In our series preview several days ago we mentioned that coach Garrido would learn a lot about this relatively young Texas team in the 3-game series against #2 Stanford. Unfortunately he learned a couple of things… First, Stanford is as-advertised. The Cardinal brought both excellent pitching and solid hitting. Stanford never trailed the Longhorns in any of the 3 games, outscoring Texas by a total of 28-5. Second, the Texas offense needs help. The Horns couldn’t get the bats going. With the pitching giving up an average of 6 runs per game and the offense only producing an average of 3 runs per game, the Longhorns have work to do. Talk about double-duty…. The first two games were tough, but they don’t compare to the bombardment the Longhorns took today. A 13-run 4th inning by Stanford doomed Texas’s chances of salvaging a win in game 3.
Mark Payton is the only Longhorn hitting above .250 (Payton holds a .346 batting average) followed by Tim Maitland, hitting a solid .250. On the pitching side, Nathan Thornhill is 1-1 with a 2.70 era in 10 innings pitched. After that, Hoby Milner has an ERA of 5.00 in 9 innings pitched. While it may seem like doom-and-gloom for Texas, it’s still early in the season. The Longhorns have 45 regular season games left with plenty of opportunities for redemption. Texas brings a 5-game losing streak back to Disch-Falk Field to take on Houston Baptist University on Tuesday.
