Saturday - January 30, 2010

2010 Alumni Game Report

Ohmygosh! So cold! It was so cold at Disch-Falk today. Brrrrr... According to the scoreboard, it was 32 °F when I arrived a little before 11. It managed to get up to 41 by the end of the game at about 2 o'clock. It was cold. And, windy.

Alas, the old guys looked a little rusty. They committed a few errors and managed to lose to the current squad 0-3. The line:

Joseph Krebs was pitching for the Alumni in the 4th so 'guess he took the loss. Rowe led things off with a double. Then, with 2 out (strikeout and pop fly by Tant Shepherd and Kevin Lusson), Kyle Lusson walked his way aboard. Tim Maitland and Brandon Loy then hit back-to-back singles to score Rowe and Lusson. In the 6th, Tant Shepherd led off with a double that skipped off J.D. Reininger's glove and toward the berm down the lf line. Shepherd moved to 3b on a fly out to cf by Kevin Lusson. Kyle Lusson popped out to 1b. With 2 out, Paul Montalbano reached on a fielding error by the pitcher (James Russell, sporting very long hair!) and Shepherd scored on the play.

My maiden attempt at using the iScore software on my iPhone to score the game did not go well. Not at all. They did not announce line-ups before the game started and I was trying to figure out how to set the lineup while scoring the game and it just turned into a big mess. I gave up very quickly. Shrug. I'm gonna have to watch the tutorials a couple more times and maybe practice with an old game or two that I've got on tape and I think things will be good to go once "official" games roll around. We'll see. The point of this story being: I don't really have any specifics other than what I wrote in the previous paragraph regarding who did what offensively. Such is life.

So who showed up to play for the old guys? In alphabetical order: Adrian Alaniz, Brandon Belt, Randy Boone, Jordan Danks, Matt Goodson, David Hernandez, Bryan Herrera (who is, oddly enough, playing for a team in the Netherlands!), Robby Hudson, Carson Kainer, Joseph Krebs, Kyle McCulloch, Omar Quintanilla, J.D. Reininger, James Russell, Kyle Russell, Huston Street, Juston Street, Drew Stubbs, Taylor Teagarden, Curtis Thigpen, Kyle Walker, and Austin Wood. Burt Hooton, Brooks Kieschnick, Greg Swindell, and Jose Tolentino coached the Alumni squad.

Here are the coaches before the game:

And, from left to right, Hernandez, Goodson, Danks, Boone, Belt, and Alaniz:

Again, from left to right, Reininger, Quintanilla, McCulloch, Krebs, Kainer, Hudson, Herrera:

Again, left to right, Street, Street, Stubbs, Russell, and Russell:

(Am I allowed to be amused at the fact that someone in the Baseball office seems to think Stubbs comes before Street in an Alphabetical listing? They were listed "Russell, Stubbs, Street" in the roster and announced in that order as they were introduced. Ah well...)

And, finally, Wood, Walker, Thigpen, and Teagarden:

Defensively, Teagarden started at c and was replaced about half-way through by Thigpen. Thigpen started at 1b and was replaced by Belt when he moved to c. Hudson played 2b the whole game, I think. Quintanilla started at ss and was replaced by Hernandez at some point. Reininger played 3b for the whole game. Kyle Russell, Stubbs, Danks, and Kainer played in the outfield...moving around as the day went on. Russell played both lf and rf. Danks played in cf and rf. Stubbs played in cf and Kainer in lf. I didn't notice anyone else in the outfield but that doesn't mean someone else didn't go out there. On the pitching side of things, 8 guys pitched an inning apiece for the Alumni. In order: Boone, Wood, McCulloch, Krebs, Alaniz, James Russell, Walker, and Herrera. Hmmmm...now that I write Herrera's name, I'm thinking he might've played a little bit of rf, too. Hmmmm. 'Really wish I'd payed more attention. Oh well. He did bat some, I'm sure of that! So, I guess that means Matt Goodson and the Street boys were the only Alumni that did not see any action.

As for the young 'uns...I really did not keep track of anything but the pitching order. Cole Green, Brandon Workman, and Stayton Thomas pitched two innings each. Andrew McKirahan threw the 7th. And, Chance Ruffin closed out the final two innings. The pitching is looking good, folks.

The cold was actually affecting the auto-focus on my camera so I didn't really get many photos I'm happy with. But I did manage some decent shots. I'll close out this post with a few of 'em...

Brandon Loy:

Nick DeSantiago, happy to have led off with a double in the 5th:

The Eyes of Texas are Upon You...

I really do hope Opening Day proves warmer than today. That was just ridiculous.

Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 6:00 PM | Permalink

Friday - January 29, 2010

Ready for 2010?

Hey, folks! A cold snap is upon us. 'Must mean it's time for the Alumni game. How often does that happen? We have a week or two of beautiful weather and then the cold and rain arrive...just in time to bring the Alumni back to town? Too often! That's how often. I do expect it to happen every year, though...so, at least it's not a big surprise. Ah well. On to the news at hand...

