Tag: Tanner Witt

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.

WATCH: Texas RHP Tanner Witt speaks on his journey back to the mound

Tanner Witt’s incredible perseverance helped Texas win the Big 12 crown.

Texas baseball clinched its share of the Big 12 regular season title after completing an emphatic sweep over No. 6 West Virginia on Saturday.

Just a month ago, Texas was all but dead in the water following what David Pierce called an “embarrassing sweep” from Oklahoma. The Longhorns dropped from the rankings, Big 12 standings and hosting contention.

The next week former freshman All-American and top MLB Draft prospect Tanner Witt made his long-awaited debut this season. Texas would finish the year on an 11-3 run with Witt back in the fold.

Witt’s return was the shot in the arm this Texas team needed. He could have decided to take more time during his recovery process to protect his pro future, but the Texas righty believed his story was not finished.

Witt started Texas’ final game of the regular season and picked up the win in the Big 12 clinching victory.

An emotional Longhorns team hoisted the trophy in front of a packed Disch-Falk Field. Witt caught up with the media to discuss how much this title meant to him and his teammates.

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WATCH: Texas baseball RHP Tanner Witt returns from Tommy John surgery

Tanner Witt is back on the mound for Texas baseball.

Texas baseball’s Tanner Witt is making his long-awaited return to the mound on Monday in Fort Worth against TCU.

Following a freshman All-American campaign in 2021, Witt picked up right where he left off with an excellent start to 2022. The Texas righty was 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in two starts to the season.

D1baseball ranks Witt as a primer talent in college baseball. He is listed as the No. 14 collegiate prospect in the 2023 MLB Draft class.

Unfortunately for Witt, his sophomore campaign would be cut short after a UCL tear forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Tommy John surgery requires a long and grueling recovery process. Most pitchers need about 12-14 months to return to game action.

David Pierce plans to be precautious in easing Witt back into things. Witt is getting the ball to start Monday’s game with a strict 20-25 pitch count. After that, Texas will increase his pitch count gradually with each start he makes.

Witt’s return comes at a great time for the Longhorns. Texas is fighting to get back into Big 12 title contention and set itself up nicely for the postseason.

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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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Rainy conditions forces Texas vs. South Carolina schedule to shuffle

An updated look at the weekend schedule for No. 1 Texas vs. South Carolina.

The highly anticipated weekend series between No. 1 Texas and South Carolina is officially put on hold for at least one day.

The future SEC foes will not play on Friday night as planned due to harsh rain in the Carolina area. The two will instead start the series with one game on Saturday, followed by a doubleheader on Sunday.

Texas is looking to bounce back from a midweek loss to Texas State on Wednesday. The Horns also got devastating news this week after learning RHP Tanner Witt will miss the rest of the season due to a UCL injury. Young pitchers Lucas Gordon, Andre Duplantier and Luke Harrison will be tasked to step up after the loss of Witt.

The Longhorns are already 5-0 on the season against SEC competition, with wins over Alabama (3), LSU (1) and Tennessee (1).

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Texas RHP Tanner Witt to miss remainder of 2022 season

Devastating news for Texas baseball.

Devastating news for Texas sophomore right-hander Tanner Witt, as the school announced he will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the 2022 season.

Witt was scratched from his start against UCLA over the weekend for “precautionary reasons.” A bullpen and further testing showed damage to his UCL.

Potential replacements to fill Witt’s Sunday role are Lucas Gordan and Andre Dulplantier.

Gordon is the most experienced, totaling 33 innings with a 2.41 ERA in his two seasons at Texas. Dulpantier is coming off Tommy John surgery himself, he is still trying to get his velocity back to his freshman form.

Luke Harrison is another potential replacement for the rotation. The freshman has been dynamite out of the bullpen so far this season. He has yet to give up a run in seven appearances this season.

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Shiners Children’s College Classic: Preview and pitching matchups

Houston is the place to be for college baseball fans this weekend.

David Pierce has to be happy with what he has seen from his squad early on.

No. 1 Texas has passed the eye test of the 2022 season thus far. The Horns are undefeated at 9-0, outscoring opponents 73-9 over that span.

