Eighth-inning rally boosts Texas to 6-5 come-from-behind win over K-State
Kansas State’s Owen Boerema was impressive during the first seven innings of his outing versus the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 series opener at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Friday night. Boerema, a Division III transfer from Minnesota’s University of Northwestern, limited the Longhorns to one run on five hits through 7.0 IP, all while his teammates put five runs on the board.
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That strong showing couldn’t continue when Boerema marched back out to the mound for the eighth inning with almost 120 pitches. Neither he nor his replacement, Ty Ruhl, could stop the Longhorn offense in what was its final at bat.
Texas rattled off five consecutive hits, including four straight extra-base knocks, to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth before late-inning substitute Tanner Carlson drove in the go-ahead run via a sac fly to make it 6-5 Longhorns. Zane Morehouse, less than a week after blowing a save in a conference rubber game at Oklahoma State, tossed a near-stress free shutout ninth inning to seal the come-from-behind win for Texas.
Boerema baffled Texas hitters for much of the evening, retiring 18-of-21 from the second through seventh innings after allowing a run in the first.
His luck would run out in the eighth as the Longhorns mounted a comeback effort after being down 5-1 to start the frame. In his fourth at bat against Boerema, Eric Kennedy reached first on a bunt single. Dylan Campbell then doubled to left field to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out.
On a 2-2 count in the next at bat, Peyton Powell knocked a double to left to score both runners and chase Boerema from the game. Ruhl, no stranger to Big 12 baseball with 21 appearances last season, could not salvage the situation for K-State. Garret Guillemette doubled, the third of the inning for the Longhorns, to score Powell and make it a 5-4 game.
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That brought Porter Brown to the plate. Brown drove in the first Texas run, and was looking to add the tying run in his eighth-inning at bat. He smacked the first pitch he saw from Ruhl to right-center to score Guillemette and tie the game with his triple.
The next at bat, Carlson brought Brown home with a sacrifice fly to give Texas a 6-5 lead.
Morehouse allowed a two-out single in the ninth, but closed the opening game of the series with a groundout to seal the win.
Lucas Gordon pitched 6.0 innings and allowed two runs, both earned, in his no decision. He struck out nine, walked three, and allowed two hits in his outing. He was replaced by Andre Duplantier, who did not record an out. He was charged with three unearned runs after only facing three batters, walking two of them, and tossing three strikes out of his 11 total pitches.
Chase Lummus (1-1) received the win, his first of the year, for his 2.0-inning, one-hit effort. Morehouse was credited with the save, his fifth of the year.
The win boosts Texas to 22-9 and 5-2 in conference play.
Game two is set to begin Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The contest will be aired on Longhorn Network.
