Texas captured its second Big 12 series win this past weekend against Kansas State.
The Longhorns (14-18) entered the weekend having lost four of their last five games, which included being shutout by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on their Tuesday night non-conference game.
In Manhattan on Friday night, the Texas bats finally woke up, and the Longhorns recorded 12 hits, winning 6-3. Every starter for Texas reached base safely at least once. Kody Clemens hit a two run homerun in the third inning, so of course older brother Kacy Clemens had to do the same in the seventh inning. Kacy finished the night with four hits, creating a new career high for himself. Morgan Cooper picked up his second win of the season after throwing six innings and giving up only one unearned run. Chase Shugart recorded the save – his second of the season.
The Longhorns carried their offensive power surge from Friday night to Saturday, beating the Wildcats 12-5. Texas recorded 13 hits including three homeruns. The Longhorns scored in six of the nine innings. Zane Gurwitz gave the Longhorns a seven run lead in the seventh inning after hitting a two-out triple with the bases loaded. Ty Culbreth earned his sixth win of the season. He threw seven innings, giving up four runs while striking out six. Culbreth did not walk a single batter.
Sunday ended up being a pitchers duel with Kyle Johnston picking up the no-decision in a 2-3 Longhorn’s loss. Johnston pitched 6.1 innings and only allowed four hits. He left the game with a one run lead and one runner on. The runner eventually scored, and it was a tied game heading into the eighth. The Wildcats picked up two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, taking a 3-1 lead. The Longhorns got one run back in the top of the ninth with a Gurwitz homerun but couldn’t get another run across before the game ended.
Texas now owns Big 12 series wins over TCU and Kansas State. The Longhorns have struggled in their Tuesday night non-conference games, having lost the last two, and travel to Sugarland to face Houston this Tuesday night. The Cougars own a 19-12 overall record. The game starts at 6:30 CT.
