It's raining.
First pitch scheduled for around 7:43 Central as of now.
Ms. Andrews is sporting a more colorful ensemble this evening and the game is still scheduled to go off in around 5 minutes.
As reported, Austin Ross will start for the Tigers. He has nice peripherals but a bad ERA and batting average against. Numbers make it seem like he gets hit hard when he's in the zone. Torres leads off for Texas. Wind is strong after the rain and looks to be blowing slightly in and from right to left. Ball one is a fastball up and out. Fastball low is ball two. Fastball tight at the belt and it's 3-0 to Torres. Four pitch walk on a ball low to lead off the inning. First pitch is a taken ball after a bunt shown by Tucker and Gibbs tosses a snap throw into right field. Tucker shows bunt again and Ross gets a high strike call to make it 1-1. Tucker lays down a nice bunt but Helenihi makes an even nicer play to get him at first as Torres moves to third with one out. Offspeed pitch on the inside corner for strike one to Belt. Fastball is fouled away and it's quickly 0-2. High fastball and Belt doesn't offer at ball one. Another high fastball evens the count. Slider is lined into right for an RBI single to give Texas a 1-0 lead. Thigh-high fastball on the inner half for strike one. Nice breaking ball makes it 0-2 to Moldenhauer. Semi-pitchout for ball one as Belt is going nowhere. Another and still no action from Belt as the count moves to 2-2. Throw over this time and Belt is back easily. Grounder to short is mishandled by Nola and he steps on second to get Belt for the second out but Moldenhauer is called safe at first. Looked out from here. However, on the replay he was safe as Schimpf let the ball too deep into him before grabbing him. He was safe and it was a good call. Rupp lines a base hit to right on a first pitch curveball to put two runners on with two outs for Keyes. Fastball at the knees is strike one on a pitch that is right in his wheelhouse. Tough take. Another fastball is just low for ball one. Curveball is grounded foul for strike two. High fastball is fouled back as Keyes stays alive. Fastball is flied to medium-depth centerfield for the third out. One run on two hits and two runners left.
Well, a pretty good start. Would have liked to get more, of course, but some good hitting produced a run as Belt contributed to the offense.
The LSU lineup is pretty much the same but Landry gets the start in left field. Jungmann is pitching for Texas as LeMahieu will lead off. Fastball misses up and in for ball one. Fastball is low and Jungmann has now thrown 8 balls in a row. Strike on called at the knees as LeMahieu complains. Maybe a hair low. Sinking fastball chopped to Torres and he throws him out to start the inning. Changeup outside to Schimpf. Jungmann takes a little off and it's a swing and a miss for strike one. Changeup is a generous call for strike two off the outside corner. Strike three on a nice fastball on the inside corner. Tough call for strike two for Schimpf but strike three was just a great pitch. Dean takes strike one on a fastball. A slider induces a half-swing for strike two. Waste pitch is ball one. Fastball up is ball two. Nasty low inside curveball gets a swinging strike three and the inning is over. No runs on no hits and no runners left.
Jungmann looked very good there. If he can keep getting the outside call then it could be a tough night for the Tiger hitters. You kind of want to ask where the hell this was last night, but I guess I have to move on.
Rowe takes ball one low and then fouls a fastball off his foot for strike one. Fastball for strike two. Offspeed and Rowe checks to make it 2-2. Fastball lined right at the third baseman for the first out. Ball one taken by Preston Clark with one away. Curveball is hit deep to left and it's gone for Clark's first homer of the CWS and Texas moves in front 2-0. Loy takes a fastball on the outside corner for strike one. Fastball right down the middle is only fouled off and Loy is down 0-2. Fastball misses outside for ball one. Curveball grounded to third and Loy is out 5-3. Back to the top of the order with Torres. First pitch fastball is hit sharply through the hole on the left side for a two-out single. Ross throws over on Torres. Fastball just misses low and outside to Tucker for ball one. Another is fouled off but Tucker apparently hit Gibbs' mitt and it's the second catcher's interference of the CWS with this one going in Texas' favor. Belt takes a fastball up and away for ball one. Fastball is down and it's 2-0. Up and in with another heater to make it 3-0 to Belt. Fastball is piped right down the gut for strike one. Cain is up in the LSU bullpen. Wow. Torres was going on first move and gets picked off. Another mental error for Texas in the CWS. One run on one hit and one error with two runners left on.
