Oct. 19, 2008

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ROUND ROCK, Texas -- The Texas Longhorns were unable to hold on to a 5-1 lead and lost 13-6 to the Rice Owls in a 14-inning fall baseball exhibition Sunday afternoon at the Dell Diamond.

Texas drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning when Travis Tucker walked, stole second base, moved to third on a throwing error by the catcher and scored on a groundout by Brandon Belt.

The Longhorns tacked on two more runs in the second. Kevin Keyes reached on a fielding error by the Rice second baseman and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. David Hernandez plated Keyes with a single to centerfield.
Two wild pitches moved Hernandez to third and he scored on a single by Kyle Lusson to build a 3-0 lead.

Rice responded with one run in the top of the third inning. Steven Sultzbaugh singled, stole second base and scored on a double by Brock Holt.

Texas inflated the cushion to 5-1 with a pair of runs in the fourth inning when Cameron Rupp crushed a two-run homer over the fence in centerfield, plating Tant Shepherd who hit a leadoff single.

A UT defensive lapse gave Rice two runs in the sixth inning. Holt hit a leadoff single and stole second base. With one out, Connor Rowe dropped a fly ball to deep centerfield by Chad Mozingo allowing Holt to score and Mozingo to reach third. A sun-aided fly ball by Anthony Rendon dropped in between three Longhorns for a double, driving in Mozingo and cutting the Texas lead to 5-3.

Jeremy Rathjen closed the gap to 5-4 with a two-out solo home run to rightfield in the top of the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, Rupp hit his second home run of the game, a solo leadoff shot down the rightfield line.

Trailing 6-4 through seven innings, Rice¹s pitching staff put the clamps down, allowing just two hits and four walks over seven scoreless innings.
The stifling effort allowed the Owls to outscore the Longhorns 9-0 down the stretch.

The Owls knotted the game with two runs in the eighth inning. Jimmy Comerota drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a single by Rendon. Rendon stole second base and scored the equalizer on a single by Diego Seastrunk.

Rice took a three-run lead in the top of the ninth. UT reliever Sam Stafford walked the first two batters he faced and after a sacrifice bunt and strikeout, he allowed Rathjen to score from third on a wild pitch. Stafford walked two more batters to load the bases and pinch-hitter Trey Crain laced a two-run single to stake the Owls to a 9-6 lead.

Rice capped the scoring with four runs in the 11th inning. With two outs, Craig Manuel hit a single and Crain was hit by a pitch. Peterson hit a single to drive in Manuel for the 10-6 lead. Daniel Gonzales-Luna put runners at the corners with a single and Rathjen drove in two with a base hit. The scoring was capped when a wild pitch allowed Gonzales-Luna to score.

Matt Evers turned the game around for Rice¹s pitching staff with two hitless shutout innings. He walked two and struck out one. Jordan Rogers, Jared Rogers, Anthony Benak, Anthony Fazio and Zack Harwood each worked on scoreless inning to close out the game.

Taylor Jungmann started for Texas and was impressive allowing just one hit while striking out one over two innings. Stayton Thomas worked 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out three while allowing just one hit. Austin Wood closed out the game with two hitless shutout innings, striking out two.

Rupp paced Texas, going 2-for-2 with two home runs and three RBI before being replaced in the eighth inning.

Rendon lead Rice, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Rathjen went
2-for-6 with two runs and three RBI.

Texas and Rice return to action next Sunday with a 12:30 p.m. game at Reckling Park in Houston, Texas.