I am now home and will catch up quickly on DVR. Ms. Andrews reports that LSU fans outnumber Texas fans. We are officially doomed.
My kingdom for a left-handed starter, by the way. LSU is a left-handed hitting team and has struggled, relatively speaking, against lefties this year. I guess we'll have to make to with what we've got but there will probably be an occasion in this series for Keith Shinaberry to make a brief appearance or two. Anyway, here we go.
Ruffin starts LeMahieu with an outside fastball. Next pitch is another heater grounded to Torres and it's a 5-3 first out. Now the first lefty, the outstanding Schimpf. First pitch is a ball high. Second pitch is blasted way out on a belt-high fastball. Ruffin is already starting with the elevated pitches. Has to stop immediately. Slider on the inner half is strike one to Dean. Follows with an offspeed pitch in the dirt to make it 1-1. One more offspeed pitch is outside. Hangs a slider but Dean takes it for strike two. Strikes him out with a fastball on the outside corner for out number two. Gibbs is at the plate and fouls back a fastball on the first pitch. Fastball is low for ball one. Fastball up and away and Ruffin is behind 2-1. Slider low and in is fouled to make it 2-2. Fastball out fills the count. Fairly tight zone so far tonight. Basically rulebook width but nothing above the belt. Gibbs fouls the next off and it stays full. Changeup on the black at the knees is taken for strike three. One run on one hit and no runners left on.
Ruffin started the inning up in the strike zone on everything. Yet again he's not sharp. It got better as the inning went on but he has to get that squared away. I should catch up before the top of the 2nd.
Torres hits a fly to fairly deep center for the first out on the first pitch. Good pitch to hit, but let's hope we see some more pitches in future at-bats. Tucker takes ball one high on a fastball. Same thing for ball two. Fastball in there for strike one. Fastball on the inside corner evens the count. Slider is tapped down to third and the running play is made for the second out. Belt takes an outside fastball on the first pitch. Another outside fastball for ball two. Up and out to make it 3-0 to Belt. Pipes a fastball for strike one. Belt fouls back the next to make it 3-2. Pops up the next pitch and the inning is over. No runs on no hits and no runners left.
Tucker and Belt were more patient, which is good. Let's see how Ruffin throws in the second.
Strike one to Mahtook and then he fouls one off for an 0-2 count. Nice slider strikes him out for the first out. Ruffin falls behind Mitchell 2-0 with a low breaking ball on the second pitch. Fastball is piped but fouled off by Mitchell to make it 2-1. Nice fastball on the outside corner for strike two. Breaking ball hit straight up the middle for a single. After checking on Mitchell it's strike one on a foul tap. Another check. Throw over followed by ball one to Ochinko. Fastball is popped up to left and Loy makes the catch for out number two. Throw over to first. Another throw over. Swinging strike and a snap throw by Rupp almost gets Mitchell. On the replay Mitchell slipped on an honest steal attempt. Slider is fouled off and it's 0-2 to Helenihi. Slider wasted and it's 1-2. Fastball is past Helenihi for the third out. No runs on one hit and one runner left.
Ruffin looked much better there. Mitchell's base hit came on a breaking ball at the knees. That's a single up the middle compared to the belt high pitch to Schimpf that ended up in the bleachers.
Moldenhauer takes ball one and then ball two on a fastball outside. Fastball is lined up the middle for Texas' first hit. Rupp takes a fastball for ball one that barely missed. Definitely a tight zone, we need to stay very patient. Two-seamer, it looked like, is lined right at Schimpf in left field. Well-hit but right at the fielder. Keyes takes ball one on an outside fastball. Most umps will call that a strike even though it was a couple of inches outside. Slider is taken for strike one. Keyes gets a fastball in the middle of the plate but pops it up for the second out. Really needed to take advantage of that one. Loy takes a fastball inside for ball one. Ball taken just off the outside edge for ball two. Inner half fastball is hit down the line but foul into the stands. Another inner half fastball is tapped foul and it's 2-2. Loy takes strike three on a pitch that was just as far outside as the previous balls. That one was a slider, which may signal more room off the outside for breaking balls. No runs on one hit, one runner left on.
