In their first midweek game of the season, Texas hosted Lamar at Disch-Falk Field. Despite the chilly conditions, Texas hitters pounded out 10 hits en route to a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals.
Freshman Nico O’Donnell received the start on the mound, making his Texas debut. The San Antonio native lasted 3 ⅓ innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits, while striking out 2. Freshman Bryce Elder received the win in relief, throwing 1 ⅔ scoreless innings with 1 strikeout. At the plate, the Longhorns were paced by DJ Petrinsky and Tate Shaw, who combined for 5 hits and 5 runs.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd, Petrinsky lead off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Joe Baker. Tate Shaw drove home Petrinsky with a double down the first base line, knotting the score at 1.
In the 4th, Petrinsky again led off the inning by getting on base, this time reaching on a single with a throwing error that allowed him to move up to second. Following a wild pitch that moved him to third, pinch hitter Zach Zubia delivered a deep sacrifice fly to give Texas their first lead of the game at 2-1. Tate Shaw continued the inning by singling up the middle, and then advanced to third on an error by Lamar’s second basemen on a Michael McCann ground ball that put runners at the corners and 1 out. Lamar then committed their second error of the inning when a David Hamilton ground ball went between the first baseman’s legs, scoring Shaw and extending the Longhorn’s lead to 3-1.
The Longhorns padded their lead in the 5th with help from Petrinsky and Zubia. Austin Todd worked a 1 out walk and scored on Petrinsky’s 3rd hit of the game, a double in the left field gap. Zubia followed up with a triple off the center field wall, scoring Petrinsky. Texas then got more help from the Lamar defense. Tate Shaw grounded a ball back to the pitcher, whos throw got passed the first basemen, allowing Zubia to score and Shaw to advance all the way to 3rd. Michael McCann brought home the final run for Texas, lifting a sacrifice fly to RF, scoring Shaw and giving the Longhorns a 7-1 lead.
Following a solo home run by 1B Robin Adames for Lamar in the top of the 6th to cut the lead to 7-2, the Longhorns bullpen fired 3 straight scoreless innings. Matt Whalen pitched a scoreless 8th inning in his Longhorn debut, and Bryce Verplank worked a quick 1-2-3 9th inning to seal the win.
Head Coach David Pierce complimented his team on their ability to overcome the weather and piece together a winning performance against a solid team.
“We did a really job of overcoming the elements,” Pierce said. “Overall, a solid night to get a victory on a Wednesday night, against a pretty good ballclub.”
The Longhorns will now travel to Baton Rouge for a 3 game series against LSU beginning on Friday. Although it is only week 2 of the season, Pierce said it will be a good test to see what the team is made of early in the year.
“It’s a great opportunity to see who we are at this early stage of the game. I want to see our guys go out and play like they play at home”
All 3 games between Texas and LSU will be shown on SEC Network Plus, or on the WatchESPN app. First pitch for Friday is set at 7PM, with the series wrapping up with a game Saturday (6:30 PM) and Sunday (2:00 PM). Follow along here at HornSports for live updates.
