FINAL: Texas 12 – Prairie View A&M 4
Facing an overmatched Prairie View A&M team, Texas methodically scored in every inning except one on their way to an easy 12-4 win at Disch Falk Field on Tuesday night. Every Texas player in the starting lineup had a hit or scored a run.
The Longhorns got off to a fast start on offense courtesy of RBI singles by Zane Gurwitz and Joe Baker in the bottom of the first inning, and an RBI groundout from Tres Barrera. A sacrifice fly by Ben Johnson in the home half of the second inning made the early score 4-0.
The much-maligned Longhorn offense scored 2 more runs in the fourth, sixth, and eighth frames, adding single runs in fifth and seventh for their 12-run total. The Horns racked up 15 hits, three walks, and eight stolen bases, while Panther pitchers added three hit batters.
Brooks Marlow and Collin Shaw both had homeruns to right field, and freshman Joe Baker accounted for a third extra-base hit, a double. Baker finished his night 3-3 at the plate with 2 RBI and a run scored.
Starting pitcher Josh Sawyer was solid through his first three frames before having control problems in the fourth inning. The Panthers scored all four of their runs, two of them unearned, in the top of the fourth. Jon Malmin entered in relief of Sawyer, but contributed to the damage by issuing back-to-back walks before being quickly replaced by Jake McKenzie.
McKenzie pitched two innings of relief and earned the win, improving to 2-0 on the season and whittling his ERA down to 0.61. Four pitchers (Travis Duke, Kyle Johnston, Ty Marlow, and Kirby Bellow) pitched a scoreless inning of relief to finish the game.
Texas faces Texas Tech at Disch Falk Field this weekend. At 10-8 in league play, the Red Raiders are currently fourth in the conference standings.
POST-GAME
Augie Garrido
Ben Johnson
Joe Baker