Austin Nola gets an opposite field single on an 0-1 pitch to start the 3rd inning. LeMahieu sacrifices to move Nola to second. Schimpf up again now. Ruffin gives him a pitch to hammer but he takes it for strike one. Offspeed pitch on the outside corner makes it 0-2. Spin move from Ruffin checks on Nola. Fastball taken outside for ball one. Ruffin gets a call above the belt on a breaking ball for the strikeout. This ump has now shown that he has a very tight zone on the fastball but will expand it on breaking balls, at least with two strikes. Ball one low on a changeup to Dean. Ball just low on a slider makes it 2-0. Dean fouls the next low slider off and it's 2-1. Breaking ball in the zone is popped up to shallow center. No runs on one hit and one runner left.
Better from Ruffin there although that last pitch to Dean was dangerous. Still, he's given up one run in three innings and is doing his job. And I'm finally caught up.
Clark takes a high and tight fastball for ball one. Same pitch for ball two. Fastball at the belt fouled back for strike one. Coleman hangs a slider and Clark takes a rip but fouls it back to make it 2-2. Another slider is fouled off by Clark to stay alive. Inner half fastball at the knees with some sink is missed for the strikeout. Rowe pops up the first pitch and Nola makes the catch after making a minor adventure of it. Another pitch to hit there that we can't do anything with. Our first pitch swings have been well-taken on very hittable pitches. We're not making Coleman pay. Torres takes ball one outside on a fastball. Strike one on a fastball on the outside black. Fastball is fouled off and it's 1-2. Slider is lined hard but right at the second baseman. Hit hard but it's the third out. No runs on no hits and no runners left.
We're getting some pitches to hit but it's not working out right now. Have to do more with these. We've squared up three balls but two have been right at a fielder. Ruffin needs to continue what he started last inning.
First pitch to Gibbs is fouled off. Inner half pitch fouled off for strike two. High fastball taken for ball one and Ruffin's velocity may be dropping already. It's hot out there today. Curveball fouled down the first base line and it remains 1-2. Offspeed pitch is lifted foul down the left field line and there will be another 1-2 pitch. High fastball is missed and there's one out in the 4th. Nice slider taken for strike one by Mahtook. Check swing is successfully appealed for strike two. Swinging strike and there are two out in the inning. Mitchell gets out of the way of a fastball and it's 1-0. Mitchell lines a fastball deep to center but Rowe catches up on the warning track and the inning is over. No runs on no hits and no runners left on.
Ruffin is pitching very well now although Mitchell hit him hard again on a pitch at the knees. Haven't watched Mitchell much but he seems like a classic low-ball left-handed hitter. May need to keep that in mind.
Tucker will lead off against Coleman for Texas in the 4th. Strike one at the belt on a fastball. Another fastball at the belt is hit deep to left and it's gone! Tucker with Texas' 7th home run of the CWS ties it up at 1 run apiece. Fastball outside makes it 1-0 to Belt. Fastball is grounded easily to first for the unassisted put out and there's one away. Moldenhauer takes a fastball outside for ball one. Moldenhauer blasts one deep to center and it's gone! Texas takes the lead on another home run. Replay shows that Moldenhauer rolled his ankle on his step during the swing but that ball was a 420-foot bomb to centerfield. Ball one outside to Rupp and Coleman looked a little flustered there. Nice slider there, though, for strike one. Nice take on a low breaking ball there and it's 2-1. Rupp is jammed a little and flies out to center for the second out. Now a low fastball and Keyes hammers it! He finally got a hold of one and crushed a liner out to left-center. 3-1 Texas. Wow. Loy takes a fastball outside for ball one. Fastball low is ball two and Loy is ahead. Fastball is lined to right-center but Mitchell is fast as hell and makes the catch easily. Three runs on three bombs and no runners left on.