The Longhorns are playing well in all facets of the game. Allowing less than one earned run per game while hitting .300 as a team will get the job done.

Texas is coming off a weekend sweep of future SEC foe Alabama and a midweek blowout over Sam Houston State.

The competition will heat up for Texas this weekend at the 22nd annual 2022 Shiners Children’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Texas will face No. 17 Tennessee, No. 7 LSU and UCLA. Baylor and Oklahoma are the other Big 12 teams joining Texas in the field.

Texas went 1-2 during the event in the COVID shortened 2020 season.

Here is a look at the projected pitching matchups in each of Texas’ games for the weekend.

No. 1 Texas beat Alabama 6-1, improving to 8-0 on the season

The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are firing on all cylinders.

The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are firing on all cylinders early in the new season. Texas took down Alabama 6-1 on Sunday to complete the series sweep and improve to 8-0.

The pitching staff continued its dominance over the weekend, holding the Tide to just one run in three games. Texas has only allowed four earned runs in eight games.

Tanner Witt backed up fantastic starts from Pete Hansen and Tristian Stevens with a gem of his own. Witt allowed just one run on four hits while striking out nine Bama hitters in six innings of work. His final strikeout of the game got the momentum back on Texas’ side.

The offense took the lead for good in the bottom half of the sixth as Trey Faltine drove in two on a laser to left field. Dylan Campbell followed with an RBI single as Texas broke the game open 4-1.

Three clean innings out of the bullpen from Lucas Gordan and Aaron Nixon along with a couple of insurance runs gave Texas the 6-1 victory.

Up next is a mid-week trip to Sam Houston State on Tuesday.

 

No. 1 Texas vs. Alabama: Preview and pitching matchups

No. 1 Texas hosts Alabama for a chilly weekend at The Disch.

The No. 1 Texas Longhorns welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide to Austin for what should be a chilly weekend the Disch. The last time these teams has faced off was in the 1983 College World Series when Douglas Hodo’s father was on the team.

Both teams enter this series a perfect 5-0 on the short season.

Texas swept Rice in convincing fashion on the first weekend series of the year and took two road mid-week games over Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Alabama has looked the part yet again after making the NCAA tournament a season ago. The Tide took down Xavier in three straight games on the weekend and followed that up with two mid-week wins of their own.

Texas has outscored their opponents 53-7 on the season and will look to continue that dominance against future SEC foe Alabama.

Here is a look at the probable pitching matchups for the weekend:

Friday: LHP Pete Hansen (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Garrett McMillan (0-0, 6.00)

Saturday: RHP Tristan Stevens (1-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Antoine Jean (0-0, 4.50)

Sunday: RHP Tanner Witt (1-0, 1.80) vs. LHP Grayson Hitt (1-0, 0.00)

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Ivan Melendez hits two massive home runs as Texas completes the sweep of Rice

Texas outscored Rice 36-3 over the weekend.

The opening weekend of 2022 could not have gone any better for No. 1 Texas.

The Longhorns dominated the Rice Owls 14-2 on Sunday to complete the three-game sweep. Texas outscored Rice by a total of 36-3 on the series.

Tanner Witt picked up the win in his first career start. Witt battled through some traffic most of the day but limited the Owls to just one run over five innings. He struck out his fourth Owl of the day with two runners on to keep the Texas lead at 2-1 in the fourth.

The Texas offense exploded after Witt’s big strikeout. Trey Faltine led off the bottom half of the fourth with a laser over the left field wall. Four batters later Ivan Melendez sent a three-run bomb over the monster to extend Texas’ lead to 9-1.

The “Hispanic Titanic” would add another three-run homer two innings later as the Horns cruised to a 14-2 victory.

Key stats:

  • SP Tanner Witt: 5.0 IP, five strikeouts and one earned run allowed.
  • 1B Ivan Melendez: 2-4, six RBI and two home runs
  • LF Eric Kennedy: 2-3, four runs scored
  • SS Trey Faltine: 1-4, home run and two RBI

Up next for Texas is a road trip to Texas A&M Corpus-Christi for two mid-week games against the Islanders.