Tag: texas longhorns baseball

Two Longhorns named to Golden Spikes Award watch list

The Golden Spikes Award is given annually to the best player in college baseball.

The Golden Spikes Award is given annually to the best player in college baseball.

On Tuesday, USA Baseball announced its 2022 Gold Spikes watch list which included 55 players across the country.

Texas starting pitchers Pete Hansen and Tanner Witt were named to the list.

Hansen enters the 2022 season as the ace of the Longhorns staff. He boasts a career ERA of 1.58 over 108 innings pitched. Hansen was also named preseason Big 12 pitcher of the year.

Witt will move into the weekend rotation after a phenomenal freshman season out of the bullpen. Opposing batters hit just .194 against Witt’s electric fastball and wipeout breaking ball last year.

12 Longhorns have been named a Gold Spikes Finalist but none have ever captured the award, most recently Kody Clemens in 2018. Hansen and Witt will have the chance to change that this season.

Texas begins the 2022 season on Friday, Feb. 18 at home against the Rice Owls.

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Texas Baseball: Five players with breakout potential

Big seasons from these players could put Texas over the top.

The 2022 Longhorns do not have many question marks entering the new season. Texas returns a star-studded pitching staff as well as a very experienced lineup from a team that was right on the doorstep of playing for a national title.

For that reason, most media outlets have Texas ranked as the preseason No. 1 team in the country.

Much of the success of the Horns’ 2021 season came from breakout stars Mike Antico and Ivan Melendez along with freshman All-Americans Tanner Witt, Mitchell Daly and Aaron Nixon. Even Tristian Stevens who was an older guy stepped up and became an All-Big 12 weekend pitcher.

On paper, Texas has another Omaha caliber roster but if the Horns have a few breakout players similar to last year, the sky is the limit for this group.

Here is a list of five players who could have breakout seasons this spring and put Texas over the top:

Highlights from Saturday’s Alumni Game as the Texas Exes show out

The Texas Alumni held off the current Longhorns in an offensive slugfest.

No. 1 Texas baseball welcomed back 15 former players for the annual Alumni Game on Saturday.

The Texas Exes jumped out to an early lead on the current roster and held on for an 8-6 victory. Both offenses swung the bat well as the teams combined for 14 runs and 21 hits.

The star of the show was Sophomore Dylan Campbell, who started for the Alumni team. Campbell went 4-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. His three-run bomb off Pete Hansen in the second inning put the Alumni squad up 4-0.

David Hamilton (2017-2019) added on to the alumni lead going 2-3 with two runs scored.

The current squad started to heat up in the middle innings.

Murphy Stehly launched a solo home-run to lead off the third inning. Mitchell Daly and Ivan Melendez followed with extra-base hits to make the score 6-2.

Texas scored runs in the next three innings to cut the lead to 7-6 on an Eric Kennedy two-run single.

The Alumni squad would respond with a run of their own as last season’s centerfielder Mike Antico (2021) hit a moonshot over the right-field wall to extend the lead to 8-6.

The current Horns would threaten in the bottom half of the seventh but Duke Ellis (2018-2020) would rob Trey Faltine of a game-tying base hit.

Here are some of the highlights of Saturday’s ballgame:

Longhorns take top spot in USA TODAY Sports’ preseason baseball poll

Another No. 1 ranking for Texas baseball.

Texas baseball continues to receive tons of preseason respect. The Horns rank No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports’ preseason coaches poll.

The poll is conducted from the votes of 31 head coaches across the country.

Here is a full look at USA TODAY Sports’ college baseball coaches preseason poll:

  1. Texas
  2. Vanderbilt
  3. Missississippi State
  4. Arkansas
  5. Stanford
  6. Mississippi
  7. LSU
  8. Oklahoma State
  9. North Carolina State
  10. Florida
  11. Notre Dame
  12. Texas Tech
  13. East Carolina
  14. Florida State
  15. Arizona
  16. Tennessee
  17. Georgia
  18. TCU
  19. Oregon State
  20. UC Irvine
  21. Virginia
  22. Dallas Baptist
  23. Georgia Tech
  24. UCLA
  25. Duke

David Pierce’s squad will be tested early and often. Texas will play 12 games against the top 25 competition starting off in the Shiner’s Classic against No. 7 LSU, No. 16 Tennesee, and No. 24 UCLA.

The Big 12 is presented well in the poll with two teams in the top 10 and four in the top 25. Baylor and Oklahoma are unranked teams who can potentially make some noise as well.

Texas will open the 2022 season at home against Rice on Feb. 18.

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LOOK: Texas’ pitching staff headlines Baseball America’s February cover

Texas has a chance for a special season and it all starts on the mound.

Most publications have Texas ranked No. 1 to start the 2022 college baseball season and for good reason. Texas returns the majority of an Omaha lineup and will boast one the best pitching staffs in America.

Texas’ weekend rotation of Pete Hansen, Tanner Witt and Tristian Stevens headlined Baseball America’s college baseball preview magazine cover. Baseball America labeled the Horns “armed and dangerous” and “the best pitching staff in the nation.”

All three pitchers in Hansen, Witt and Stevens had fanatic seasons a year ago.

Hansen posted a 9-1 record with a 1.88 ERA. The southpaw was named preseason Big 12 pitcher of the year by coaches around the league.

