Tag: Big 12 baseball

Texas baseball picks up important series win against Oklahoma State

Texas won two of three against OSU to further strengthen its NCAA Tournament standing this weekend in Austin.

Although a 7-2 loss Sunday to the Oklahoma State Cowboys ended a 7-1 stretch for the Texas Longhorns baseball team, it won two of three against OSU to further strengthen its NCAA Tournament standing this weekend in Austin.

The Longhorns toughed out a 7-5 victory in Friday’s series opener. Gage Boehm (4-2) struck out four Cowboys batters in the last 2 2/3 innings of game action to earn the victory.

Max Belyeu’s two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth broke a 3-3 deadlock as Texas won Game two, 6-3. Belyeu registered 4 RBIs in the win. Ace Whitehead struck out three Oklahoma State batters in 4 1/3 innings pitched, while Andre Duplantier II earned the victory, giving up only one run on one hit in the last 2 1/3 innings.

Texas, 30-19 (15-9 Big 12), is in a three-way tie for second place with Oklahoma State and West Virginia heading into the final six games of the season. The Longhorns play at UCF, 29-15 (11-12 Big 12) this weekend in Orlando.

Texas baseball gets important Sunday sweep of Oklahoma

Texas got an important Sunday sweep with 8-6 and 12-10 victories against No. 18 Oklahoma.

Going into the weekend as one of the last projected teams in the NCAA Tournament field, the Texas Longhorns baseball team got an important Sunday sweep with 8-6 and 12-10 (seven inning) victories against No. 18 Oklahoma in Big 12 action in Norman.

After Oklahoma took Friday’s opener 9-4, back-to-back solo home runs from Kimble Schuessler and Will Gasparino gave the Longhorns a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning of the first game Sunday. Chase Lummus earned the victory, pitching 3 2/3 innings while allowing one run on three hits. Gage Boehm registered his fifth save of the season, striking out three Sooner batters in 2 1/3 innings pitched.

In game two, the Longhorns hit six home runs, five of which were two-run shots, in the 12-10 win. Max Belyeu had two home runs, going 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs in the victory.

Texas, 27-18 (13-8 Big 12), sits fourth in the Big 12 standings after Sunday’s sweep. Oklahoma, 26-16 (15-6 Big 12), is still in first. Oklahoma State and West Virginia are tied for second with 14-7 conference records, respectively.

BYU holds on, defeats Longhorns to open three-game set in baseball

The Texas Longhorns baseball team saw its three-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the BYU Cougars.

The Texas Longhorns baseball team saw its three-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the BYU Cougars, who defeated Texas 7-5 in Big 12 baseball action Thursday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The Cougars built a 6-0 lead before Texas got RBI singles from Dee Kennedy and Peyton Powell to cut the deficit to 6-2. After BYU got a run in the top of the sixth, the Longhorns got a solo home run from Jack O’Dowd before Kennedy’s double got him to three RBI in the contest.

Still, after getting 10 hits through six innings, the Longhorns mustered only two hits over the last three innings of play.

The win broke a six-game losing streak for BYU, 12-14 (5-8). Ben Hansen (4-3) picked up the win for the Cougars, giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out five Longhorns batters.

Lebarron Johnson Jr. (1-3) took the loss for UT, giving up four runs on six hits in three innings while striking out four batters. Andre Duplantier II struck out five batters, pitching the eighth and ninth innings.

Texas, 18-12 (6-4), and BYU continue their three-game set Friday in Austin.

Texas baseball bounces back, wins series over No. 23 Kansas State

The Longhorns finally showed life on the diamond earning a huge series win over Kansas State.

They finally did it. The Texas Longhorns played up to expectation in a series win over the No. 23 Kansas State Wildcats.

The offense was there for Texas all series. The Longhorns scored 33 runs in the three game series with a 21-run game two sandwiched between two six-run performances.

Texas shortstop Jalin Flores had one of the more impressive outputs in the series. Flores went 7-for-12 with seven RBI, two home runs and a walk. Cleanup hitter Max Belyeu hit well after Flores with six hits and five RBI in the three games.

With the series win, Texas moves into a second place tie with Kansas State in the Big 12 standings at 6-3 in Big 12 play. Oklahoma ranks first in the conference standings at 7-2 against league competition despite a 15-12 record overall.

The next stretch gives the Longhorns a chance to add wins against the Abilene Christian Wildcats (17-11) and BYU Cougars (11-14). BYU ranks last in the Big 12 with a 4-8 conference record. Abilene Christian is 1-3 vs. Big 12 opponents.

The Longhorns’ remaining schedule is favorable as it makes its push toward an NCAA tournament bid. They’ll look to channel the positive momentum gained by the series victory over Kansas State.

Texas baseball’s woes continue in 14-6 loss to No. 23 Kansas State

The Longhorns continue to disappoint on the diamond.

Texas baseball continues to fall short of expectations.

The proud baseball program has been disappointing through 26 games. It fell to 15-11 on the season after a blowout loss to open a series with the No. 23 Kansas State Wildcats.