There we go. This ballpark isn't Disch-Falk as mentioned in my preview. The game is different and we are adjusting. We should really grab some confidence if Ruffin can get through the tough part of the order next go-round.
Slider in the zone is taken for ball one by Ochinko. Second one does indeed miss and is called ball two. Fastball is tipped back for strike one. Offspeed pitch down and in makes it 3-1. Fastball is ripped on the ground foul down the third base line and the count is full. Check swing appeal is denied on another slider and the leadoff hitter walks. The zone was really tight there even on the breaking pitches. Fastball up is ball one to Helenihi. Fastball in makes it 2-0. Skip Johnson out for a visit now. Belt high fastball is popped up for the first out in left field. First pitch fastball is popped in foul ground off first and Belt makes the catch to retire Nola for out number two. LeMahieu fouls off the first pitch to make it 0-1. Fastball high makes it 1-1 now. Slider is fouled into the first base stands for strike two. Slider is wasted way outside and Rupp does well to stop it and keep the runner at first. Offspeed pitch is missed for the strikeout and the inning is over. No runs on no hits and one runner left on.
Ruffin is looking good as he got squeezed on that walk. His body language indicates he's tiring in the heat even though he's under 70 pitches. The coaches have clearly noticed as Dicharry was up in the bullpen that inning.
Clark fouls a fastball up straight back to start the 5th. Inside slider is yanked hard but way foul and Clark is behind 0-2. Waste pitch is taken for ball one. Slider well out is taken to even the count at 2-2. Fastball is grounded to third and the play is made for the first out. Rowe up now and takes ball one inside. Ball two taken outside at the knees and Rowe is ahead in the count. Fastball is popped foul and it's 2-1. Fastball on the outside corner at the knees evens the count. Nice slider and Rowe misses it for strike three. Fastball outside to Torres and it's 1-0. Changeup is called a strike on a pitch that Ruffin couldn't get last inning. Torres hits a hanging breaking ball into right field for a two-out single. Fastball is taken at the belt for strike one by Tucker. Outside breaking ball is called a strike. By far the most outside strike call today. Strike three on an outside corner slider on another pitch Ruffin couldn't get called last inning.
Coleman isn't fooling us at all and got a couple of fortunate calls that inning. Tough out for Tucker although strike three was clearly going to be called after strike two was called. I'm looking for one more really solid inning out of Ruffin here against the heart of their order. If we can get that then we may want to look at pulling him in the 7th if he struggles at all.
Schimpf to lead off against Ruffin now. Strike one on an outside black changeup that Ruffin didn't get last inning. Ump looks like he's expanding for both teams now. Ruffin tests but it's too far out for ball one. He misses his spot and is inside with a changeup for ball two. Backdoor slider evens the count at 2-2. Strike three on a fastball at the knees on the new black. Looks like Ruffin is adjusting quickly to the more generous zone. Hate to see it from an ump but you have to adjust. Misses inside to Dean for ball one. Strike one on a backdoor slider. Fastball is lined into centerfield by Dean for a base hit. Gibbs takes a fastball low and away on the first pitch. Strike one on the corner makes it 1-1. Ruffin throws over quickly on Dean. Fastball misses away at the belt for ball two. Wood is now throwing in the bullpen for Texas. Slider misses low on a nice take by Gibbs and Ruffin is behind 3-1. Ruffin throws over again. Fastball on the inner half at the belt is missed to fill the count. Hit and run and Gibbs hits it through the hole on the right. For some reason Tucker was covering second with a lefty at the plate and Loy was already on the bag. Miscue by Tucker there, IMO, and we mess up another play in the field. Should have been a runner on second with two out. Big moment now with Mahtook at the plate. Slider in a nice spot is fouled off for the first strike. Slider is right there but is tipped into Rupp's mitt for strike two. Got away with one there. Slider inside is ball one. Slower breaking ball gets Mahtook swinging for the second out. Now Mitchell is up and he's hit Ruffin hard twice on pitches at the knees. I would try to set him up with a fastball at the belt then a changeup out of the zone. Johnson comes out, though, and Wood will come in to face Mitchell. Good move here as the heat is intense and Mitchell is a significantly better hitter against righties than lefties. Ruffin is shown in the dugout now cramping up. Makes the move to pull him even better and this was really the only move given the situation at hand. Fastball is fouled off for strike one. Rupp called for it on the outside corner and it came in right there in the hitting zone but in the upper half. Wood steps off and asks for a new ball. The umpire has a wet sack. Fastball is lined to the gap. Gibbs will score from first and Mitchell has a triple. Have to wonder why Wood didn't come with a slider there. Very questionable pitch selection and then he left the fastball right down the middle. The game is tied at 3. Offspeed pitch is well outside for ball one. Same on the next to Ochinko and it's 2-0. High chopper to third is the third out but the damage is done. Two runs on two hits and one defensive mistake and one runner left on base.