Witt will move into the starting rotation after a freshman All-American outing from the pen in 2021. The hard-throwing righty held opponents to a .194 batting average and finished with a 3.14 ERA.

Heading into last season Texas had some question marks in the weekend rotation behind eventual first-round pick Ty Madden. Tristian Stevens stepped into the Saturday role and was excellent all season. Stevens finished the season as an All-Big 12 selection.

Texas has a chance for a special season and it all starts on the mound.

Texas Baseball: Seven Longhorns named to preseason All-Big 12 team

Texas has the pieces to have another great season in 2022.

The 2022 Texas Longhorns are ranked preseason No. 1 by most publications and for good reason. This team has a loaded roster stacked with elite pitching depth and experience.

The preseason All-Big 12 team shows how talented Texas’ roster is.

The Longhorns have seven of the 18 players named to the list. The most in the conference by a wide margin.

  • C Silas Ardoin
  • 2B Mitchell Daly
  • SS Trey Faltine
  • 1B/DH Ivan Melendez
  • P Pete Hansen
  • P Tristian Stevens
  • P Aaron Nixon

Junior pitcher Pete Hansen was named Big 12 preseason pitcher of the year. An honor awarded to former Longhorn Ty Madden a season ago. Hansen appeared in 19 games in 2021 finishing 9-1 with a 1.88 ERA.

Hansen will be joined in the weekend rotation with 2021 first-team All-Big 12 pitcher Tristian Stevens and freshman All-American Tanner Witt.

Texas will open the season at home against Rice on Feb. 18.

Click here for a full 2022 schedule breakdown.

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Texas Baseball: Detroit Tigers add former Longhorn Kody Clemens to 40-man roster

Tigers add former Texas standout Kody Clemens to the 40-man roster.

The Detriot Tigers added infielder Kody Clemens to their active 40-man roster on Friday. Adding Clemens to the roster keeps him from being available to other teams in the upcoming Rule Five Draft.

Clemens was selected in the third round of the 2018 MLB draft after an All-American junior season at Texas.

His 2018 season was one of the best in Texas baseball history. Clemens won Big 12 player of the year, finished as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and led the Longhorns to the College World Series.

The former Longhorn batted .247 with 18 home runs and 97 RBIs last season in Triple-A. Clemens primary played second base and has proved to be an adequate defender.

According to mlb.com, Clemens is the No. 18 prospect in the Tigers’ organization. Detriot adding him to the 40-man roster shows they have him in their long-term plans.

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Texas baseball announces schedule for 2022 season

The 2022 Texas baseball schedule includes several intriguing matchups.

Texas baseball is coming off an impressive 50-17 campaign that finished with a heart breaker against eventual national champion Mississippi State in Omaha.

It was the best season of the David Pierce era, setting the expectations high for the future. With a vast majority of that squad returning, the 2022 Longhorns are eying another World Series run.

On Nov. 4, Texas released the full 2022 schedule. It has no shortage of elite competition. The nonconference schedule is highlighted by a trip down to Houston for the 2022 Shriners College Classic at Minute Maid Park, where Texas will face Tennessee, LSU and UCLA.

Texas will have nine games against its future SEC competitors, including three-game sets against Alabama, South Carolina and a midweek matchup against Texas A&M.

The Horns start Big 12 play with a difficult trip to Lubbock on March 25, then will finish off the regular season at home against Kansas on May 19.

The rest of the Big 12 schedule and conference tournament is shown below.

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Texas pitcher Ty Madden selected in the first round by the Detroit Tigers

Ty Madden was selected in the first round of the MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers. He becomes UT’s first opening-round pick since 2013.

Going into Sunday night, Ty Madden was considered a top prospect on the board for the 2021 MLB draft. The Texas starting pitcher was one of the best in the country, leading the Longhorns to Omaha.

In ESPN’s final mock draft, Madden was projected to go No. 11 overall to the Washington Nationals. After throwing 113.2 innings with a 2.45 ERA and 10.8 K/9, he finished as a D1Baseball All-American.

Madden slid into the competitive balance portion of the first round, the Detroit Tigers ended his long wait at pick No. 32. He becomes the first Texas player in the first round of the MLB draft since Corey Knebel in 2013.

Detroit has now taken three college starting pitchers in the first round over the past five seasons. Alex Faedo came out of Florida (2018), while Casey Mize (Auburn) was the No. 1 overall pick in 2019.

College pitchers have a history of making it to the majors quicker thanks to their progressed development. According to MLB.com, Madden is a 55 overall prospect out of 80. His fastball and slider are rated the highest at 60.

Madden will officially join the Tigers’ organization this summer.

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Social media hilariously reacts to Texas fan drinking out of shoe at the College World Series

A Texas Longhorns fan had a quick rise to fame on Friday evening at the College World Series. These reactions are hilarious.

It’s refreshing to see Texas Longhorns fans enjoying themselves at the College World Series.

Whether drinking out of a shoe is refreshing or not is something that most would not want to test out. During the Texas-Mississippi State game on Friday evening, the ESPN camera crew panned over to the stands to capture a Texas fan drinking an alcoholic beverage out of a shoe.

The fan was standing up and attempting to energize the crowd at the time.

Moments after, social media exploded with hilarious reactions. Some even labeled him a “hero of our time” considering Texas went on to defeat Mississippi State 8-5 to survive and advance.

Take a look at some of the best reactions on the next page.

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