Five Texas baseball players who rank among the NCAA’s top 50

Five Texas Longhorn baseball players who rank nationally among statistical categories.

The Texas Longhorns baseball team is 30-8 on the season and continues to ride a 13-game winning streak. They’re currently ranked No. 3 nationally and sit atop the Big 12 with slight leads over Texas Tech and TCU.

The Longhorns look more and more like a squad who will be competing in Omaha for the NCAA College World Series. Just as impressive has been the play of many of their players. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few of these Texas stars could be playing in the minor and major leagues in the coming years.

At the beginning of the season, all eyes were on pitcher Ty Madden and his elite strikeout numbers. More recently, the focus has shifted to Ivan Melendez, who had garnered attention after six consecutive games with a home run. Melendez eventually fell just short of tying the NCAA record at eight games.

Texas currently has five players among the top 50 in their respective statistical group, with a few others who are narrowly on the outside looking in. With 17 games left in the regular season, many of these numbers are likely to fluctuate.

Here are the five Texas players who rank among the the top 50 statistically via NCAA.com.

Late Inning Heroics: Cam Williams crushes Boise State’s dream of a win

A late-game rally sent the Longhorns-Broncos series finale to extra innings, Cam Williams hammers a pitch to give Texas the sweep.

The Texas Longhorns returned to the Disch to take on the Boise State Broncos in their series finale. Late in the game it was all about the heroics of third baseman Cam Williams as he lived up to his nickname of the hammer.

Coy Cobb took the mound in the final matchup of the weekend against the Broncos, pitching into the sixth inning. Cobb pitched well enough to get the win but unfortunately for him, the Broncos put up a fight. Zach Zubia got the Longhorns started  on the scoring with a sacrifice fly that brought Duke Ellis in for the first run of the game.

During the second inning, starter Dawson Day found himself in some trouble. With Williams and Douglas Hodo III on the bases, leadoff hitter Austin Todd drove them in with a double. Texas took a 5-1 lead into the sixth inning before the wheels came off. Cobb would leave in the sixth without recording an out.

Tristan Stevens would sit down all three batters faced but would allow a run to Cobb’s record. Boise State added another run in the seventh. In the top of the ninth inning BSU’s Geon Hyoung Kim blasts a two-out two-run home run off Donny Diaz to tie the game at five. After Mason Bryant got the final out in the ninth, Dawson Merryman retired the Broncos in order to get to the bottom of the 10th.

You know the rules, you hit the walk off home run and teammate Ellis takes care of the rest.

 

Texas Baseball: Longhorns Finish Off Lamar For Fifth Straight Win

The Texas Longhorns win their second-straight game at home and fifth overall with a 6-1 win over Lamar at DischFalk Field.

The Longhorns (4-0) hosted Lamar (2-1) in their second game at the Disch this year after sweeping the Rice Owls in Houston over the weekend. Texas got started in the second inning with a bases clearing double by leadoff hitter Austin Todd to drive in three runs. After two, the Longhorns carried their 3-0 lead into the fourth inning.

With Cam Williams on second, Douglas Hodo II drove a ball right up the middle to bring the hammer home to extend the lead to four. In the sixth inning, Texas loaded up the bases once more and scored two runs without the benefit of a hit for with one. Brendon Dixon walked to bring D.J. Petrinsky home. Murphy Stehly flied out to right field but Trey Faltine scored on the sacrifice fly. With three inning remaining in the game the Longhorns were up 6-0.

In the seventh inning, Lamar was finally able to get on the board. This snapped a streak of 10 straight innings without giving up a run. Will Swope gave up the lone Lamar run on the afternoon and he lasted just 0.2 innings. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Cole Girouard to bring Logan Berlof home. Freshman pitcher Andre Duplantier II came in with two out and the bases loaded. He struck out the lone batter he faced to end the threat.

Duplantier came back out in the eighth to pitch another frame, striking out two more to get to the ninth inning and Mason Bryant. Bryant gave up a couple of hits but he was able to wiggle out of any trouble to get the win for Texas. Starter Kolby Kubichek got his first win on the season after three scoreless innings.

Texas Baseball: Longhorns Outlast UTSA to Stay Perfect

The Texas Longhorns stay perfect after riding a five-run fourth inning to help them to a 6-2 victory at the Disch.

The Texas Longhorns returned home for their first baseball game of the 2020 season at DischFalk Field in Austin. The Longhorns fell into an early 2-0 hole against the UT-San Antonio Roadrunners heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. Cole Quintanilla was on the mound and gave up just one earned run in four innings with five strikeouts.

In the bottom of the inning, the Longhorn bats came to life. With runners on the corners and one out, Trey Faltine would drive in the Longhorns first run of the game.

Texas would go on to take the lead with catcher Silas Ardoin would get his first hit as a Longhorn and it was a big one, driving in two more runs on a double.

But wait, there’s more. With runners on second and third, the man they called the hammer, Cam Williams came to the plate looking to do more damage. He hit a two-run double to left field to plate two more Longhorns. Williams was thrown out at third going for the triple to end the inning. The damage was already done and Texas led 5-2 after a five-run inning.

Texas didn’t just show off the bats in this game as they were able to show off the leather as well. In the sixth inning, Faltine scooped up the ball from deep in the hole and fired it to first to get the out. Great throw by Trey and even better scoop by Zach Zubia.

Tristan Stevens and Pete Hansen would pitch the remaining five innings of shutout baseball for Texas. They gave up a combined five hits over that span. Stevens would pick up the win and Hansen with the three-inning save. For the play of the game, that came from Austin Todd who gunned down a runner at the plate to end their scoring threat in the seventh inning.