Another inning that we would have survived with sound defense and instead we surrender the lead. We've been getting away with these mistakes in the long run but it has become very irritating. If Tucker stays at home we more than likely get out of the inning without any damage.
Belt leads off against Coleman and lifts the ball to centerfield; Mahtook tries his hardest to screw the play up but makes the catch against the warning track. Mahtook appears to be cramping up now out there. Moldenhauer up now with one out. Coleman hangs a slider but it's taken for strike one. Fastball is blasted to left. And it's gone again! Moldenhauer has all of a sudden figured out why he was a second round draft pick out of high school. Couldn't have it at a better time and Texas answers right back to take the lead 4-3. Rupp is handcuffed by a heater and fouls it back for strike one. Fastball taken low and in for ball one. Fastball outside makes it 2-1. Rupp fouls a slider off his foot to even the count at two balls and two strikes. Slider is taken outside and the count fills to Rupp. Nice slider and Rupp is out and brings up Keyes with two down and the base empty. Slider to start Keyes out, predictably, and he knocks it into centerfield for a two-out single. Fastball misses outside to Loy. Breaking ball misses well outside to make it 2-0. Fastball in the dirt is blocked by Gibbs and although he can't find it it's right next to him and Keyes makes the right decision to stay put with a 3-0 pitch on the way. Fastball is juiced right down the middle with Loy taking all the way. Loy rips one to right-center. Keyes is running hard but not fast. Keyes has to hold at third as the throw comes in well from the outfield on the double by Loy. Two runners in scoring position now for Preston Clark. Visit to the mound by LSU now. Coleman starts Clark out with a slider that Clark gets under down the left field line that gets to the foul stands for strike one. Now a slider misses well out to even the count at 1. Slider is called strike two on another outside call. Clark is not pleased. Coleman throws a fastball behind Clark and Keyes scores from third no the extremely wild pitch to make it 5-3 Texas. Clark never showed like he was hit and replay shows it was the right call. Slider at the knees is fouled back now and it's still 2-2. Mike Patrick now shows that he's blind in his old age as he sees the trajectory change but doesn't realize it hit the catcher's mitt. Thankfully Ventura's head isn't up his ass. Patrick won't let it go, though, as the count fills to Clark. Nice slider gets him swinging for the third out as Patrick refers to Clark as Connor Rowe. Someone cut him off, he was doing so well until now. Two runs on three hits and one runner left on.
Great answer from Texas there as they go to the 7th with a 2-run lead. Hopefully Wood won't pipe any more fastballs to lefties moving forward.
