By snoadmin
They did it on Friday night. The Dirtbags went into the bottom of the ninth inning two runs down against Texas, but scored three times in the final frame and were victorious.
They did it again on Saturday night. Going into the bottom of the third inning, the Dirtbags had a seven run deficit, and after a long 10-inning game, the Dirtbags emerged victorious again.
But Sunday afternoon, they were not able to continue their come-from-behind streak against the Longhorns, as they fell 2-1.
“You always hope [to repeat a come-from-behind win], but there’s no guarantee,” said head coach Mike Weathers. “We had an opportunity to do it. We just didn’t do it today.”
The Dirtbags were hoping to continue their streak after defeating Texas 7-6 Friday and 10-9 Saturday.
“We should have taken the whole series,” said shortstop Danny Espinosa. “Today we didn’t come up with the clutch hits that we did in the last two games. We were still making good contact, but balls just weren’t falling for us.”
Despite Sunday’s loss, Espinosa had a great weekend, going 5-for-14 with two doubles and three RBIs. Espinosa, last year’s Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, hit the walk-off single to drive in pinch hitter Bobby McMurray for the winning run on Friday, and scored the winning run after catcher Brian Capon singled to drive him in on Saturday.
“To score that run was huge,” Espinosa said. “We let them know that we are a good team. We are a team to be reckoned with and that shouldn’t be taken lightly.”
Freshman Steve Tinoco made his presence on the field known as he demolished Texas’s left-handed pitchers. Tinoco, the right-handed batter that Weathers said specializes in left-handed pitchers, went a combined 5-for-6, with a double, three RBIs and a solo home run – the only run scored on Sunday.
“I just see the ball, hit the ball. It’s as simple as that,” Tinoco said. “I play the baseball game instead of playing against the opponents. I’m just having fun out there.”
The No. 30 Dirtbags will travel to Houston tomorrow to face the No. 1 team in the nation, Rice.
