Posted May 31st, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Baseball, World Series

The Texas baseball team provided us with two straight nights of heartstopping baseball and again on Sunday night they pulled out the victory. This time it only took 9 innings, but the Longhorns had to come back from 4 runs down in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat [tag]Army[/tag] and close out the Austin Regional.

Down 10-6 to start the half inning Texas rallied to tie it at 10 off a nearly gamewinning walk-off grand slam [tag]Brandon Loy[/tag]. A few batters later with the game still tied, [tag]Preston Clark[/tag] only need to put the ball in play to win but instead put the ball over the left field wall. Clark’s walk-off slam gave the Longhorns the 14-10 and ended the regional tournament with the hosts on top.

There are no dates or times available yet, but next up Texas will host the TCU Horned Frogs in Austin for the best-of-three Super Regional.

Check out our live game tweets from @40acressports below:

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Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a CoachThanks to the great people at Virgil Films and Entertainment, we’re happy to announce that all this week we’ll be giving away DVD copies of director Richard Linklater’s excellent documentary Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach. It’s a great look at Texas head baseball coach [tag]Augie Garrido[/tag], the Texas Longhorns, coaching, and leadership in general.

We’ll be running various different contests through out the week, but we’re starting simple. If you want to win a copy of the DVD, simply submit your name and address by 11:59pm Central on June 1 using this entry form to win. Additional contest details on the entry form. Check back every day this week for another chance to win.

A brief description of the documentary is below:

INNING BY INNING: A PORTRAIT OF A COACH is a fascinating look inside the world of University of Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido. Through unprecedented access to team meetings, practices, in-game conversations and the occasional tirade, the film examines this remarkable coach’s career and reveals Garrido’s Zen-like approach to the game that both inspires and changes lives. With a philosophy that places both baseball and his players in the larger context of life as a whole, Garrido has won five National Championships (3 at Cal State Fullerton and 2 at UT) and is the only coach to win National Championships in four different decades, and at two different schools.

The film includes interviews with former players, coaches, Alumni, baseball luminaries and friends, revealing the remarkable man behind the achievements. For coaches, players, and fans of baseball, Inning By Inning is a must see film that will forever change the way you look at the game – and perhaps the way you live your life.

Directed by Academy Award® nominee Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Before Sunset).

Day 1 of contest has ended. Check back here to find more ways to win or buy the DVD at InningByInning.com.

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Austin Woods threw 12+ hitless, scoreless innings in relief before leaving after finally giving up his first hit.

Austin Woods was dominant and durable in relief.

The game lasted over 7 hours and ended after 1 am, but in the end the Longhorns came out on top of [tag]Boston College[/tag] and have moved to 2-0 in their CWS Regional bracket. Next up for Texas will be a game tomorrow at 6pm against the winner of the BC/Army match-up. Texas will have two chances to win one game to advance on to the Super Regionals next weekend.

The heroes of the game on both sides were the relief pitchers. Until the winning run in the 25th inning, Texas had gone 23 straight scoreless innings and BC finished up with 18 scoreless in a row. For Texas, [tag]Austin Wood[/tag] came into the game in relief of [tag]Chance Ruffin[/tag] and proceeded to put on a historic pitching display. Wood threw 12+ innings of hitless, scoreless baseball before finally leaving 160+ pitches later in the 20th inning after giving up his first hit of the night. It was an incredible performance from both teams. (more …)

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Travis Tucker attempts to slide into home against Army. (Statesman.com)

Travis Tucker attempts to slide into home against Army. (Statesman.com)

Behind 7 strong innings from starter [tag]Cole Green[/tag], the Texas baseball teamed open up 2009 College World Series play with a 3-1 win over [tag]Army[/tag] Friday at Disch-Falk. The Horns never put a crooked number on the scoreboard but thanks to Green’s pitching the 3 runs were enough for the victory.

The win is a great start for the Horns in the double-elimination Austin Regionals. They will take on Boston College at 6 pm today, and if they can win again they’ll have two chances to advance to the Super Regionals starting Sunday night.

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Posted May 23rd, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting

Rumors started swirling Wednesday and on Friday Ahmad Dixon made it official by announcing he had decided to switch his commit from Texas to the Baylor Bears. The 4-star 2010 safety prospect is from Waco and made the decision that he wanted to stay and play for his hometown school. Baylor coach Art Briles was able to convince that he could be a part of turning the Bears into a legit competitor in the Big 12. In an interview with Jason Suchomel of Orangebloods.com Dixon said, “I wanted to be a part of a humongous change that Baylor is about to have in the next couple of years. I wanted to go down as one of those guys in history to go down with these great teams that Baylor is about to produce.”

Dixon’s decommit is a surprising one and hurts the Horns’ 2010 class. Fortunately defensive back has been a team strength and both the 2009 and 2010 classes have been great at the position. It will be interesting to see how the Texas coaching staff uses the freed up scholarship. There are several other 4-star safety prospects that they could pursue in-state or they could hold onto it and go after a national blue chipper. Come back to The 40 Acres for updates on this story and on other Longhorns recruiting news.