Maitland with his customary insertion into the lineup in left field for Clark. Helenihi grounds the first pitch up the middle and Loy makes the 6-3 play for the first out. Fastball at the knees to Nola for strike one. Fastball misses well out for ball one. Offspeed pitch misses way out to make it 2-1. Fastball misses just low and Wood is behind 3-1. Fastball poured in to fill the count to Nola. Fastball on the corner at the knees is fouled off and another 3-2 pitch will be on the way. Wood steps off and asks for another ball. Fastball just off the outside corner is waved at for strike three and the second out of the inning. LeMahieu up now for the Tigers. Takes ball one outside before a big hack at a fastball misses to make it 1-1. Wood misses low and away for ball two. Fastball fouled off and the count evens up at 2-2. Low fastball fouled back and LeMahieu stays alive. Slider fought off to stay alive and it remains two balls and two strikes. Low slider is hammered to center and LeMahieu takes it out to dead center to make it 5-4 now. Pretty good pitch there from Wood and a tough result. Schimpf can't check and it's 0-1. Fastball called outside to even the count. Fastball fouled off for the second strike. Fastball is taken outside for ball two. Great slider is missed for the strikeout and the inning is over. One run on one hit and no runners left.
Wood pitched well there but sometimes a good pitch can get hit. No reason to worry about how he's throwing at this point. My only issue would be that he wish he wouldn't waste so many pitches way out of the zone in this heat. We will need him to do well next inning against Dean, Gibbs, and Mitchell (as well as Mahtook).
Rowe will lead off as Coleman is still out there for LSU. Bad swing there at a pitch well up and in. Rowe needs to be more patient against Coleman. Force them into their bullpen. Slider breaks over the inside corner to put Rowe in an 0-2 hole. Waste pitch makes it 1-2. Tough slider and Rowe lays off to even the count. Fastball is hammered deep to left center and Rowe has done it again! We strike back immediately yet again. That was a fastball that was on a tee from Coleman and Rowe did what needed to be done. Great work laying off that 1-2 slider to get his pitch. Coleman is being pulled in favor of Chad Jones. After they get done talking about how he plays football, let's see if they mention how he held up two fingers to report the outs in a game earlier this year. Jones has 4 strikeouts in 4 innings this year but also four walks. Once again Torres should be patient. I would imagine they'll want Jones to pitch to Torres, get through Tucker, and pitch to Belt. At that point I think Augie would stick with his normal routine and pinch-hit Shepherd for Moldenhauer against a lefty and LSU will bring in Ott or Bradshaw. Ball one outside to Torres on a fastball. Torres grounds it hard to first base and Ochinko goes down to stop it and flips to Jones for the out. Tucker flies out to center on a first pitch fastball and Belt will come out with the bases empty and two down. Belt can't check on a nice slider from Jones and falls behind 0-1. 93mph fastball misses outside to make it 1-1. Breaking ball misses low for ball two. Fastball is thrown past Belt for strike two. Another fastball is right past Belt for the third strike and third out of the inning. One run on one hit and no runners left on.
Got the run right back again for Wood. Big inning here as the heart of the order comes up in the 8th. There was action visible in the Texas bullpen although the shot was from too far away to see if it was Dicharry or Jungmann.
Slider misses outside to Dean for ball one from Wood. Fastball misses just a hair low and it's 2-0. Another ball and it's not a good start. Fastball on the inner half makes it 3-1. Ball called on a pitch at the knees and the zone will not be moving lower tonight. Good location from Wood on those pitches, though. Gibbs comes to the plate from the right side and takes ball one outside. Fastball called a little off the plate and the zone will move outside it seems. Gibbs flies it to right and Keyes makes the catch in fair territory for the first out as Dean has to stay at first. Mahtook comes up after striking out three times against Ruffin. Offspeed pitch taken for strike one at the belt on the outside corner. Fastball at the knees called outside for ball one. Offspeed pitch called strike two off the plate and the zone is a skinny rectangle on its side now. Another offspeed pitch is grounded to second and Texas turns the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning as Mahtook would rather have finished off the golden sombrero at this point. No runs on no hits and no runners left.