I've been away for a couple of months. 'Took a bit of a break from my web projects. It wasn't entirely deliberate but, once it became obvious to me that I was on a break, I went with it. Hopefully, it's allowed me a chance to re-charge. I've made a couple of changes. For one, I got an iPhone and set up a Twitter account (username jojolemon, which has nothing to do with UT baseball but has sentimental significance for me from my old Usenet days) so I'll be able to do some "live" stuff during the games this year. Yay! I'm not sure how much I'll be doing. We'll see. I've always shied away from being too interactive with regard to this project...email's been it. We shall see. Feedback, of course, is (and always has been) appreciated. I'm also going to give a baseball scoring app (iScore Baseball from Faster Than Monkeys) a shot. It looks like a pretty cool program. I've been madly entering rosters over the last few evenings. You don't have to have the rosters entered before you get to a game but I'm sure it'll help.

On to this year's squad. I keep getting asked if the team's gonna be any good this year. Uh. Yeah. Starting rotation back and intact? Yep. 'Lost Austin Wood. His cleats will be hard to fill. But, I'm sure someone (Chance Ruffin, maybe) will step up and give us what we need. As I was typing up my roster, I noticed 3 new faces had been added since the Fall World Series...three Freshmen from Arlington Heights in Ft. Worth. Things that make you go hmmm... Did they all just decide they were gonna come to UT and make the team as walk-ons? Pretty cool. The team's been getting pre-season #1 rankings. I never like that sort of thing. But, that's gonna happen when you end the season the way the Horns did last year. And, then bring back almost everyone. I'm just hoping they can avoid the whole Sophomore Slump thing. And, that they ignore the polls and just play ball.

The schedule. I've posted my version. As I was putting it together, I noticed that it seems to be even more "home-centric" than usual. We've got the Astros Classic the first weekend in March. Then, the team goes to Rice in the middle of March. And, that's it for away games...as far as non-Big 12 games go. The end of the season pretty much sucks. Away for Kansas State, a double-header against Louisiana Tech in the middle of May will be the final home series, and then another away series at Mizzou to close the season out. We play 3 games against Rice...all in March. Neither team will be in "fighting form" that early. Is that good or bad? Dunno.

I'm looking forward to 2010 and getting out to Disch-Falk.

Hook 'em! Go, Horns!

Posted by Joanna at 8:23 AM | Permalink

Friday - November 20, 2009

Off-topic: Pat Murphy resigns

I was just surprised to read that Pat Murphy, head coach at Arizona State, resigned today. Wow.

Some links:

• Murphy Resigns At ASU - Baseball America
• Arizona State baseball coach Murphy resigns - SI.com
• Surprise Resignation Today of Famed ASU Baseball Coach Pat Murphy - Phoenix News Times
• Arizona State University Head Baseball Coach Pat Murphy Resigns - Official ASU press release

This is just weird. 'Wonder what's up?

UPDATE (Jan. 29, 2010): During my "hiatus" I kinda dropped the ball on following this story. 'Got caught up a bit today. 'Found a couple of interesting stories from the Arizona Republic: NCAA accuses ASU baseball program of rules violations and NCAA's charges vs. ASU baseball coaches, staff detailed.

Posted by Joanna at 6:29 PM | Permalink

Sunday - November 15, 2009

Cameron Rupp profile

'Meant to point to this yesterday but got side-tracked. Brian, over at the College Baseball Blog is intent on showcasing 100 players before the beginning of the season. And yesterday, he put up a profile of Cameron Rupp. Check it out.

UPDATE (Jan. 29, 2010): Brian profiled 3 more Texas players in his countdown: Chance Ruffin, Taylor Jungmann, and Brandon Workman.

Posted by Joanna at 5:30 PM | Permalink

Friday - November 6, 2009

Texas State scrimmage, part 3

Sorry for taking so long to get back to this little project. For your patience, you get rewarded with the last of the photos from Saturday's scrimmage...

Austin Dicharry (#28) in the 10th:

Kevin Keyes (#29) watching the pitcher in the 8th:

Chance Ruffin (#31) in the 5th:

Jonathan Walsh (#33) in the 8th:

Stayton Thomas (#34) in the 12th:

Paul Montalbano (#36) in the 12th:

Jordan Weymouth (#38) in the 8th:

Andrew McKirahan (#57) in the 3rd:

I'm really looking forward to February. Hook 'em!

Posted by Joanna at 11:52 PM | Permalink

Monday - November 2, 2009

Texas State scrimmage, part 2

More photos from yesterday's scrimmage...

Brandon Workman (#12) doing the high-kick thing in the 8th:

Kevin Lusson (#14) at the ready in the 1st:

Russell Moldenhauer (#15) during his homerun trot in the 1st:

Josh Urban (#17) in the 4th:

Sam Stafford (#19) at the end of his delivery in the 5th:

Look at how high his left foot is. Wow. Sam also batted a couple of times and got at least one hit.

Cole Green (#24) in the 13th:

Taylor Jungmann (#26) in the 1st:

That's about two-thirds of the photos. I'll try to post the rest of 'em tomorrow.