Another mental blunder ruins a run-scoring opportunity for the Longhorns. With two outs in the inning there is no reason to even think about stealing third there. Very bad decision by Torres.
Gibbs taps a 1-1 pitch toward third and Torres gets him for the first out. Fastball high to Mahtook for ball one. Breaking ball moves just low and it's 2-0. Fastball is chopped to Torres and it's another 5-3 play for out number two. Mitchell takes a changeup for ball one. Another offspeed pitch misses inside and it's 2-0. Fastball on the outer half is hit to left for a two-out single. Jungmann throws over to check on Mitchell. Fastball is called strike on to Landry (may have been a hair low). Another throw over and Mitchell is back in standing up. Another throw over. Fastball is grounded toward short and Torres cuts it off and throws to first but Landry beat it out and there are two runners on with two down. Helenihi grounds it to short and Loy boots it to allow LSU's first run of the night. At this point we simply don't deserve to win this series if we can't start playing better. Loy took a fairly lazy route to the ball and did not get his body in front of it. Curveball is strike one to Nola. Another breaking ball out of the zone is strike two as Nola swings and misses. Curveball outside is taken for ball one. Step and look move by Jungmann doesn't work. Fastball away evens the count at 2-2. Curveball breaks into the zone for a strikeout looking. One run on two hits and an error, two runners left on.
Another inning we should have been out of. In the top of the 2nd we ruined our own chance at more runs with a baserunning error and in the bottom we gifted them a run with a fielding error.
Brandon Belt back to the plate after Torres got picked off while he was at the plate to end the last inning. Ross is out for LSU and Byrd has come in. Belt takes ball one on a curveball. Pops up the next curveball to Helenihi at third for the first out. Byrd has a 4.91 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Moldenhauer takes two curveballs outside of the zone to get ahead 2-0. A fastball is in there for strike on at 80mph. Another breaking ball is low as Moldenhauer is showing good patience against a lefty. Fastball is crushed to right-center for another Moldenhauer home run. This guy is ridiculously hot and I'm getting fucking sick and tired of solo home runs. Maybe Augie shouldn't have been taking him out against every lefty we've seen. Rupp takes a changeup low and another changeup low and outside to jump ahead 2-0. Changeup catches the knees for strike one to Rupp. Curveball is fisted to right and Mitchell can't make the catch on a dive. Rupp stays on his horse and gets to second with one out. Nice baserunning there. Keyes up now. Changeup well outside for ball one. Fastball misses outside by two feet and Keyes is ahead 2-0. Changeup is hit in the air to right and Mitchell makes the catch on the warning track for the second out as Rupp tags and moves to third with two down. Rowe grounds the first pitch hard down the line to drive in Rupp and the left fielder's throw into second has the arc of an AJ Abrams floater, allowing Rowe to make it into second easily with an RBI double. Cain is back up in the bullpen and it looks like he's coming in now. Cain's numbers show a mid-range reliever with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He does have a nice strikeout-to-walk ratio at 34 Ks and 7 BBs in 30-1/3 innings. And now I'm being subjected to Manny Ramírez minor league at-bats. Who gives a fuck, ESPN? Shut the fuck up about Manny Ramírez. Clark takes strike one on a breaking ball. Sinking fastball is grounded through the hole into left field and Rowe scores from second to make it 5-1 Texas. Loy up to bat now and takes a belt-high fastball for strike one. Changeup or forkball taken low for ball one. Curveball is outside to make the count 2-1 to Loy. He grounds the next one to the second baseman's left and he's thrown out to end the inning. Mike Patrick loves LSU so much that he says they're winning. Three runs on four hits and one runner left on base.
Nice inning there as we strung together a couple of two-out RBI base hits. Let's hope Jungmann can sharpen up just a bit and give us some good innings tonight.
