Horns' pitching continues to dominate

TEXAS 4, VANDERBILT 0

OMAHA, Neb. -- Augie Garrido's Texas baseball teams are always built on pitching and defense, and the Longhorns are showing it at the College World Series.

Nathan Thornhill and John Curtiss combined for Texas' second consecutive shutout, and the Longhorns forced a second-bracket final against Vanderbilt with a 4-0 victory Friday.

The Longhorns (46-20) and Commodores (48-20) will meet again today, with the winner advancing to the best-of-three finals against Virginia or Mississippi.

For the second game in a row, Texas pitchers didn't allow a runner past second base. The Longhorns have held opponents scoreless 19 consecutive innings and have given up four runs in their four games in Omaha.

Thornhill left after the eighth inning, having thrown 131 pitches on an 88-degree afternoon against a Vanderbilt team that was set on going deep into counts.

"It was a dominating performance," Garrido said. "I do think they were trying to run his pitch count up because of the heat to get him out of the game. He has the kind of command where he can capitalize on something like that."

Thornhill said he didn't let the Commodores' approach bother him.

"I wasn't too surprised," he said. "They're probably looking for their pitch because they are good hitters, and if they're going to take, I'm going to try to get ahead and throw my pitches, and that's what happened today."

Texas scored twice in each of the first two innings to lead 4-0, with a couple of the runs crossing the plate as a result of quirky plays. Thornhill took it from there, with Curtis pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Longhorns are batting just .198 at the CWS, but with the pitching staff operating as it is, no one in burnt orange is worried.

Chad Hollingsworth and Travis Duke held UC Irvine scoreless on four hits Wednesday, and Thornhill (9-3) allowed only six singles while leading Texas to its 13th shutout of the season.

Parker French (7-5), who gave up one run in 7 1/3 innings against Louisville on Monday, will start today. Carson Fulmer (7-1), who got the victory in Vanderbilt's CWS opener against Louisville, pitches for the Commodores.

Friday's Vanderbilt starter, Tyler Ferguson (8-4), lasted just two-thirds of an inning.

"Just couldn't handle the moment," Commodores Coach Tim Corbin said. "That's too bad because the kid deserves better. He works very hard, and he's got great stuff, and you didn't see Tyler Ferguson today, unfortunately."

Reliever Brian Miller went the rest of the way, holding Texas to four hits and striking out eight.

The Commodores were without third baseman Xavier Turner, who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the rest of the CWS for an unspecified rules violation. Tyler Campbell started in Turner's place.

THURSDAY'S LATE GAME

MISSISSIPPI 6, TCU 4

OMAHA, Neb. -- Will Allen drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Mississippi relievers held TCU without a hit after Kevin Cron's home run in the fifth, and the Rebels (48-20) stayed alive in the College World Series.

It was the most runs allowed by TCU (48-18) in 16 games.

Allen, who was 0 for 8 in the CWS when he came to bat in the third inning, went 3 for 5 with three RBI.

Josh Laxer (3-2) worked 2 2/3 innings of relief for the victory, and Aaron Greenwood went the last 1 1/3 innings for his fifth save. Jordan Kipper (8-3), who relieved struggling TCU starter Tyler Alexander, took the loss.

Allen had a two-out, two-run double in the second for a 3-0 lead, the tie-breaking base hit in the seventh, and he scored an insurance run after he singled in the ninth.

Alexander, TCU's first 10-game winner in four years, struggled for a second consecutive start after he won six in a row. He gave up consecutive hits to start the fourth and left with his team down three runs.

Ole Miss starter Sam Smith lost his control and didn't make it out of the fourth, either. Laxer came on with the bases loaded and issued a two-out walk to Cody Jones that tied it 3-3. That marked the first time an inherited runner scored against the Rebels' bullpen in nine NCAA Tournament games.

Each team added a run in the fifth, with Cron driving Laxer's high fastball 10 rows into the stands in left field for the CWS' second home run in 10 games.

Laxer and freshman Wyatt Short combined to retire nine consecutive after that. TCU threatened in the eighth, putting runners on first and second with one out. But Short struck out Dylan Fitzgerald, and Greenwood came on and got Keaton Jones to ground to shortstop, with Errol Robinson pumping his fist after throwing out Jones.

Ole Miss collected 11 hits and was 4 for 13 hitting with 2 outs. TCU, held to 5 hits, was 0 for 9 with 2 outs.

Sports on 06/21/2014

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