Tag: texas longhorns baseball

Texas Baseball: Longhorns drop first game of the season

The Texas Longhorns and LSU Tigers met for their lone matchup on the season, Jaden Hill ruined the Longhorns comeback hopes late.

The Texas Longhorns took the field at Minute Maid Park in Houston for their biggest matchup of the season so far. The number 11 LSU Tigers (6-3) gave the Longhorns their biggest fight of the season. Bryce Elder took the mound in the rematch from last year’s sweep.

Elder pitched 6.1 against the Tigers giving up three earned runs in that time, one also came across the plate unearned. LSU struck first in the second inning with a RBI triple from Saul Garza fro his lone hit of the evening. Cade Doughty drove in Garza with a RBI single to short, Elder would settle down and keep LSU from scoring until the sixth inning.

The Longhorns would tie the game up in the top of the next inning when catcher D.J. Petrinsky would send a ball over the left center field fence to cut the deficit to one. Zach Zubia would tie it up with a sacrifice fly that brought Brenden Dixon home. Trey Faltine would give the Longhorns the 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Petrinsky for his second RBI of the night.

Elder would take the mound in the sixth inning but he wouldn’t finish the inning after giving up the go-ahead two-run home run off the bat of Daniel Cabrera. Elder would take his first loss, after the Tigers would go to their bullpen with Jaden Hill.

Hill was an absolute force on the mound for LSU as he pitched a near perfect three innings of relief for his first save of the season. Of the 10 batters faced, six struck out and he didn’t give up a single hit. The Longhorns had one baserunner in the final three innings with a walk. Texas looks to get back on track with another huge test against former conference rival, Arkansas.

Texas Baseball: Can the Longhorns make a statement?

The Texas Longhorns baseball heads to Houston for the Shriners Hospital for Children College Classic. This is an opportunity to compete.

The Texas Longhorns baseball team is 9-0 for the first time since 2009. The team in 2009 was the NCAA runner up and started out 11-0 before dropping their first game. Texas is looking to return to their former glory as one of the premier baseball programs in the state. Their 2020 recruiting class was number one in the country, but now the team has to put it all together to prove they are ready to compete with the best in the nation.

This will be the first big test for Texas when they head to Houston for the Shriners Hospital for Children College Classic. The Longhorns will be one of three Big 12 teams participating and one of six teams overall. Their first matchup will be against the LSU Tigers. Texas hosted a three-game set last year at the Disch where the Longhorns swept the number two ranked team in the nation.

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Bryce Elder will take the mound on Friday evening for Texas, in last year’s matchup Elder led the Longhorns to an 8-1 victory. He went 6.2 innings only giving up one unearned run on a wild pitch in the first. The Longhorns will need him to provide that same effort so that Texas can get the upset of the 11th ranked team in the country.

The team will follow up the LSU game with the sixth ranked Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday. Then wrap up the classic with unranked Missouri. For Texas this weekend will be the measuring stick for success. Any combination of two wins over the next three games will do wonders for this team. Proving to themselves that they can compete with the best in the country will give this team a real boost head of Big 12 play.

 

Texas Baseball: Fifth Inning Offense Keeps Longhorns Perfect

The Texas Longhorns hosted the Sam Houston State Bearkats in hopes of staying perfect on the season. Pete Hansen would earn his first win.

Texas Longhorns took the field for their ninth game of the season looking to stay perfect ahead of their trip back to Houston. The Longhorns will participate in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic. This will be the team’s first test taking on the 11th ranked LSU Tigers and 6th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. They will wrap up the weekend against the Missouri Tigers.

As far as the Tuesday night game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats, it was bleak early on. Texas gave up an unearned run in the top of the first, Pete Hansen would settle down. He went five innings for the Longhorns, surrendering just two hits while striking out six batters.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the offense was finally able to break though against the Sam Houston State pitching staff. Murphy Stehly drove in the first run. The Longhorns had the bases loaded, Stehly hit into an RBI fielder’s choice driving Eric Kennedy home. After finally tying the game, Austin Todd stepped to the plate with an opportunity to get the team head.

With runners on second and third, in stepped Zach Zubia with a big opportunity to get the pitching staff some breathing room. There isn’t another bat the team wants at the plate than Zubia, he singled to right field to bring two more runs across the plate.

Hansen went from being on the hook for the loss to relying on the bullpen to close out the game for the win. Kolby Kubichek came in to the game, pitching 2.1 innings. He would be the beneficiary of some good defense behind him.

