 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
Let it Reininger Longhorns down Cardinal, one win away from finalPosted: Monday June 17, 2002 11:31 PMUpdated: Tuesday June 18, 2002 1:41 AM
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Texas designated hitter J.D. Reininger went back to an old remedy to get out of a slump that consisted of seven straight strikeouts. "I had my dad go get some whiffle balls and a broom stick. That's what I used to do when I was younger and I had trouble seeing the ball," said Reininger, who saw it just fine Monday night. Reininger went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs -- two on a fourth-inning homer -- and the Longhorns beat Stanford 8-7 in a College World Series winner's bracket game. Reininger's strikeout streak dated to June 9 with an 0-for-3 performance in Texas' super regional championship against Houston. He struck out four times Saturday in Texas' 2-1 win over Rice in the opening round of the CWS. Reininger said he still got regular encouragement from his teammates during the slump, but the pats on the back were a little stronger Monday. "That's big when you're teammates are still telling you 'You can do it' after seven strikeouts," Reininger said. Jeff Ontiveros also homered and Tim Moss scored three runs for the Longhorns (55-15), who are in the CWS semifinals for the first time since 1989. Texas, which is in the CWS for the 29th time and has won four national titles, can advance to Saturday's championship game with one more win. The Longhorns will play again Thursday against either Stanford or Notre Dame, which play in an elimination game Tuesday night. "What it means is we've gained an advantage for now," coach Augie Garrido said. "Now we have to capitalize on this advantage. It's like having a runner on third with one out. You've still got to get him in." Alan Bomer (11-3) went six innings and allowed four runs and six hits before leaving with a blister on his middle finger. The Iowa State transfer, who went to Texas after the Cyclones dropped their program last spring, left to a loud round of applause from the Longhorns fans. Huston Street pitched the final two innings and picked up his second save of the CWS and 12th this season. Stanford, which won two of three against Texas in a regular-season series, would need to beat Notre Dame on Tuesday, then the Longhorns twice on Thursday to make the championship game for the third straight year. "We've been down before," said Stanford senior Chris O'Riordan, who drove in two runs. "We have a really strong team that bounces back real well. If we get to play Texas again it's going to be a couple of really good games." Ryan Garko also drove in two runs for the Cardinal (46-17), who got within one run on Sam Fuld's RBI single with two outs in the ninth, but Street struck out Garko on a checked swing to end the game. Stanford starter Tim Cunningham (10-3) lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs and five hits. Ontiveros hit a solo homer in the third to give Texas a 3-0 lead. After Stanford cut it to 3-2 in the fourth, the Longhorns scored four in the bottom of the inning. Texas got two runs after two walks, a single and a throwing error by Fuld. Then, with one runner on, Reininger hit a line drive that hit the top of the right-field wall and was ruled a home run. "J.D. was hot today so all we needed to do was get runners on base and let the sluggers drive them in," said Omar Quintanilla, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI. After falling behind 7-2, Stanford got two in the sixth on sacrifice flies by Jason Cooper and O'Riordan and two more in the seventh on a single by Garko that made it 8-6. Cunningham struggled right away against the Longhorns. Moss lined Cunningham's second pitch to center, Quintanilla walked and Reininger drove in Moss with a single. Cunningham hit Ontiveros to load the bases and Quintanilla scored on a fielder's choice.
"I wasn't really nervous. I just walked some guys and tried to be too fine on some pitches," Cunningham said. "I walked some guys and hit some guys and it cost the team big time."
|
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
