Feb. 8, 2004
Story courtesy of Texas Sports Information Office
Box Score
AUSTIN, Texas -- Curtis Thigpen (Forney, Texas/Forney) delivered an RBI-single up-the-middle in the bottom of the 10th inning to propel No. 5 Texas (6-0) to a 6-5 victory over San Diego (3-6) in front of 4,128 fans at Disch-Falk Field on Sunday, Feb. 8. Notably, the win not only gave UT a series sweep of the Toreros, but also gave the Longhorns six straight triumphs to begin the year, marking the first time Texas has won six straight games to begin a season since 1995 when they won 15 in-a-row.
San Diego got on the board in the top of the first as Joey Prast reached on an error, stole second base and then came home on a Freddy Sandoval single to give the Toreros a 1-0 lead. Then, with two outs in the bottom half of the first, Thigpen and Taylor Teagarden (Carrollton, Texas/Creekview), who both singled to left field in consecutive at bats, scored on a Michael Hollimon (Dallas, Texas/Jesuit College Prep.) double and a wild pitch, respectively, to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game at 2-1. Texas added one more run in the bottom of the second as David Maroul (Benbrook, Texas/Western Hills/Grayson CC) singled to bring home Scott Dodge (San Luis Obispo, Calif./San Luis Obispo/Louisville/Cuesta College), who walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. In the bottom of the third, the Horns increased their lead to 4-1 when Hollimon, who doubled to lead off the frame, was sent plateward following a Seth Johnston (Boerne, Texas/Boerne) single to left field.
San Diego would then cut into Texas' lead in the top of the fourth as Nate Boman crossed the plate on a Keoni Ruth single that flew just beyond Maroul's outstretched glove at third to cut the Toreros' deficit to two runs. One inning later, San Diego tied the contest at 4-4 using two consecutive singles to put runners in scoring position and then utilizing a wild pitch and a double down the left field line from Sandoval to bring two scores home. Six outs later, Thigpen singled up the middle with two outs in the sixth, moved to third on a Teagarden single to left field and then scored on a wild pitch to help Texas reclaim the lead by a count of 5-4. The Toreros immediately answered back in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5 in the form of a RBI-single off the bat of Sandoval that brought home Gavin Ng, who had been hit by a pitch and stole second.
After both offenses were held in check over the next two innings, the game moved into extra frames where UT reliever Huston Street (Austin, Texas/Westlake), who came on in the bottom of the ninth, worked a one-two-three top of the 10th before two singles from Dooley Prince (Sulphur, La./Sulphur/McNeese State) and Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas/Atlanta) placed two runners on with none out in the bottom of the inning for Texas. Thigpen then came to plate and lined a 2-2 pitch over the second base bag and into center field to score Prince and give UT its second one-run victory over USD in as many games. While Street picked up his second win of the series after working 1.1 hitless innings of relief, San Diego reliever Josh Butler incurred the loss despite a solid 2.1 frames of work.
Headlining the Texas offense, which collected 16 hits on the afternoon, were five players with two or more hits, including Thigpen, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI, Hollimon, who doubled twice while scoring once and driving in one run and Johnston, who tallied a pair of hits to go along with two steals. On the other side of the ledger, San Diego was paced by Ng, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base, and Sandoval, who collected four hits in five at bats and drove in three runs. On an additional note, junior pitcher J.P. Howell (Sacramento, Calif./Jesuit/USC) made his 2004 debut for the Horns and tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief while fanning a game-high four.