Breaking ball misses for ball one to LeMahieu. Fastball is at the knees for strike one. Another fastball is hit hard to right and I have no idea what Keyes was doing there as the runner moves to third with a leadoff triple. Nick Peoples against the right field wall that was not. Changeup is a swinging strike one to Schimpf. A little taken off the next pitch and Schimpf pokes a soft liner off the end of the bat to Tucker at second for the first out. Breaking ball is grounded foul for strike one to Dean. Texas' infield is clearly giving up the run for the out at this point. Ball one on a changeup low. Rupp blocks a curveball in the dirt and it's 2-1. Fastball misses low and outside. Curveball is ball four. Gibbs up now with two on and one out. Fastball misses low and outside. Fastball is fouled back to make it 1-1. Curveball is taken for strike two. Fastball misses outside to even the count at 2. Swinging strike three on a high fastball is the second out. Mahtook comes up for LSU. 95 mph fastball on the outside corner is strike one. Curveball is grounded to third and Torres goes to second for the third out. No runs on one hit and two runners left.
Keyes looked silly out there on that one but Jungmann got us out with no damage. Great work to escape with no runs after a leadoff triple. College baseball teams score 85% of the time they have a runner on third with nobody out and you know LSU would expect to score even more often than that.
Torres leads off against Cain and takes a fastball on the inner half at the knees for strike one. Nice changeup gets Torres to swing and miss to make it 0-2. Weak swing from Torres for strike three and there is quickly one out in the inning as Tucker comes to the plate. Curveball is in there for strike one and Cain is looking very good for LSU right now. Another breaking ball is hit to third and it's the second quick out for Texas. Belt takes ball one on a high changeup. Fastball low makes it 2-0. Breaking pitch and Belt helps Cain out with a swinging miss on a ball in the dirt. The 2-1 pitch is a grooved fastball but Belt can only foul it away and it's 2-2. Changeup is too far in and the count is full. Fastball misses down and in and Belt takes his base on balls to bring up Moldenhauer with two outs. Breaking ball is called low for ball one even though it likely crossed in the zone. Fsatball is chopped toward second and Nola is right there and throws to first for the third out. No runs on no hits and one runner left.
LSU finally retires Moldenhauer after he starts the championship series 3-3 with 3 home runs. Belt made Cain work at the end of the inning and now Jungmann will be able to take the mound with a normal-length break between innings.
Mitchell takes strike one on a changeup at the knees. Breaking ball misses for ball one. Changeup misses down and out to make it 2-1 and Jungmann is working pretty quickly here. Curveball misses for ball three although it's another that may have crossed in the zone. Fastball misses down and Jungmann issues Mitchell a leadoff walk. Offspeed pitch misses by a mile for ball one to Landry. Rupp out to visit Jungmann at the mound. Fastball is grounded to short and Loy sidearms it to Tucker for the first out but Landry beats the play at first. Curveball for strike one to Helenihi. Landry is fast but is only 9-15 on stolen base attempts this year. He takes another breaking ball for ball one. Fastball is grounded to Tucker's right and he makes a nice play to Loy; Loy spins in the air to set his feet for the throw to first and completes the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. No runs on no hits and no runners left.
Last inning was a leadoff triple and this inning was a leadoff walk to Jared Mitchell. We get out of both innings with no damage which is a definite plus. You would expect 2-3 runs if you were given those two scenarios in an average situation. Great work by Jungmann.
Rupp leads off and Cain fires a nice fastball at the knees on the outer half for strike one. Breaking ball stays up for ball one. Very nice breaking ball gets a check swing strike from Rupp as he couldn't hold up. Low fastball gets Rupp swinging for the first out in the top of the 5th. Keyes takes a 1-0 pitch for strike one. Grounds the next pitch foul and it's 1-2. Fastball is fought off down the right field line but drops foul to keep it 1-2. Breaking ball is hit to left but Landry runs it down and makes a diving catch for the second out. Didn't need to dive but it will get him on SportsCenter I guess. Rowe hits a first-pitch fastball foul for strike one. Curveball taken for strike two and Rowe is in a hole. Another curve is taken on the outside corner and Rowe goes down looking. No runs on no hits and no runners left on.
Let's see if Jungmann can keep it up after he looked very good after Mitchell's leadoff walk last frame.
