down and one on. A pick off throw is wild and Boswell goes to second, on the E-1. A grounder will go through on the right side, to put two on, as Boswell is held at third. Runners on the corners, for the top of the order in Jones, batting righty. A fly ball to right is a SF, two down. WVU leads 7-5. Mathis bats lefty, with one on and two down. A fly ball to center and the frame done. Texas gets another run and WVU leads 7-5, bottom of four.
Mayes back out for the WVU fourth. Boswell will play third and Kody Clemens goes to short. The Mountaineers lead off with their DH, Davis, batting right handed. He K's swinging on a foul tip into Barrera's glove, one away. Hill bats lefty, with an out. A grounder by Boswell and down the line in left, a double. Righty hitter is Vera, with a man on and one out. A fly ball to right is two down, throw gets away, but backed up to prevent another error, ball was headed for the UT dugout. Cramer bats lefty, with one on and two down. A slow roller up the middle and it sneaks through and just dies in center, the run scores. This turf reminds me of the old turf, at the Disch, in it's first decade, balls pick up speed and high bounces. WVU leads 8-5. Guerrini bats righty, with one on and two down. He K's swinging on the curve, side down. WVU gets the run back and leads 8-5, after four.
Dotson will work the fifth, trying to become the pitcher of record. Barrera leads off batting righty, for Texas. He pops the first pitch high in the sky and caught by the shortstop, one away. Left hitter is Kacy Clemens, with an out. Grounder to first and the 3U is two down. Gurwitz bats righty, with two gone. He has a double and a homer today. A hopper to third and the throw is low and by the first baseman, the E-5 puts him on. Lefty hitter is Kody Clemens, with a man on. A wild pitch send the runner to second. He swings through a high fast ball, the K will end the inning. Halfway through the finale of the series and Dotson in his first start of the season, becomes the pitcher of record, WVU leads 8-5.
Mayes will return for the fifth, for the Horns. Leading off for WVU is KC Huth, who came into the game in the third, to play centerfield. A high pop to first is one down. Lefty hitter is Gray, with an out. A fly ball to center is two gone. Galusky bats righty, with two outs. Another high pop and caught just foul by Boswell, the side down in order. Five played and WVU ahead 8-5.
Dotson out again in the sixth, the WVU staff is short and he will go as long as possible. The Horns lead off with Boswell, batting lefty. Grounder to first and the 3-1 play is one away. Rand bats righty, with an out. A ground ball to second and the 4-3 is two quick outs. McKenzie bats righty, at the bottom of the order, two outs. A nubber to third and the third baseman charges and throws late, an infield hit, for a runner. Top of the order is Jones, with a man on and two down. First pitches is lofted to right and that retires the side. WVU leads 8-5, bottom of the sixth.
Mayes back to the mound again, as the WVU sixth begins. The Mountaineers lead off with the top of their order, in Zarbnisky, batting lefty. He drags a bunt and McKenzie has it barehanded and it nips the runner, on a good play, one down. Davis bats righty, with an out. A full count reached and a fly ball to right is two down. Lefty hitter is Hill, with two gone. A flair to right center off his hands and it drops for a single and a runner. Vera bats righty, with a man on. A ground ball gets through, on the left side, to put two on. Lefty hitter is Cramer, with two on and two away. A single lined to right, will score a run. WVU leads 9-5. Guerrini bats righty, with two on and two outs. He walks to load the bases. Huth bats righty, the bases full, two down. He K's swinging on the fast ball, to end the frame. One more run for the Mountaineers and they lead 9-5, after six full.
New pitcher is Jacob Brewer, a lefty, with an era of 5.68, after Dotson gave WVU all he had, in his first start of the year. Mathis leads off, for the Horns, batting lefty. He lines a single up the middle, for a lead runner. Coach out and he is making a change, after two pitches, pitching change.
Jackson Sigman, the right hander from Austin, Texas, will pitch in all three game, as he enter for WVU, with an era of 5.40. He has been perfect, in his first two appearances. He faces Barrera, with a man on. He K's swinging on the outside slider, his third K of the game and now ten for WVU pitching, one away. One on and one out for Kacy Clemens, batting lefty. A liner to center and it's two away. Gurwitz up batting righty, with two gone and one on. Fly ball to center and Sigman will remain perfect against the Horns, side retired. Stretch time in Morgantown and the Moutaineers try for their first conference sweep in two years, WVU leads 9-5.
