OMAHA — Texas coach Augie Garrido often says baseball is a cruel game.
And the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles sure know it. Oh, how they know it.
Jonathan Johnston walked Brandon Loy on four pitches with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Texas a 7-6 win in the College World Series on Sunday night.
“It’s just the way baseball treats people sometimes. It’s a brutal game,” he said. “Being in this environment for the first time created some nerves that turned into fear and eventually was the demise of an otherwise courageous team.”
The Longhorns’ final three runs scored on bases-loaded walks. Of Texas’ last 11 batters, six walked and one was hit by a pitch.
“That’s a tough way to lose,” Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer said. “I’d rather have someone hit a grand slam.”
The Golden Eagles’ dismal pitching performance in their Omaha debut spoiled an otherwise gutty performance against the No. 1-seeded Longhorns. Of the 171 pitches thrown by five USM pitchers, just 94 were strikes. They walked nine.
“Our players played like I thought they would on the big stage. I thought there were no nerves and we handled everything well,” Palmer said. “We just didn’t throw strikes at the end. We really didn’t throw strikes all night long.”
Texas (47-14-1), in the CWS for a record 33rd time, moves on to a Tuesday game against Arizona State. Southern Miss (40-25) will try to stay alive against North Carolina in a Bracket 2 elimination game the same day.
Arizona State 5, North Carolina 2 (10 innings)After ASU’s Josh Spence and North Carolina’s Alex White tangled in a pitchers’ duel, a bad break for the Tar Heels and a good swing by Kole Calhoun decided the outcome.
Calhoun’s three-run homer off Brian Moran in the top of the 10th inning, after Carolina right fielder Garrett Gore’s error led to the go-ahead run, carried the Sun Devils.
“How many games do you strike out 14 times, get picked off twice, make an error and still win? Pretty lucky,” ASU coach Pat Murphy said.