Nola takes a breaking ball for strike one to start the 5th for LSU. Another curve goes about 59 feet for ball one. Fastball is hit to right but Keyes catches it for the first out. Ball one taken by LeMahieu. Check swing appeal is granted for strike one. Fastball at the knees makes it 1-2. Tries a high heater but it's taken for ball two. Curveball is cued to Jungmann and he flips to Belt for out number two. Schimpf up now and takes a breaking ball in the dirt for ball one. Fastball is skied to Rowe in center and that's the third out. No runs on no hits and no runners left.
Jungmann with his easiest inning since the first. A good spot for it, too, as he starts off with Dean next inning and the bases empty.
Clark leads off against Cain and takes strike one. The next pitch is a hanging slider and he laces it into left field for a leadoff single. Loy shows bunt and takes a fastball at the knees for strike one. Next pitch is another fastball at the knees and Loy bunts it foul to fall behind 0-2. Loy is not showing bunt anymore and takes ball one on a slider up and in. Slider down and out gets Loy swinging for the first out. Torres takes a fastball just above the knees on the outer half for strike one. Fastball low evens the count at 1. Breaking ball moves out of the zone low and Torres with a nice take for ball two. Fastball low makes it 3-1. Fastball is lined to centerfield but Mahtook makes the catch near the track for the second out of the inning. Torres hit that one on a line but now it's up to Tucker in the top of the 6th. Bradshaw is up in the Tiger bullpen. Tucker dumps the first pitch into right off the handle and it's a base hit to put runners on the corners with two outs for Belt. Mound visit from the LSU pitching coach now and it looks like a typical stalling visit for Bradshaw. Belt takes the first pitch low and away for ball one. Slider is right there but taken for strike one. Slider moves low for ball two and it's 2-1. Belt starts his swing but lays off a low and away fastball for ball three. Cain hangs a slider right there for Belt but he can only pop it up to shortstop. Big miss there as Cain served it up on a tee. No runs on two hits and two runners left on.
Tough end to that inning as Belt got his pitch to hit. Jungmann will now face LSU's 3-4-5 hitters in the bottom of the 6th.
Fastball on the black at the knees for strike on to Dean. Changeup misses low and away for ball one. Goodness. A high chopper toward first is fielded by Belt and Jungmann gets in Tucker's view on the flip. Dean moves to second on the misplay. This is getting absolutely disgusting. We look like 10-year-olds in the field. Fastball to Gibbs is fouled off for strike one. Fastball is up and away for ball one. Tough error on Tucker on the last play. Curveball is skied to center and Rowe makes the catch with Gibbs moving to third on the play. Gibbs is out on an appeal as he left early. Robin Ventura called it in the booth so I will assume it's the right call until the replay. Here it is. Replay confirms he left early. Two outs with nobody on now as LSU's first major blunder erases our fielding mistake. Mahtook swings over a breaking ball for strike one. Lays off the next low offspeed pitch and it's 1-1. Fastball is right there on the outside half for a strikeout looking. Clearly I missed a pitch considering the tag play replay. No runs on no hits with one error and no runners left on base.
Jungmann should be very thankful for that result as he caused the misplay at first base. Replay showed the second base ump in perfect position to monitor the tag play and it was the right call. Bad baserunning error by Gibbs there as we have now escaped a leadoff walk to Jared Mitchell, a leadoff triple, and a runner on second base with nobody out in three of the last four innings. I'll take it but we're definitely pushing our luck.
Moldenhauer takes a fastball on the outside corner for strike one to lead off the top of the 7th. Ball one on an outside fastball. Changeup or a backup slider stays high for ball two. Nice slider there and Moldenhauer swings over the top of it to make it 2-2. Changeup high and away fills the count. Fastball is fouled off to keep it full. Fastball outside and Moldenhauer draws a leadoff walk. Please do not bunt Rupp, Augie. I know he's a double play threat, but he's also a 6-run lead threat. Slider stays inside as Rupp takes ball one and doesn't show bunt. Slider low and away and Rupp barely starts his swing but doesn't chase and it's 2-0. Fastball is low and away and it's 3-0 as Cain is starting to lose it. Ball four here will almost certainly bring in Bradshaw, who is warming up again. Fastball at the belt is called ball four. Probably a strike that was called a ball as Cain doesn't get the call after showing he's lost his control. Bradshaw is coming in. Keyes will be the first man to face Bradshaw. Curveball in the zone is popped back out of play for strike one. Another low breaking ball is fouled off to the right. Now a hanging curveball is grounded sharply to shortstop and Nola steps on second and throws Keyes out at first. Another hanger that was begging to be punished that Texas misses. Now there are two outs with for Rowe with a runner on third. He goes after a fastball even with his eyes and misses for strike one. Nice fastball at the knees on the corner is strike two called. Curveball misses inside for ball one. Curveball grounded to third and Helenihi makes the play for the third out. No runs on no hits and two runners left on.