Andre Duplantier II came into the game in the eighth to close the door on the game. He would pitch 1.2 innings to earn his first save of his Texas career. The save also earned Hansen his first win in his collegiate career. Texas improved to 9-0.

 

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.

 

Ty Madden, Eric Kennedy gives Texas seventh-straight win

Ty Madden goes the distance in his first career complete game as the Texas Longhorns edge Boise State 2-1.

Boise State and the Texas Longhorns were back at the Disch, as they played their second game of the three-game series. It was all Ty Madden in this game. His fastball was working early and mixed in his breaking ball well. He gave up just two hits and struck out seven on the afternoon.

The defense behind Madden was ready to play this afternoon. Cam Williams was ready to drop the hammer on opposing base runners with a few web gems again on the afternoon.

Texas got the early lead in the first inning as Zach Zubia drove in the Todd who scored from second base on play. Austin Todd hit safely in his seventh-straight game. Todd was able to get in scoring position when he stole second base, Duke Ellis also added a stolen base for Texas.

Hometown kid Reagan Doss hit a home run in his first career at bat. Doss from nearby Round Rock, Texas and grew up a Longhorns fan. It remained tied heading into the bottom of the seventh inning when sophomore Eric Kennedy came to the plate.

Madden went the distance with the complete game for the first time in his collegiate career. Ty picked up his second win on the season as Texas improved to 7-0 and will be looking for their second-straight weekend sweep on Sunday.

Strong outing by Bryce Elder Leads Texas To Shutout Victory

The Texas Longhorns led by Bryce Elder defeated the Boise State Broncos 7-0 for their sixth win of the year.

The Texas Longhorns opened their series with the Boise State Broncos with their ace Bryce Elder. Elder was very much up to the task of leading the Longhorns to another victory to start the season. He was the workhorse throwing 106 pitches through seven innings. The Broncos were only able to manage three hits on the night. Elder struck out 11 on the night before giving way to the bullpen. He lowered his ERA to 1.38.

Early on the Longhorns offense gave Elder two runs in the first and that is all they would need as far as run support. Zach Zubia stepped to the plate with runners on second and third before hitting a ground rule double to drive them both in. Cam Williams drove Eric Kennedy home in the fourth to make is 3-0 Texas. In the fifth inning, Texas scored on a fielder’s choice that drove Duke Ellis home off the bat of Tray Faltine.

Texas struggled throughout the night with getting hits with men on base as they left nine on base in the game. Multiple times, the Longhorns ended innings with at least two men on base.

Texas would add three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game away. Silas Ardoin walked with the bases loaded for their first score of the inning. Austin Todd added another on a RBI single and Williams scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-0 after eight.

Web gem of the night belongs to Brenden Dixon for his play at second base.

Dawson Merryman pitched the eighth inning and set them down in order on nine pitches. Jared Southard made his debut taking the ninth inning for Texas, he would throw 20 pitches and faced four batters.

Big 12 Baseball Tournament Moving Location in 2022

Since 1997, the Big 12 baseball tournament has been hosted in OKC in all but three years. Beginning in 2022, it will be at Globe Life Field.

Since the creation of the Big 12 baseball tournament in 1997, it has been hosted in Oklahoma City in all but three years. While it will remain that way until 2021, beginning in the 2022 season, it will be in a new location.

It will now be held in the brand new Globe Life Field, the future home of the Texas Rangers. The ballpark is not officially open, as the first games will be held in late March for the Rangers.

This is not the first time the tournament has been held in Arlington, as the 2002 and 2004 tournament was also held in what was then The Ballpark in Arlington. The Longhorns won the tournament in 2002, winning three games in a row after losing their opener against Texas A&M. Outfielder Dustin Majewski was the tournament MVP for Texas.

The last time it was held outside of Oklahoma City was in 2015 when it was moved to Tulsa. The Longhorns also won the tournament that year, making them champions of two out of the three Big 12 tournaments held outside of Oklahoma City.

Hopefully, that tradition continues as it will be held in the Dallas Fort Worth Area for the foreseeable future, beginning in 2022.

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Is It Time For Former Longhorn Roger Clemens To Get HOF Nod?

Roger Clemens missed out on the Hall of Fame class in 2020 but is it time that the former Texas Longhorn get in?

Just a week ago the newest class for the National Baseball Hall of Fame was announced. The class of 2020 includes former New York Yankee Derek Jeter and former Colorado Rockies, Montreal Expos and St Louis Cardinals first baseman and right fielder Larry Walker. One name that just missed the class was former teammate of Jeter and former Texas Longhorns great Roger Clemens.

