Tag: david pierce

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 shortstop Mitchell Daly enters the transfer portal

Mitchell Daly looks for a change of scenery after a three-year run at Texas.

Texas shortstop Mitchell Daly is in the transfer portal as of Friday morning. The key piece of the Longhorns baseball program over the last three seasons is looking for a change of scenery.

Daly batted .263 over his career at Texas in 171 starts for the team. After a strong 2021 saw him hit for a strong .316 average, the two years that followed saw some struggles at the plate.

Certainly, Daly is a loss for the team at baseball’s most premium position outside of pitcher. The leadership one would assume he brings to the team will be difficult to replace. So, too, will be the lost experience the Longhorns will have at the position.

If there’s one thing the past season illustrated for Texas, it’s that head coach David Pierce is capable of replacing lost talent and production. Though we were critical of Pierce in the offseason and after a slow start, he put together as good a season as one could have expected.

Texas will look to retool at the position following a regular season Big 12 title and strong postseason performance.

Texas Baseball: RHP Tanner Witt ‘on schedule’ to return this season

Tanner Witt might be back on the mound soon.

Texas baseball could be getting a huge boost to its pitching staff in the near future.

David Pierce provided an update on the status of former freshman All-American Tanner Witt on Thursday morning. Pierce stated Witt remains on track with his recovery and could be ready to pitch by the end of April.

Texas lost Witt early on in the 2022 season. He went through Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL.

Witt is one of the premier arms in college baseball when healthy. The 6-foot-6 righty pairs a mid-to-upper 90s fastball with a wipeout breaking ball.

D1baseball lists Witt as the No. 13 college prospect eligible for the 2023 MLB Draft.

Getting Witt back in any capacity immediately raises the ceiling of this Texas squad. The Longhorns currently sit with a 21-9 record, ranked at No. 21 in the nation.

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Texas Baseball: Giving due credit to head coach David Pierce

David Pierce joins Rodney Terry in exceeding expectations this season.

Texas baseball continued its run of excellence on Friday. The No. 21 Texas Longhorns (20-7) defeated the No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowboys (20-7) in an impressive 5-3 victory. Texas might not be ranked No. 21 for long.

An early offensive explosion saw the Longhorns build a 5-1 lead with powerful extra base hits. It’s the style of play that makes head coach David Pierce’s team so fun to watch.

We were critical of the ball club and its coach earlier in the season. Now they are due for praise. The team has won 16 in a row. The last five have come against Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, all of which have high postseason aspirations.

This team replaced first baseman Ivan Melendez and six other bats in its lineup. Starting pitcher Lucas Gordon was elevated to Pete Hansen’s role as staff ace. Pitchers who were unable to perform in big game roles last season have made this team a winner and more reliable than last season’s top heavy squad.

We challenged the team to play better baseball. Over the last 16 games, David Pierce is more than passing every test.

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Texas baseball walks off to win second straight over No. 14 Texas Tech

The winning streak continues for Texas baseball.

Texas baseball has quietly climbed its way back into relevance. Saturday marked 13 consecutive wins for the program after a slow start. Continue reading “Texas baseball walks off to win second straight over No. 14 Texas Tech”

Texas faces No. 1 LSU in a Tuesday blue blood battle

Labarron Johnson Jr and LSU pitcher Thatcher Hurd pitch in the blue blood battle.

There’s a big college baseball game on tonight. The Texas Longhorns face the No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers on the Longhorn Network.

The growing popularity of the sport at the college level could draw a decent audience relative to the channel’s limited drawing power. Even as a mid-week game, it poses a significant opportunity for the Longhorns to face top competition from a nonconference foe.

Saturday’s pitching opponent is hittable if his last outing is any indication. Right-handed LSU pitcher Thatcher Hurd last allowed four runs in two innings against Southern. Whether that means he’s due a better outing or could have another tough night is still to be seen on Tuesday night.

Labarron Johnson Jr’s heater is set to be on display in the game. Johnson has thrown five quality innings, allowing one run while striking out eight batters. Texas would appear to have the pitching advantage. David Pierce and company will need to capitalize.

Texas is 28-13-1 all time against LSU.

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Texas drops final game of the weekend series to Indiana 4-2

Base running woes and a rough sixth inning cost Texas the chance at a sweep against Indiana on Sunday.

Base running woes and a rough sixth inning cost Texas the chance at a sweep against Indiana on Sunday. The Longhorns dropped game three of the series 4-2 in what David Pierce called an “embarrassing loss.”

Texas was cruising early in the ballgame behind a great start from RHP Travis Sthele and a couple of early runs from the offense. Sthele was sharp through shutout five frames, bringing his fastball up to 95 mph.

The sixth inning gave Texas trouble as Indiana chased Sthele out of the game and capitalized against the Longhorn bullpen. Indiana tallied four runs with two outs to take a 4-2 lead.

Texas’ bats could not get anything going in the final four innings, partly due to some questionable base running decisions. Texas had four runners thrown out on the base paths, including three caught stealing. Coach Pierce’s aggressive nature did not pay off in Sunday’s ballgame.

A challenging task awaits Texas next as No. 1 LSU comes to town for a midweek matchup on Tuesday night.

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College Baseball: Texas takes series over Indiana with 5-2 victory

Texas pitching held Indiana to just two hits to clinch the series.

Texas captured its first series victory of the season with a 5-2 win over Indiana on Saturday. Longhorn pitching limited the Indiana offense to just two hits on the day.

Zane Morehouse cruised through the first four innings before encountering trouble in the fifth. Indiana loaded the bases with nobody out looking for a crooked number. Morehouse buckled down to limit the damage to just one run to finish his day.

Texas broke the game open in the bottom half of the fifth with a four-spot aided by a couple of Indiana errors. Porter Brown and Garret Guilmette singled to push the Texas lead to 5-1.

The Longhorns’ bullpen would piece it together for four innings of one-run ball to close out the game 5-2. DJ Burke was impressive while picking the save.

Texas evens its record at 3-3 on the year and looks to complete the sweep on Sunday. Travis Sthele is expected to start on the bump for the Horns.

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College Baseball: Late game heroics push Texas over Indiana 4-2

Porter Brown’s big night helps Texas take game one over Indiana.

Texas took game one of a three-game set against Indiana on a brisk Friday night at Disch-Falk Field. The Longhorns used solid pitching and a late rally to come out with the 4-2 victory.

Texas’ offense came alive down 2-1 in the bottom half of the eighth inning. Eric Kenney led the frame with a double, followed by a Dylan Campbell walk, setting the stage for TCU transfer Porter Brown.

David Pierce decided to let his left fielder swing away with Indiana expecting a bunt and the move paid off. Brown played the hero role for the Longhorns, launching a three-run home run to give Texas a 4-2 lead.

Lucas Gordon provided another excellent start on the mound as the Texas ace tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Fellow lefty Chris Stuart picked up the victory on the night after recording the last seven outs of the game.

RHP Zane Morehouse gets the ball for Texas in game two as the Horns look to clinch the series on Saturday.

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We won’t know how good Texas baseball is until it can play defense

Texas baseball is capable of better play.

Texas’ baseball team epitomized the phrase “off the rails” on Sunday. The team couldn’t field the baseball. Continue reading “We won’t know how good Texas baseball is until it can play defense”