Damn, that pitch to Keyes was a 6-run lead waiting to happen as it was asking to end up in the gap at the base of the wall. Our earlier execution has gone lacking here later in the game and we're starting to pile the pressure on Jungmann and eventually our relievers.
Jungmann back out for the bottom of the 7th inning. Mitchell leads off for LSU and takes a breaking ball on the inside corner for strike one. Fastball away is taken and it's 1-1. Curveball misses low for ball two. Curveball is hit in the air to left and Clark makes the easy catch for out number one. Landy takes ball one away on a tailing fastball. Fastball is fouled off for the first strike. Tapper foul for strike two. Another tapper and it stays 1-2. Offspeed pitch is slapped down the line in left but tails just foul to extend the at-bat. Fastball well out evens the count at 2-2. Fastball is past Landry for a swinging K and the second out of the inning. Fastball fouled back by Helenihi to make it 0-1. Another fastball off the fists foul for strike two. Nasty breaking pitch gets a half swing strikeout to end the 7th inning. No runs on no hits and no runners left on base.
Very nice inning from Jungmann there. LSU managed to put a couple of pretty good swings on Mitchell's flyout and Landry's foul liner but both were the other way with little power. Jungmann is spotting his pitches well and making them hit it where he wants right now.
Bradshaw starts Clark with a fastball low and outside as Clark pulls back on a bunt attempt. Fastball is taken at the belt for strike one. A changeup is left right in the middle at the belt and Clark pops it way up behind short. Nola takes a terrible line on it but makes an over-the-shoulder catch for the first out. Backup curveball called strike one to Loy on the inside corner. Another one stays way up and it's 1-1. Fastball above the knees is strike two and Loy is behind. Fastball away evens the count at 2-2. Offspeed pitch grounded to third and Helenihi doesn't realize he has it in his glove and Loy is safe at first. Official ruling could go either way. Throw over by Bradshaw and I imagine Torres will be bunting. He doesn't show, though, and takes a curveball for strike one. Fastball misses just outside and it's one ball and one strike. Fastball is low and away for ball two and Loy is safe at second with a stolen base. Throw may have been in time but Nola couldn't pick it and make the tag. Changeup gets a somewhat generous call for strike two to Torres and the count is even. Changeup in the dirt is taken and it's now 3-2. Offspeed pitch is tapped to the right of the mound and Bradshaw grabs it on the run and touches first for the second out as Loy moves to third with two out for Travis Tucker. Tucker hits a soft liner to right on a first pitch breaking ball and Mitchell catches it for the third out. Once again we can't push the run across. One run on one hit (I think - ESPN never said) and one runner left on base.
The offense is starting to get frustrating but with two innings left it's now on our staff.
Nola takes a curveball at the knees for strike one to start the bottom of the 8th. Fastball up evens the count at 1-1. Curveball is grounded to Torres and he makes the routine throw to Belt for the first out of the inning. Breaking ball misses outside to LeMahieu for ball one. Slider misses in the same spot and it's 2-0. Fastball misses just low to run it to 3-0 on LeMahieu. Fastball and he's taking all the way for strike one. Grounds it to Loy and he does the exact same fucking thing and doesn't get in front of the ball and it's another error. He better get more than an earful from the coaching staff. That is just pure laziness from Loy leading to two baserunners this game. Schimpf takes a sinking fastball on the inside corner for strike one. Throw over to first by Jungmann. Another sinking fastball is foul tipped for strike two. Workman gets up in the bullpen. Curveball is hit off the end of the bat toward Torres and he comes in and makes a nice play for the second out. Jungmann calls Rupp out to go over the signals with a runner on second. Fastball for strike one to Dean. Cole Green joins Workman in the bullpen but is likely just getting loose in hopeful preparation for tomorrow. Fastball outside makes it 1-1. Curveball is taken down and in for ball two. Breaking ball is popped up and Belt snags it just foul between first and home for the third out. No runs on no hits with one error and one runner left on base.