Clemens finished fourth among the candidates receiving 60.7% of the votes, the required threshold is 75%. Each year since 2014, Clemens has been gaining votes that started with just 35.4% and continued to grow until this past year at 60.7%. Under voting rules, Clemens has until 2022 to receive the necessary number for induction or he comes off the ballot for writers. It then moves to a committee that would meet in 2024.

The controversy surrounding Roger Clemens induction stems around the BALCO investigation that stated that Clemens received performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) from trainer Brian McNamee. Baseball purist believe that Clemens doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame based on this investigation. Clemens never admitted to taking steroids and had he admitted one would think the case against him in the Hall of Fame wouldn’t be as strong.

Given the era that Clemens played in, it seemed to be common place for players using steroids. While it is no excuse, given how Clemens performed before the accusations of PEDs, he deserves his opportunity to shine and be inducted. For the former Longhorn, 2021 just might be his best chance given how voters have been delivering their votes in recent years. It is hard to deny what Clemens accomplished on the mound and for that it is time to make it right.

Roger Clemens Accomplishments

  • 11-time All-Star
  • Two-Time World Series Champion
  • Seven-time Cy Young Award Winner (Most All-Time)
  • American League Most Valuable Player (1986)
  • Two-Time Triple Crown Winner (ERA, Wins and Strikeouts)
  • Led Major League Baseball in wins (four times)
  • Led Major League Baseball in ERA (seven times)
  • Led American League in strikeouts (five times)
  • MLB All-Century Team
  • Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
  • Career Wins-354 (9th All-Time)
  • 4,672 strikeouts (3rd All-Time)

 

Former Longhorn Brandon Workman Looks To Lock Down Closer Role

Former Texas Longhorn and current Boston Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman is looking to lockdown the closer role in 2020.

Another former Texas Longhorns pitcher is looking for a big year in 2020. For the Boston Red Sox they could have their next closer in Brandon Workman. For Workman his journey started in Bowie, Texas where he lettered all four years in high schooling. During those four years he earned All-State honors in two of the four years and Silver Slugger All-American recognition. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies but did not signed and joined the baseball team at the University of Texas in 2008.

After three seasons with the Longhorns, Workman was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 2010 MLB Draft with the 57th overall selection. In 2013 he would be promoted from Double A Portland to Triple A Pawtucket and eventually to the Majors in July. He would be part of the bullpen that propelled the team to a World Series Championship. He didn’t surrender a single run in seven postseason appearances.

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His sophomore season in the majors wasn’t memorable as Workman went 1-10 with 5.17 ERA in 19 games. In 2015 he would require Tommy John surgery costing him the entire season. In 2016 Workman spent the year trying to get back to the big leagues. He would return to Boston in 2017 appearing in 33 games with a 3.18 ERA which was a career best at the time.

The former Longhorns pitcher would be up and down between Boston and minor league affiliate Pawtucket in 2018, although he recorded a 6-1 record and 3.27 ERA in 43 games. He was apart of the Red Sox ALDS and ALCS roster before being replaced for the World Series.

Last season saw Workman finish the season as the closer where he closed out 16 games for Boston. The team wouldn’t qualify for the postseason after finished third in the AL East division. During the season Workman posted a 10-1 record with a career best 1.81 ERA. Heading into Spring Training, Workman is looking to be the closer but he has some competition in Boston. Given how he finished out the season Brandon Workman should get the opportunity to be the man to lockdown the ninth inning in 2020.

Tres Barrera Hopes of Earning Big League Opportunity

Former Longhorns catcher Tres Barrera is hoping to get his Major League Baseball opportunity with the Nationals in 2020.

Tres Barrera’s major league career has been a short one so far. After being drafted in the sixth round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals. The former Longhorns catcher was invited to the Nats’ major league camp in 2019 before being assigned to Double A Harrisburg Senators.

In the minors during the 2019 season, Barrera batted .249 with eight HRs and 46 RBIs. He was called up to the big leagues on September 8th. He went hitless in two at bats while appearing in two games. He was not a part of the postseason roster as the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros to win the World Series.

In 2020, Barrera will be looking to have more of a role with the Nationals. Following the World Series victory for Washington they declined the second-year option of catch Yan Gomes who was behind the plate for the final four games of the fall classic. That might have opened the door for Barrera, however Gomes was brought back on a new two-year deal.

The other catcher on the roster Kurt Suzuki will be in the final year of his contract. Suzuki will be 36 this season which marks his 14th in the league. Given that Gomes and Suzuki are in place for the Nat’s title defense run, it might be another year that Barrera will have to plug away in the minors in hopes of earning his shot in 2021.