Posted by Joanna at 8:49 PM | Permalink

Sunday - November 1, 2009

Texas State scrimmage

I made it out to Disch-Falk today to watch the Texas State scrimmage. 'Had a great time. The weather was gorgeous. And, the Horns managed to win the scrimmage 9-7, despite trailing for most of the game. I learned quite some time ago that there's no point in trying to keep score at these affairs (they play fast and loose with substitutions and number of batters...both teams started with 10 listed batters) so I didn't even take my score book with me. But, I did take my camera so you know what that means, eh?

Anyway, there's a report (of sorts) on the TexasSports.com page. If I'd known they were going to post such a meager thing, I would've tried to keep score for y'all. Not even the hint of a line? And, no photos? It just gets worse, eh? Sigh...

Even though I didn't keep score, I did take a few notes so can share a bit more info than you will find on the linked report. Texas State scored 3 in the 1st on a 2-out 3-run homer. Texas answered with 2 in the bottom of the frame (rbi single by Jordan Etier and a solo homerun by Russell Moldenhauer). The Bobcats put another 3 on the board in the 4th. Texas answered with single runs in the 4th (rbi single by Tant Shepherd) and 5th (rbi single by Kevin Keyes). Texas State scored their last run in the 6th. Texas then scored a solo run in the 8th (another rbi by Moldenhauer), 2 in the 12th to tie things up (2-run homerun by Shepherd), and 2 in the 14th (2-run single by, who else?, Shepherd). Texas scored 2 in the 14th, by the way, because they played out the complete inning, rather than end the game after the go-ahead run scored. I'm guessing that was an agreed-upon rule for the scrimmage. Sorry to say, I have no hit/error totals. I don't recall any errors by either team, though. That doesn't mean there weren't any...just that I don't remember any! The scoreboard was not functioning, by the way, so no help there either. Texas State did put a bunch of hits on the board. They probably averaged at least one per inning. Texas did not fare as well in the hitting department but did more with their hits. 'Works for me!

Oh, well. I took pictures. I got at least one of everyone that entered the game. Going by the roster that was handed out, the following players did not see playing time (and I did not get their photos...sorry): Nick DeSantiago, Keifer Nuncio, Kendal Carrillo, Riley Boening, Hoby Milner, Ben Kaplan, and Hunter Wilcox. I did see one player (bullpen catcher) suited up not listed on the roster: #42. Maybe that was Wilcox...listed as #46 on the roster? Dunno.

Anyway, on with the photos!

Here's Cohl Walla (#1) out at 2b in the 12th:

Cameron Rupp (#3) at the plate in the 1st:

Kyle Lusson (#6) at 2b in the 4th:

Jordan Etier (#7) in the bottom of the 1st:

Tim Maitland (#8) watches the pitcher in the bottom of the 5th:

Tant Shepherd (#9) as he's about to hit the game-winning single in the 14th:

Connor Rowe (#10) at 1b in the 14th:

Brandon Loy (#11) at 2b in the 1st:

I'll be back with more photos soon. Hopefully, tomorrow night.

Posted by Joanna at 11:46 PM | Permalink

Monday - October 26, 2009

Baylor scrimmage

As I posted the other day, I was unable to make it to the Baylor scrimmage. There's a report at TexasSports.com, though. Texas won 10-8. 'Sounds like Russell Moldenhauer had a heck of a game. Be sure to check out the photo gallery.

Donald Boyles was at the game and, as usual, posted a bunch of photos. Alas, no comentary. But, we can't have everything! Thanks for sharing, Donald.

Random note: looking around...it appears that Travis Tucker will the be volunteer assistant coach this year. At least, he's listed on the 2010 Roster page as a coach. Anybody know where Tommy Nicholson landed?

Posted by Joanna at 12:55 PM | Permalink

Tuesday - October 20, 2009

Baylor scrimmage re-scheduled

Remember the aborted scrimmage against Baylor a couple of weekends ago? I'm happy to report that it has been re-scheduled for this coming Sunday (Oct. 25). The scrimmage is scheduled to start at noon.

By the way, if previous experience is anything, you might want to plan to arrive a bit early. The coaches don't seem to care about scheduled start times for these things. They just seem to start up whenever the teams and umpires are ready. I've shown up at a couple of these things in time for first pitch only to discover that they're already well into the bottom of the first inning. Just an FYI.

UPDATE (Oct. 22). Sadly, it was pointed out to me last night that I have plans for Sunday that conflict with the scrimmage. So, I won't be able to make it to the scrimmage. Damn. Oh, well. There's always the following weekend against Texas State. (Why do I still have such a hard time with that? I always think "Southwest Texas" and then have to change it. Shrug.)

Posted by Joanna at 8:06 PM | Permalink

Sunday - October 4, 2009

Baylor scrimmage canceled

I just pulled up the TexasSports.com page so I could print out a current roster for the Horns only to see a note that today's scrimmage has been canceled due to the rain. Bleh. It's actually looking fairly clear outside right now. But, it's still storming to the north (which may well be headed our way) and we're in the middle of a flash flood watch so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. I'm disappointed, though. No word on a make-up date yet.

Posted by Joanna at 11:00 AM | Permalink