Jungmann pitches around trouble that didn't need to be there yet again. Loy has had a terrible day in the field with the exception of one nice turn on a double play. We'll be sending 3-4-5 to the plate in hopes of getting an insurance run or two in the top of the 9th.
Belt to lead off against Bradshaw and Belt misses a first pitch fastball for strike one. Another fastball is on the inside corner for strike two. Changeup is high and away for ball one and Belt looks somewhat anxious up there. Barely tips a changeup to stay alive. His struggles appear to be getting into his head at this point. Excellent. Another meatball and this time he lines it to right for a base hit. A little confidence for Belt will serve us well if we hold on tonight. Bradshaw checks on Belt with a throw over to first. Backup breaking ball is up and out for ball one to Moldenhauer. Fastball is outside to make it 2-0. Changeup is grounded softly to first and LSU turns the 3-6-3 double play on the slow Moldenhauer. Two outs now for Rupp. Fastball high and outside and the count is 1-0. Fastball is lined foul down the right field line. Offspeed pitch comes way up and in and hits Rupp on the wrist for a two-out baserunner. Keyes dribbles it to Bradshaw for the third out of the inning and we head to the bottom of the 9th.
Well, here we are again. Let's get it done this time and take our chances tomorrow. Hopefully our inability to push any runs across since the third doesn't come back to bite us. LSU's pitchers have given us plenty of opportunities. I would let Jungmann come out to finish this now and I have to believe Augie will do the same after pulling Ruffin and Wood too soon last night.
Jungmann is indeed on the mound to start the 9th inning. Gibbs will lead off for the Tigers. Fastball away is ball one. Fastball called strike one on the black at the knees. Jungmann still throwing 92mph when he needs it. Sinker misses well outside to make it 2-1. Curveball handcuffs Dean and he tips it for strike two. Green still on the bullpen mound and he is watching the game in a manner that says he will be the man to come in if needed. Gibbs fights off the 2-2 pitch to stay alive. Gibbs does a nice job of hitting an outside fastball through the left side for a leadoff single. Inner half fastball is dribbled foul by Mahtook for strike one. 113 pitches now for Jungmann. Another fastball inside is fisted foul and it's 0-2 to Mahtook. Jungmann pumps a 94mph high fastball right past Mahtook for strike three. Was not about to make the same mistake as Workman last night by throwing an offspeed pitch to the overmatched Mahtook. Mitchell takes a 60 foot changeup for ball one as Rupp controls it to keep Gibbs at first. Not that there's much of a double play opportunity with Mitchell at the plate. Slider at the belt on the inner part of the plate is tapped foul and it's 1-1. Breaking ball on the outside corner for strike two. Fastball misses just outside at the knees but was thrown right where Rupp set up. Proper call by the ump. The 2-2 pitch to Mitchell is a curveball grounded just foul past Belt down the line. Check swing tapper to Torres at third and Torres fires it across the diamond and just gets Mitchell at first. Hell of a play by Torres and Les Miles is still a douchebag. Here's the replay. Replay confirms he was out. Great call by the umpire as he wasn't persuaded by who the runner was. Landry takes a curveball in the dirt for ball one and Rupp controls it again. Fastball inside is ball makes it 2-0. A balk is called on Jungmann and Gibbs moves to third as the count remains 2-0. Fastball on the inside corner for strike one. Another fastball is fouled off and it's 2-2 to Landry. Breaking ball down and in gets Landry swinging and we head to a decisive Game Three tomorrow night. No runs on one hit and one runner left on base.
Taylor Jungmann with an all-time performance tonight. Our offense went to sleep after the third inning despite multiple chances and we are going to have to do a lot better at taking advantage of what should be fewer chances against Ranaudo tomorrow. HenryJames should be came along later with a post mortem on tonight's game.