Nice inning from Wood. Once he figured out the zone in the inning he threw well to Mahtook. Insurance would always be nice, of course, so let's go get some. If Jones comes back out I would expect Shepherd to pinch-hit.
Shepherd is indeed going to lead off the bottom of the 8th. Now LSU brings in a right-hander, but it's not one of the two I expected. Paul Bertuccini comes into the game. He has a 4.01 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. He has 14 walks in only 24-2/3 innings this season, so we have to be patient. That's getting kind of repetitive, I know. Garrido now will pinch-hit for Shepherd with Kevin Lusson. Quite the brief appearance tonight for Tant Shepherd. First pitch inside for ball one to Lusson. Ball two inside with an offspeed pitch. Swinging miss at a changeup for strike one. Fastball up and in makes it 3-1. Nasty changeup gets another swinging strike to fill the count. Changeup misses way up and away to walk Lusson. Offspeed pitch taken for strike one by Rupp. Bertuccini hanges a curve but Rupp lets it go by for strike two. Another is tapped to third and the play is made at first on Rupp with Lusson advancing to second. Keyes up now with one out. Gets a hanging curve and hits it five miles high to left for an easy second out. Just missed that one. Loy to the plate with 2 outs and a runner in scoring position. Curveball taken for strike one on the inner half. Tries a bunt for a base hit but it's foul to make the count 0-2. Jungmann is throwing in the Texas bullpen. Breaking ball is flown softly to Mitchell in right for the third out. No runs on no hits and one runner left on base.
Keyes came very close to opening the game up but it heads to the 9th with a 2-run lead for Texas. I think you have to leave Wood out there and see if he can finish it. If things go well that would really open things up for the pitching options in Game Two.
Wood is indeed back out there to face Mitchell. Kyle Lusson replaces Keyes in right field. Let's see if Wood throws nothing but offspeed pitches this time against Mitchell. Hopefully not another fastball down the pipe. Slider low for ball one. Fastball is grounded hard to the left of shortstop but Loy makes a nice pick and throws Mitchell out rather routinely. Ballsy pitch is the first out. Fastball is outside at the knees for ball one to Ochinko. Fastball way out makes it 2-0. Fastball is hit through the hole on the left side for a 1-out single. Pinch-runner comes in for LSU and it's Leon Landry. Now Johnson is out to the mound and Texas will bring Jungmann into the game. Ball one low and away to Helenihi. Another fastball low and out makes it 2-0 and Jungmann hasn't been terribly close with his first two pitches. Helenihi is in a 1-15 slump at Omaha and you have to think he's taking here and have to hope he doesn't bust out here. Fastball is just a hair high for ball three. Not close for ball four from Jungmann. LSU is pinch-hitting Tyler Hanover for Austin Nola. Fastball well high to Hanover for ball one. Jungmann has only been close with one of his first five pitches. Ball two way up and in and it's time to get somebody up in the bullpen. And Johnson has seen enough of Jungmann tonight and brings in Dicharry with a 2-0 count and runners on first and second with one out. Hanover fouls ball three back to make the count 2-1. Spin move toward second by Dicharry. Nice changeup makes it 2-2 on a swing and a miss. Changeup way high fills the count. Another spin move to second. Dicharry gets Hanover to chase a changeup that would have been ball four and there are now two outs with LeMahieu coming up. Another spin move to second prior to the first pitch to LeMahieu. He lines a double into the corner in left to tie the game. Dicharry left that one right over the heart of the plate and LeMahieu made him pay. Dicharry is going to intentionally walk Schimpf to bring Dean to the plate. It looks like Texas will bring in Shinaberry to face Dean now. Dicharry stays in. Fastball up and away for ball one. Changeup fouled outside first to even the count at 1. Changeup flied to Rowe in center and the inning is over. Two runs on two hits and two runners left on base.