To be clear, losing to a ranked opponent isn’t the main source of frustration with the team despite too few quality wins on Texas’ resume. It’s simply a carryover of the failures Texas has endured this season.

The more disappointing of losses came earlier this week when Texas A&M Corpus-Christi (13-17) came to Austin and left with a midweek win. Had the team performed well in resume-building opportunities the loss might sting less. Albeit, in the early going the team has both lost its signature games and underperformed against Corpus Christi and Washington (6-11-1).

There’s been plenty of time for Texas to rebound from the players it lost in its loaded 2021 and 2022 rosters. The product simply isn’t up to par.

Texas head coach David Pierce needs to find solutions for the team if it wants to change course. It will look to battle back in the series on Friday against Kansas State.

Texas baseball wins two of three games against Texas Tech

Texas got a bounce back series win on the road against Texas Tech.

The Texas Longhorns got back in the win column against the Texas Tech Red Raiders over the weekend. The Longhorns took a series win with two victories in three days.

The much needed performance followed a four-game losing streak. The losing skid is in the rear view mirror after the team began Big 12 play with a 2-1 start in Lubbock.

Texas scored 22 runs in the first of three games to highlight the series performance. Its high scoring output unleashed four games worth of frustration on the diamond.

That it was able to put up so many runs against an opponent of Texas Tech’s caliber is noteworthy for the team moving forward. While series win doesn’t erase big picture concerns we have for the program, it was an impressive response to an adverse start to the season.

Texas will look to channel the momentum into more wins in Big 12 play. The Longhorns improve to 9-6 on the season.

Texas baseball drops its fourth straight in loss to Texas A&M, 9-2

Texas baseball hasn’t been all that competitive against top teams.

Texas baseball lost its fourth straight game on Tuesday. The Longhorns fell to the surging Texas A&M Aggies who in contrast are off to a scorching start.

The four-game stretch has seen Texas lose to good teams, but the Longhorns were completely outclassed in all four matchups. From a blown eight-run lead against Vanderbilt to a late inning lead against Texas State, head coach David Pierce’s team couldn’t capitalize even when it had an advantage.

In fairness to Pierce and company, top programs go through tough stretches. It’s normal for good teams to lose several games simply because baseball involves multiple variables. Even so, blown leads, unreliable performance and not playing up to top competition are indicators that a baseball team might not succeed in the postseason.

Texas can still improve, but the early start to the season portends what could be another disappointing postseason for college baseball’s most storied program. The team will need focused effort to live up to its high aspirations.

Social media reacts to Jalin Flores’ grand slam into the Yeti Yard

Friday evening was the largest opening day crowd in school history.

It was an electric Friday evening at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. Continue reading “Social media reacts to Jalin Flores’ grand slam into the Yeti Yard”

Texas baseball begins quest for trip No. 39 to College World Series

Texas’ final baseball season in the Big 12 and journey to Omaha starts Friday night.

Baseball excellence resumes in Austin on Friday night. The Texas Longhorns will open their final Big 12 baseball season with a nonconference battle with San Diego Toreros, the university that produced MLB star Kris Bryant, at Disch-Falk Field.

The Longhorns are widely viewed as a contender to make the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The program is head and shoulders above the rest of college baseball in World Series appearances with 38. They will look to make it 39 in 2024.

The upcoming season marks the end of Big 12 baseball for Texas after playing in the league since 1997. It sets up big matchups with recent baseball rivals TCU and Texas Tech among others.

Starting pitcher Labarron Johnson Jr. leads the Longhorns into what projects to be a memorable season. Fellow pitcher Tanner Witt, outfielder Porter Brown, third baseman Peyton Powell, outfielder Jared Thomas and second baseball Jack O’Dowd return as key players for the team.

Freshman Will Gasparino was at one point given a Top-100 draft rating, but instead chose to play outfield for Texas. The top prospect could play a big role in improving the Texas lineup in 2024.

The schedule features plenty of teams that should fire up Texas faithful. The Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid park gives the Longhorns matchups with the LSU Tigers, Texas State Bobcats and Vanderbilt Commodores. That slate begins with the Tigers on Mar. 1.

LSU, of course, comes off a national title victory in 2023. Vanderbilt has made two of the last four World Series finals and won it all in 2019 while Texas State has been a program on the rise in recent seasons. The trio of games won’t determine the success of the season, but will provide NCAA tournament-quality opponents early in the year.

Texas follows the classic invitational with Texas A&M at home on March 5. Next, the team faces a three-game road battle over that weekend with Texas Tech March 8-10.

In other notable games for the year, the Longhorns will play host to the Washington Huskies (Mar. 15-17), TCU Horned Frogs (April 19-21) and Oklahoma State Cowboys (May 3-5). The team will face Oklahoma in Norman, April 26-28.

Texas has the pieces to contend for Omaha again in 2024. They begin that championship push on Friday against San Diego at 7 p.m. CT on the Longhorn Network.