Rain preempted the Friday and Saturday contests as well as dampened the Texas bats in this weekend’s series versus Loyola Marymount University. Longhorn fans came out to the Disch at noon on Sunday to watch the Horns kick off a double header against the Lions, but found themselves waiting 11 innings for a run.
Game 1: 03/11/12, 12:05pm
Nathan Thornhill took the mound for Texas and turned in seven and a third scoreless innings, posting a  sharp ratio of five strikeouts to one walk while allowing five hits. The two teams traded hits throughout the early innings, leaving a combined six runners on base through seven complete innings. When Hoby Milner came to the mound in relief in the top of the eighth, LMU had two on and one out, but Milner quickly extinguished the Lion threat with a 1-3 groundout and a pop-up to shortstop, handled by Jordan Etier. Jacob Felts singled to left in the home half of the eighth inning, but the effort was for naught as Etier grounded into a double play, ending the inning. The Lions came back in the ninth as Cullen Mahoney led off with single off of Milner. Parker French was brought in and recorded one out on a sacrifice before Mahoney took third on a wild pitch. Scott Harkin then stepped to the plate and smashed a double up against the center field wall to bring Mahoney home. Despite a Maitland single in the bottom of the ninth, the Texas rally fell short and the Longhorns took their eighth loss of the season.
Game 2: 03/11/12, 3:15pm
Game two started thirty minutes after the end of game one, and saw 5’8″ Freshman RHP Ricky Jacquez face off against 6’8″ Freshman RHP Trevor Megill. The Texas bats found a bit of life in the bottom of the third when Kevin Lusson, playing at DH, led off with a single up the middle. Lusson was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Felts and joined on base by a walked Mark Payton. With two on and two out, Tim Maitland stepped to the plate and put the second pitch he saw down the right field line for a triple, bringing Lusson and Payton home. Loyola Marymount scored a run in the sixth with a series of singles by Cullen Mahoney, Kyle Raubinger, and Matt Lowenstein. Not content with a 2-1 lead, Texas answered with a run of their own in the home half of the inning, when Jonathan Walsh took advantage of a walk by moving to third on Brooks Marlow’s single and scoring on a Lion error. Walsh’s run brought the score to 3-1, where it remained in the seventh after a 1-2-3 inning turned in by Corey Knebel.
Pitching was the clear standout in the double header, with five Texas pitchers combining to give up only two runs. Ricky Jacquez solidified himself as a member of the weekend starting rotation, accumulating an impressive seven strikeouts and allowing no runs. Nathan Thornhill also wowed during his appearance in the first game, but received no decision when the Texas bats could not pick him up. Defense continued to improve for the most part, with the exception being two calls of catcher’s interference in the second game. Tim Maitland continued to display his ability to hit in clutch situations, adding two RBIs to reach a total of seven on the season.
Game 2: 03/11/12, 3:15pm