That was tough. We've got the lower half of our order coming up now and have been forced to use up more pitching even if we pull out the win. All that's left to do now is go out and win the game.
LSU brings in Matty Ott who has outstanding numbers on the year. He gave up a three-run homer after the game was out of hand against Arkansas on Friday but is an outstanding pitcher. Numerous defensive changes for LSU. Maitland will lead off for Texas after replacing Clark in the field. Ball one barely outside to Maitland makes it 1-0. Fastball is right down Broadway for strike one. Another fastball is piped and Maitland hasn't taken the bat off his shoulder yet. Slider is barely fought off to keep the count at 1-2. Slider inside and Maitland takes it on the left leg. Looked like he took one for the team there but the ump will almost always give the base on a breaking ball that moves into the hitter. Looking for a bunt here from Rowe. He executes it to put Maitland at second with one out. Torres up now with one away. Fastball high for ball one. Fastball is fouled down the left field line as he was behind on that one. Another fastball and the exact same result puts Torres behind 1-2. Slider is fouled back to stay alive. Slider is tapped foul and it remains 1-2. Slider misses outside to make it 2-2 to Torres. Fastball misses way outside and the count is full. Slider is flied to left and Maitland has to stay at second as there are now two down. Maitland can now run on any contact as Tucker takes strike one on a slider in the upper half of the zone. Another slider is skied to right and we head to extra innings. No runs on no hits and one runner left.
Damn, had the runner on but couldn't bring him home. With all of our defensive and pinch-hitting replacements we are going to need someone to step up now.
Gibbs to lead off against Dicharry and a changeup outside is ball one. Fastball up and out makes it 2-0. Fastball low and away now makes it 3-0. Our control has disappeared as Dicharry walks Gibbs on an outside fastball. Johnson is conming out now probably to buy time as Workman is up and throwing in the bullpen. Mahtook will now step in to face Dicharry. Throw over to first to check on Gibbs. Mahtook shows bunt but pulls it back as Dicharry misses way up and out. Fastball is fouled off on a swing to make it 1-1. Another throw over to first. Another bunt is shown but the pitch misses for ball two. Fastball is piped but tipped foul to make it 2-2. Changeup is hit to right for a hit and Gibbs moves to second with nobody out. Mahtook just poked it to the right as Dicharry had the changeup off the plate outside but left it up at the belt. Changeup and Mitchell is swinging and misses. Changeup is taken low to make it 1-1. Ball one on another fastball out of the zone. Changeup at the belt is another swing and a miss. Changeup is flied to right as Gibbs moves to third and Mahtook stays at first. Leon Landry with his first plate appearance tonight. Changeup is high for ball one. Throw over to first on Mahtook. Step-and-look-back is shown. Changeup low is blocked by Rupp but now the double play is off as Mahtook moves to second. Now Dicharry will put Landry on first and Helinihi will come up with the bases loaded and one out. Brandon Workman is coming in now to face Helenihi. Tough spot for Workman to get his first CWS action with a tight zone from the home plate ump. Strike one at the knees on the outside corner from Workman. Inside fastball is fisted foul for strike two. 97mph is way outside and Rupp makes a nice stab on ball one. Ball two is a low fastball to even the count. Fastball down the middle is fouled off to keep it 2-2. Another foul to the right on a fastball and it will stay 2-2. Great curveball and Helenihi strikes out swinging. Helenihi had no chance there as he had to be looking for the 95-97mph fastball. Fastball is strike one to Hanover. Another fastball is fouled back for strike two. Another nasty curve is a swinging strike and Rupp scrambles to grab the ball and step on home. Outstanding pitching from Workman. No runs on one this and three runners left on base.
Well, Workman sure as hell showed up in his biggest appearance yet. Just a superb performance in that situation from him. Let's see what our reserves can do in the bottom of the 10th.