Beau Ridgeway will enter the game and pitch the seventh, for the Horns. WVU leads off with Gray, hitting lefty. High hopper to second and the 4-3 is one down. Righty hitter is Galusky, with an out. Grounder to short and again by Clemens a high throw over his brother, third error, on a high throws for him, the E-5, puts a runner on. Zarbnisky bats lefty, with one on and one out. Another grounder to short and the 6-3 is two away, runner to second. Davis bats righty, with a man on and two away. Another big hopper to second and the 4-3, will retire the side. Seven done and WVU leads 9-5.
Sigman will stay in and pitch the eighth, for WVU, might as well as he hasn't allowed a runner in three appearances. Kody Clemens bats lefty, leading off, for Texas. Grounded to second and it's one away. Another lefty batter is Boswell, with an out. A grounder to second and booted by the second baseman, the E-4 will end Simgan's perfect streak, it's a runner. One on and one out for Rand, batting righty. Another grounder to second and it's a 4-6 force, the realay late at first, two gone. McKenzie bats righty, with a man on and two outs. Grounded to short and the 6-3 will end the inning. Bottom of the eighth, WVU ahead 9-5.
Ridgeway out again, he pitches the WVU eighth. The Mountaineers lead off with Hill, batting lefty. He K's on a big change of pace pitch, one down. Vera bats righty, with an out. Grounder to short and the 6-3 is two gone. Lefty hitter is Cramer, with two down. Another of those high hoppers to second, the 4-3 retires the side in order. To the ninth with WVU leading 9-5.
WVU brings in their closer, Blake Smith, a right hander, with an era of 1.93. Jones leads off, at the top of the order, for the Horns. A fly ball to right is one away. Lefty hitter is Mathis, with an out. A liner off the pitchers glove and it rebounds to second, but no play, an infield hit, for a runner. Barrera bats righty, with a runner on and one down. Grounder to short and it goes 6-4-3, the double play end the game. WVU wins the game 9-5 and sweeps the series, back in a bit.
Well the WVU and Kansas snow out will probably guarantee that we make the Big 12 tourney, otherwise we could be eliminated from it....SMH How we beat the likes of Tech and TCU.....Totally confounding. 6 more games before this abomination ends.
WVU dominates and it's a second straight series sweep loss, for the Horns. WVU has won every series against Texas, but one, since entering the Big 12. I remember well that first year, when WVU was really concerned whether they could even compete in baseball, in the Big 12. They won that first series against Texas and wound up like fourth, in the conference. Same as yesterday, Texas gets back in the game after a big deficit, then the WVU bullpen just shuts down the Horns. Wildness and errors really hurt Texas again. It's the first back to back sweeps of Texas since the formation of the Big 12 conference. First ever back to back sweep of the Horns since three game series were put in place, in both the SWC and Big 12. You have to go all the way back to 1956, when their were only two game conference series played, in the old SWC days. The loss today assures a losing regular season for the first time since 1998. The last losing season for Texas before that was also that fateful season in 1956. Things before I was even born yet. Texas has really seemed to have checked out for the rest of the regular season The Horns won't play again for nine days, a final Tuesday night game, against their old friend Texas State. They need some time off and so do I, quite frankly.
In the last 15 conference games, our pitching staff has given up; 9,14,11,8,6,3,8,6,3,1,4,13,2,6,11 runs... Sad....
Yet the pitching has been better than the hitting every year since 2008, including this season, which is sadder the pitching or the hitting, only Baylor has scored less runs and they have played four less games. Now the fielding is dead last, of all the Big 12 teams, which is even sadder than the hitting, since you like stats so much. Care to check this out? Baseball Statistics - Big 12 Conference - Official Athletic Site
The hitting's gotten better...the pitching is in the tank. And how many fielding errors were committed by the pitching staff over these last 10-12 games. The team's in a mess...both pitching, hitting, and fielding..obviously. Yet I'm most shocked by the inability of our pitching staff to hold their own against our weak Big XII competition. Stats don't lie, but they sure can be deceiving.
