For all the success that the Texas Longhorns built over the first half of the season, they have allowed it to be chipped away. While their early season wins still stand strong in computer calculations, it is easy to see that this team is close to losing all the advantages from those wins. Will that core stand strong, or will the tree topple?
Recap
The Texas Longhorns lost their third consecutive Big 12 series in Morgantown, WV over the weekend. The Longhorns sparkled on Saturday in a 2-0 win, but sandwiched that game with ugly performances on Friday and Sunday.
After Sunday’s loss, Texas is 11-10 in conference play. The Longhorns started the Big 12 season with a 9-3 record, including two consecutive sweeps, but have now lost seven of their last nine conference games.
Playing without weekend starting pitcher Dylan Peters, Texas gave the ball to Lukas Schiraldi on Sunday. With a big opportunity to shine in the finale, the junior from Austin only lasted two innings, giving up four hits and two walks on the way to surrendering five runs. Only three of the runs were earned, but Schiraldi was not able to effectively locate his pitches and didn’t provide the spark that his teammates obviously need.
Key moment of the series
On Sunday, the Longhorns struck first, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning. However, West Virginia responded with 4 runs in the home half. The Mountaineers scored on just 2 hits and capitalized on 2 errors from the Texas defense.
Instead of seizing momentum in the finale, the Horns allowed WVU to establish control of the game. Although Texas continued to score, they never were able to wrest momentum from West Virginia after that inning.
Inside the series
Friday Loss – Texas Defense commits 5 errors
Saturday Win – Texas Defense commits 1 error
Sunday Loss – Texas Defense commits 3 errors
Friday Loss – Texas batters have 11 hits and one walk
Saturday Win – Texas batters have 6 hits and one walk
Sunday Loss – Texas batters have 12 hits and four walks
Friday Loss – Texas pitchers gave up 11 hits, 4 walks and hit 1 batter
Saturday Win – Texas pitchers gave up 11 hits and 2 walks
Sunday Loss – Texas pitchers gave up 14 hits, 4 walks and threw 3 wild pitches
The glaring aspect of those data sets is that this series loss does not belong to the Texas offense. While the defense and pitching could certainly be feeling pressured to be perfect in order to compensate for the lacking offensive production of late, this weekend those two aspects were anything but perfect in Morgantown. Whether it is pressure, fatigue, or locker room issues, Augie Garrido and Skip Johnson must find a way to reignite the pitching and defense.
For example, the key difference in Saturday’s win is that Texas pitchers were at their best when the Mountaineers were on base. In the lone win of the series, the Horns were outhit 11 to 6 but held WVU hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position. Three Texas pitchers combined to leave 12 Mountaineers on base in the game.
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The Big Picture
The Longhorns are now at 34-15 overall and 11-10 in Big 12 play. In mid-April, the team was 30-8/9-3, but that feels like a different season. All of the postseason prospects that seemed a foregone conclusion are dying like fly balls at the Disch.
At 11-10, Texas is now fifth in the Big 12. Worse news still, the four teams above them in the standings are the same ones who beat Texas in weekend series. The conclusion of this ugly tale is that the three teams that the Horns totaled an 8-1 record against are now three of the bottom four teams in the Big 12 standings.
Troubling Trend
In back-to-back weeks, the Longhorns entered Sunday games needing a win to get a series victory. Texas lost those two games by a combined score of 18-9. In the second half of the season, this team is not responding well when the pressure is highest.
Notable Quote
“Losing is almost like winning. The difference is in winning you do the right thing at the right time, in losing you have to do the right thing at the wrong time. What is going to be different this year is their attitude.†– Augie Garrido