Belt leads off against Ott in the 10th and he's struggling a little in the CWS. Takes a fastball low and out for ball one. Fastball misses in to make it 2-0. Another fastball catches the inside corner for strike one. Fastball misses just low and/or outside for ball three. Have to pick a small spot here. Fastball is piped but Belt grounds it right to second base. Not a bad pitch to swing at but Belt is not hitting well right now. Kevin Lusson flies out to center on the first pitch and there are quickly two outs in the bottom of the 10th. Rupp will come to the plate and I have a feeling he'll be looking to drive one. Slider is way low and very outside and it's 1-0 to Rupp. Another slider misses badly for ball two. Fastball at the knees on the outside corner to make it 2-1. Fastball is outside for ball three. Gets the call for strike two on a pitch a touch outside to fill the count. Rupp checks his swing on a tough slider and the appeal is denied to give Texas a two-out baserunner. Replay confirms he held the bat far enough back. Kyle Lusson now comes up with Rupp on first. Fastball thrown past him for strike one. Fastball misses low and away for ball one. Fastball low makes it 2-1 to Lusson. Fastball is another borderline strike to make it 2-2. Offspeed pitch low is missed for strike three and we head to the 11th. No runs on no hits and one runner left on.
We were in a bad spot in our lineup after the substitutions and with Belt not hitting well. Our 7-8-9 hitters next inning actually present a better chance to score with Loy and Rowe involved there and Torres due up if anyone gets on base. Need a quick inning from Workman as they move into the meat of their order.
LeMahieu up for the Tigers against Workman. The first pitch is a fastball up and in for ball one. Fastball a hair above the belt is missed for strike one. Another fastball fouled off and it's 1-2. Curveball stays up to even the count at two balls and two strikes. LeMahieu takes a curveball low and the count is full. High fastball is fouled straight back and there will be a second payoff pitch. Ball four outside and LSU has a leadoff runner. Lazy throw over to first from Workman. Fastball is popped up by Schimpf and Loy catches it for the first out. First pitch fastball is flied to Maitland in left and he catches it in front of the warning track for out number two. LeMahieu runs on the pitch, it's ball one, and the bad throw from Rupp makes it through to centerfield and LeMahieu is standing on third. Fastball is fouled off to make it 1-1. Fastball is high and it's 2-1 to Gibbs. Another fastball is up and out for ball three. Ball four is high and that brings Mahtook to the plate. Johnson comes out to talk to Workman and Shinaberry gets back up in the bullpen. Fastball is a called strike one. Fastball is missed on a big swing by Mahtook. Fastball is barely slapped foul on a very late swing to stay alive at 0-2. Curveball in the dirt is blocked by Rupp and there is no movement on the bases as the runners are still on the corners. Fastball is fouled away down the right field line but that one was closer. Mahtook calls time. Curveball is laced into center and LSU takes the lead 7-6. Mitchell tips a fastball and it's 0-1. Fastball is flied to right and Lusson makes an adventure of it before making the catch. One run on one hit and two runners left on.
Well, here we are again. We had this game where we wanted it but now we're going to have to come from behind if we want to win it.
Loy leads off and takes ball one high. Fastball for strike one on the low outside corner. Slider breaks in there for strike two and it's 1-2. Loy chases a slider for the strikeout and there's one away. Maitland comes up now with one out and the bases empty. Fastball is well outside for ball one. Fastball pumped in there to make it 1-1. Another fastball right in there and it's 1-2 again. Fastball at the knees on the inside corner is called strike three. May have been a little in but it was a tough pitch. Slider is missed by Rowe and it's 0-1. Slider is taken outside for ball one. Fastball is outside to make it 2-1. Another fastball misses outside for ball three. Fastball is missed and the count is full. Rowe fouls a slider back to force another pitch. A pitch that would have been ball four high and tight hits the bat and the at-bat continues. Slider grounded to second and LSU wins Game One.
That one hurts. We had them where we needed them and our bullpen couldn't throw strikes when we needed them. A lot of work ahead of us now. Get back to work tomorrow.