Texas secures series win with 2-0 victory over Baylor

[Jameson McCausland]

Weather wise, it was a day to forget at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Winds of 20+ MPH blew in from left field for most of the game and the temperature had reached below 40 degrees by the time the final pitch was thrown. Baseball wise, Texas took advantage of a gutsy outing by Chase Shugart and another home run by Kody Clemens, defeating Baylor 2-0. Let’s take a look at some news, notes and takeaways as the Longhorns secured the series victory and moved their conference record to 8-3.

• The biggest story of the game was the performance by Texas starter Chase Shugart, who threw a career high 120 pitches, throwing 7 scoreless innings. The right-hander scattered 5 hits, walked 5 and only struck out one, but induced 9 ground-ball outs and made pitches when he needed to.
  
  
  “He wasn’t perfect, but Chase did a great job of attacking the zone, especially making some pitches when they had some traffic.”-Head coach David Pierce about Shugart’s outing
  

[*]Entering the 7th inning, Shugart’s pitch count sat at 112, but he came out to start the inning and got 3 outs on 8 pitches.

• 
  
  “The biggest concern today was you aren’t too sure what you were going to get out of the bullpen because of conditions. We got a guy pounding the strike zone at the time who just had a clean inning, so we just felt like he was the best suited at the time, and then we got a quick one, so it worked out really well to only have to go to Kam for one and finish it up with Andy.”-Pierce about the decision to stick with Shugart despite the high pitch count
  

[*]Andy McGuire secured his 4th save of the season, throwing a scoreless 9th inning. It appears the senior has become the preferred option in the backend of the bullpen. Kam Fields handled the 8th inning and continues to show a plus fastball. McGuire, Fields, Bryce Elder and Josh Sawyer appear to be the 4 most trusted relievers in the Longhorns bullpen at the moment

[*]Offensively, Texas only mustered 6 hits, with 2 belonging to Kody Clemens, raising his season average to .358. Clemens first hit came in the first inning when he blasted a high inside fastball for a solo home run that stayed inside the right field foul pole.

[*]Zach Zubia extended his on-base streak to 32 games, going 1 for 3. The redshirt freshman is now hitting .284 for the season with 22 walks.

[*]Texas punter Michael Dickson threw out the first pitch before the game, firing in a strike to Blair Henley. After the game, David Pierce said he would grade the pitch an A+ considering Dickson did not know what a mound was or where the rubber was on the mound. Pierce said was impressed with Dickson’s short, quick arm action.



Texas will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:30. Blair Henley will take the ball for the Longhorns while Baylor's starter is listed as TBA. Follow along at Hornsports.com for live updates.

 

[joeywa]

Good stuff Jameson. 

Hearing that Shugart pretty much called his own game with DJ today, instead of the dugout calling pitches.  Can you expand on that?  What caused this move?  Was it initiated by Shugart or the staff?

 

[Jameson McCausland]

Good stuff Jameson. 

Hearing that Shugart pretty much called his own game with DJ today, instead of the dugout calling pitches.  Can you expand on that?  What caused this move?  Was it initiated by Shugart or the staff?

Yes, Chase and DJ called their own game today. Shugart said he went to the Pierce this week and offered the idea, saying he wanted that accountability. It seemed like Chase and DJ chose to attack with the fastball, as is appeared there wasn’t as much off-speed as previous starts.

 

[joeywa]

I would much prefer to see an experienced C calling the pitches.  They tend to have a better feel for the pitcher's game and what's working, but that's just me.  I know a lot of coaches insist on calling the pitches from the dugout.