May 30, 2009

From Army Athletic Communications

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Cole Green allowed one run on four hits over seven solid innings and All-America closer Austin Wood fired two shutout innings of relief to earn his 15th save of the season as No. 1 national seed Texas escaped a first-round meeting with upstart Army by posting a 3-1 victory, Friday night before a sellout crowd of 6,832 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

"I'd first like to congratulate Texas for a fine ball game," said Army head coach Joe Sottolano. "They played well obviously. They were very detail-oriented, and they came away with a win. They did what was necessary to win. They obviously showed that they can execute and push guys across to score runs, and they did it well. They are obviously a well-coached team, disciplined team. The pitchers throw strikes and they throw a couple pitches for strikes. Their pitchers did a fine job.

"I was impressed with the way our guys competed. We didn't come down here just to compete, though. We came down here to win."

The Longhorns (42-13-1), ranked fifth nationally by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the National Baseball Writers Association polls nicked Black Knight starter Matt Fouch for single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to grab a 3-0 lead entering the seventh.

Texas scored its first run in the third when Michael Torres singled through the left side of the infield and advanced to second when Travis Tucker was thrown out at the plate by Army left fielder Ben Koenigsfeld as Tucker tried to score from second on the play. Cameron Rupp's soft two-out single to center field delivered Torres with the first run of the game.

The Longhorns added a run when Preston Clark led off the fourth inning with a bloop single to center and Kevin Keyes walked. Both runners advanced to scoring position on Tant Shepherd's successful sacrifice bunt. Connor Rowe followed with a perfectly executed safety squeeze bunt that scored Clark. Keyes was stranded at third in the inning when Fouch retired Tucker on a comebacker to avoid further damage.

Texas added an insurance run in the sixth when Clark doubled to the gap in right-center field, the only extra-base hit of the game for either team, and scored on a single up the middle by Keyes. That provided the Longhorns with a 3-0 lead.

It proved to be all the offensive support Green and Wood needed as the duo combined to limit Army to just four hits and one run on the night. The Black Knights advanced just three runners to scoring position and mustered only four singles against the Longhorns' standout pitchers.

Green retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Koenigsfeld broke up the no-hit bid with a single to left, opening the fifth. After J.P. Polchinski struck out, Kyle Fleming walked, placing runners at first and second with one out. But J.T. Watkins rapped sharply into a 6-4-3 double-play to end the threat.

"Green located three pitches for strikes and put hitters in uncomfortable situations," explained Koenigsfeld. "Everything he pitched had a little movement on it. Nothing was flat. He was staying away from the middle of the plate and moving it around, which was tough on the hitters."

Army (34-20) pushed across its only run in the seventh as Kevin McKague and Koenigsfeld ripped leadoff singles. With runners at first and third and no outs, Polchinski lofted a sacrifice fly to left field, plating McKague. But Green stiffened from there, fanning Kyle Fleming and retiring Watkins on a groundout to retire the side.

Wood entered the game to open the eighth and retired six of the seven baters he faced to secure the win. He hit Andy Ernesto with a pitch in the eighth, placing the tying run at the plate, but then struck out Clint Moore and retired Joey Henshaw on a groundout to preserve the lead.

Fouch (7-4) suffered the hard-luck loss for Army, permitting seven hits and three runs. He struck out one and walked four in his NCAA Regional debut. Green earned the victory for Texas, striking out six and walking three over his seven innings of work.

"I thought Matt (Fouch) did an outstanding job pitching today and really did a good job keeping them off balance," said Sottolano. "I think Texas is a solid baseball team, I really do. I think they rely on their pitching and defense, and that's what wins championships and baseball games. That's exactly what they bring to the table."

Clark went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the Longhorns' offense, while Koenigsfeld collected two of Army's four base hits.

"I think part of the story I'd like to start with belongs to Army," stated Texas head coach Augie Garrido. "Their pitcher was outstanding. He stayed focused on his responsibilities. Their team played extremely well behind him. They were very well disciplined as we would have imagined, but I think their performance was very admirable. It was strong and consistent in a lot of different ways. If it hadn't been for the magic of Cole Green, this could have been a different game all together.

"Had Army not played as well as they did, nearly a perfect game, then it wouldn't have put as much credibility to Cole's side of it. He had to do that to make it work."

With the setback, fourth-seeded Army will battle second-seeded Texas State in an elimination game on Saturday. The Bobcats (41-16), members of the Southland Conference, fell victim to a late Boston College rally in the first game of the Austin Regional on Friday, falling 8-7 to the Eagles. It will mark the first-ever meeting between Army and Texas State. First pitch at UFCU Disch-Falk Field is slated for 1 p.m. Should Army win, the Black Knights would advance through the loser's bracket to face the loser of Saturday night's matchup between Boston College and Texas.

Black Knights Blog: Other than the three runs that scored, only four other Texas base runners reached scoring position against Army starter Matt Fouch, only one of which advanced to third ... by playing in his 54th game this season, Zach Price established a new single season Army record ... the previous school standard of 53 had been shared by several players ... Price is the only Black Knight to see action in all 54 contests this season ... Ben Koenigsfeld collected his 18th multiple-hit game of the season ... Army averted its first shutout of the season when Kevin McKague scored on J.P. Polchinski's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning ... Tyler Anderegg fired a perfect inning of relief out of Army's bullpen ... the second team Academic All-American fanned two of the three batters he faced ... Army is now 1-7 all-time in NCAA Regional play ... five of the Black Knights' seven regional losses have been decided by two runs or less ... Army has taken on the top seed in all four of its NCAA Regional showings and dropped three of those games by a total of four runs ... Army fell to top seed Florida State 3-2 in a first-round matchup of the 2005 Tallahassee Regional in the Black Knights' most recent postseason appearance ... Army was held without an extra-base hit for the eighth time this season ... Matt Fouch saw his personal five-game winning streak snapped ... it marked his first loss since April 4 ... Price had his 11-game hitting streak snapped ... he was robbed of an extra-base hit on an acrobatic over-the-shoulder grab by Texas left fielder Tant Sheperd leading off the sixth.