Tuesday night at Schroeder Park didn’t go as planned for the second-ranked Longhorns. Although Texas recorded a season-high 11 walks and plated seven runs, they fell 9-7 to Houston, an unranked Cougars team that started the night with a 13-11 record.
This is the sort of midweek result that will not define a season, but for a program with No. 2 on top of its, name, losses like this one are hard to countenance.
Texas (20-4) seemed to have the game in-hand ahead of Houston (13-11), which rattled off nine unanswered runs over the fifth, seventh and eighth innings. Tyler Cox’s go-ahead RBI single was the turning point, and a bases-loaded walk by Blake Fields gave the Cougars a cushion that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Longhorns used eight pitchers on the night, and starter Jason Flores was good enough to generate three scoreless frames, though the bullpen struggled to hold the lead.
Houston reliever Harrison Boushele had a strong outing, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings and closer Ryne Rodriguez finished the show with a clean ninth.
Head coach Jim Schlossnagle wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort, or lackthereof.
There’s not much time for the Longhorns to dwell on the defeat, as No. 8 Oklahoma is headed to Austin for a three games series that begins on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
How Texas plays, especially its pitching staff, will tell us a lot about the makeup of this club as it heads deeper into SEC play.
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