Feb. 7, 2004

Box Score

AUSTIN, TX- With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Texas (5-0) scored the winning run in its final at-bat to defeat San Diego 4-3 at Disch-Falk Field. In a thrilling game that saw San Diego (3-5) take a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning, Texas rallied to score a pair of late runs to turn away a very worthy opponent in USD. A solo homerun by Curtis Thigpen evened a 3-2 game in the eighth inning and the Longhorns would later push across the winning run with two outs in the ninth on an infield single and throwing error, much to the delight of 4,729 fans in Austin.

Texas took a 2-0 lead in the first inning off left-handed Torero starter Nate Boman. Boman, a freshman from San Diego's Patrick Henry High School, settled down to strike out four through five complete innings before giving way to the USD bullpen. Freshman Josh Butler fanned two in the sixth, setting the stage for a two-run USD seventh that would give San Diego a 3-2 lead.

In the seventh, Tom Caple came on in relief, retiring four consecutive Longhorn batters before Curtis Thigpen tied the game with a solo homer off Caple in the eighth. Caple, still working with two outs in the ninth, induced a groundball from pinch-hitter Scott Dodge. With Texas's Seth Johnson on second base, USD shortstop Jose Ortega fielded the ball cleanly but threw wildly to first allowing Johnson to score the game's winning run.

Torero catcher Trevor Pike went 2-for-3 with an RBI double that got USD on the scoreboard in the third inning. Josh Hansen went 2-for-4. Keoni Ruth scored the then-go ahead run in the USD seventh on an RBI sac bunt by Freddy Sandoval. Both teams totaled seven hits.

The three-game series will conclude Sunday at 11:00 AM (PST).