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Posted May 8th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Freshman defensive tackle [tag]Jarvis Humphrey[/tag] has been forced to leave school due to a kidney condition. There is no word on the seriousness of his condition or if there is any chance Jarvis will return to UT. The young man’s health is obviously the primary concern.

From the official UT site:

Longhorn redshirt freshman defensive tackle Jarvis Humphrey has withdrawn from classes at The University of Texas due to the continuation of a medical condition. Doctors identified a concern with his kidney during a pre-participating physical last year which sidelined him for much of his time at Texas, including all of 2009 spring drills.

“Jarvis is a great young man,” said head coach Mack Brown. “His health is our number one priority and has been since his condition was identified when he arrived at Texas. We will continue to help him any way we can.”

We’ll keep Jarvis in our thoughts and hope for a speedy recovery for him.

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Posted May 6th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Because you can never watch it enough…

(HT)

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After starting talented but diminutive guards [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] and [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] and struggling against teams such as [tag]Memphis[/tag] due to their length. That won’t happen again.

The Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Rick Barnes’ incredible recruiting freight train has continued with the commitment of 2011 guard [tag]Sheldon McClellan[/tag]. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward from Houston Bellaire joins point guard Myck Kabongo as the second member of the 2011 class. He has great length and athleticism which he uses above the rim on offense and as an active on the ball defender. Scouts, Inc. gives McClellan high praise when they state that at times he reminds them of Scottie Pippen. In the 2009, 2010, and 2011 classes Barnes has now landed four guards over 6-foot-2 and three wingmen over 6-foot-7.

Congrats to Sheldon and welcome to the Forty Acres.

Scouting Reports

From the Statesman’s Bevo Beat:

McClellan averaged 18.5 points a game as a sophomore. The Louisville-based HoopScoop rates him the 44th-best prospect in the class of 2011. NCAA rules allow McClellan to sign with Texas in November 2010, when he is a senior. “He’s a top-50 type talent,” said Gerry Hamilton of BurntOrangeBeat, who has watched McClellan play several times. “Right now his biggest strength is creating shots for himself and his teammates. He can also catch and shoot three-pointers.”

From his ESPN profile:

McClellan is a long and athletic play maker from the wing position. He attacks the rim in transition where he can finish above the rim with his great length. In the half court he can score off the catch or dribble from three and he also has a strong mid range game with one or two dribble pull ups. McClellan can stop and pop while he elevates over smaller defenders. Making moves off the dribble and defensive rebounding are areas of improvement that are very evident but he is young with time to add this to his game. He is a good on ball defender and plays hard on a consistent basis.

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Former Longhorn offensive tackle [tag]Mike Williams[/tag] and NFL Draft bust is attempting a comeback. He’s still too heavy and he has a long way to go, but the Washington Redskins think his raw ability is still worth taking a chance on. He’s lost 40 pounds but still tips the scales at 404 pounds, more than 70 pounds more than any other player on the roster.

Williams can credit ex Texas teammate [tag]Derrick Dockery[/tag] and a Texas reporter with this chance:

Williams, selected fourth overall by the Buffalo in the 2002 draft, came to Washington in an unusual way. Pushing 450 pounds in February while running an oil services company, Williams decided to enroll in a fitness program at Duke to lose weight and become healthier. Around Easter, Williams and his wife, Enisha, moved in with former Texas linemate Derrick Dockery and the Redskins guard’s wife, their close friends, to take care of their goddaughter Madison while her parents were occupied with a baby due any day.

A reporter from Texas reached Williams on his cell phone for a where-are-they-now predraft story and wrote about his desire to play again once he got in shape and worked on football skills he hadn’t practiced in years. A Redskins official read the story Thursday and called Dockery to reach Williams, who worked out and signed the next day. He won’t participate in this weekend’s minicamp, but the Redskins hope he can lose 35 to 40 more pounds to reach his playing weight for the organized team activities that start June 1.

“I wanted something different for my life, just healthwise,” Williams said. “Then I’m like, ‘I’m feeling really good.’ I definitely missed playing. I know I still have the talent.”

Best of luck to Williams on dropping the weight fr his NFL comeback and more importantly his long-term health.

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Posted May 2nd, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Draft, Football

Brian Orakpo will be an 82 rated defensive end for the Redskins in Madden 10.

Brian Orakpo will be an 82 rated defensive end for the Redskins in Madden 10.

Roger Goodell and [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] were still on stage at last weekend’s [tag]NFL Draft[/tag] and EA Sports already had Orakpo’s Madden NFL 10 Washington Redskins player card ready. The EA experts love his speed and power and rated him as an 82 overall. Both in real life and in the game, Rak is going to have a chance to contribute and flourish early on as a rookie playing next to Albert Haynesworth.

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