After not playing a game for 13 consecutive days, the Longhorns overcame sloppy defensive play to take Game 1 of the series 6-5. The offense carried the day as Texas hit back-to-back homeruns in the third and ninth innings on the way to the series opening victory.
In the top of the third inning, Collin Shaw and CJ Hinojosa hit consecutive long balls to give Texas a 3-1 lead. However it was Hinojosa and Tres Barrera crushing a pair of taters in the top of the ninth frame that boosted Texas with the tying and game-winning runs.
Parker French, Ty Culbreth and Connor Mayes all pitched in Game 1 as Augie Garrido and Skip Johnson started preparing for the Big 12 tournament. Kirby Bellow earned the win after throwing a scoreless ninth inning.
A lack of timely hitting and making productive outs, issues that have plagued the team throughout the season, reared their heads in Game 2, contributing to a 7-1 loss by Texas. The Horns pounded out seven hits and drew eight walks, but ultimately stranded 13 baserunners.
A persistent Baylor offense touched up Texas starter Josh Sawyer for four runs in the first five innings. The Bears then plated three more in the home half of the eighth off Andy McGuire.
The Texas offense collected five hits and six walks off Baylor starter Nick Lewis, but all those baserunners only amounted to a single run. Baylor reliever Kody Hessemer pitched the final four frames, holding the Horns scoreless.
For all the offensive frustration built up in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Longhorns unleashed fireworks in Game 3, scoring five runs in the first frame en route to an 11-1 win in 7 innings. The Longhorns turned the table from Game 1, taking advantage of four Baylor errors in the mercy rule-win.
CJ Hinojosa hit his fourth homerun of the series in the top of the seventh inning. Hinojosa finished the weekend 6-13 at the plate with five runs scored, and five RBI’s. Zane Gurwitz also homered in the series finale, and five Texas batters had multiple hits in Game 3.
True freshman Kyle Johnston made good on the fast start by the Texas offense, picking up his first win of the season by throwing five scoreless frames and striking out four hitters. Ty Marlow was effective in relief, pitching the final two innings, only allowing one run on two hits.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Augie Garrido
On Game 1: “Thirteen days without infield and outfield showed up for sure. I was impressed though with how locked in the hitters were. They didn’t swing at a lot of bad pitches and Joe Baker got some timely hits with runners in scoring position. We overcame the imperfections and that’s the difference between winning and losing. We’re not going to be perfect – seldom do you play a game that is perfect.â€
On Game 3: “I think it’s really important to have that momentum and to go off with a winning feeling and a decisive victory, one that included the best pitching performance of Kyle Johnston all year. We played well behind him. We put some guys in the game that have been working hard in practice, and they’re not weighted down by what’s happened in the past. They’re excited about playing; you can certainly see the spring in their step and the confidence, recognizing their opportunity. You see the difference in the life in their step and that was good to see.â€
On using all three starters on Saturday: “The idea of it was to get these starters out there early so that – they haven’t pitched against hitters in 13 days. We didn’t want to wear them out. Parker only going two innings is because he’s going to start the first game [of the Big 12 Tournament]. Then with the other two guys you go three innings because they’re on four days’ rest and five days’ rest.â€
On the pitching rotation for the Big 12 tournament: “Well we approach the Big 12 tournament by how we setup the pitching here, so that was the big thing. [Parker] French is going to go the first game; he threw the lowest number of pitches and he’ll be on three days rest… [Ty Culbreth] will be on four days rest and [Connor Mayes] will be on five days rest. So there is your starting rotation and there are some days off in there if you stay in the winners bracket – and if you’re going to do it, it helps to stay in the winners bracket. I still go back to – we’ve had about three different starting rotations this year and we’ve had a hard time developing the closer because we’ve had some in that role and we’ve had to develop them into starters. But we’ve been more consistent in the last three weeks than we have at any time in the season so our hope is that the consistency that they’ve had in fulfilling their role will continue in the tournament.â€
Big 12 TOURNAMENT
Texas opens play on Wednesday at 9:00AM (Central) against Texas Tech. For a look at the tournament bracket, click
