Last season was cut short at 17 games for the Texas baseball program due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the team concluded the incomplete season with an impressive 14-3 record.
Perennially, the Longhorns are not always atop the Big 12 standings, but they’re often seen in the College World Series where they’ve won six in the program’s history. It’s safe to say that there’s typically high expectations for the baseball program in Austin.
Texas received a rude awakening at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown this past weekend to kickstart the 2021 season. David Pierce’s squad went three up and three down against Mississippi State, Arkansas and Ole Miss by a combined score of 20-4.
Starting with the Mississippi State game, not only did the Longhorns not score a run until the fifth inning, but starting pitcher Ty Madden pitched only four innings, throwing 79 pitches and averaged giving up a run every inning while walking three and giving up four hits.
The team only scored three runs all game long, which would end up being the most runs scored throughout the weekend for Texas. It was a sign of what was to come over the weekend with Texas’ struggles to get their bats going.
Arkansas was a much more defensive battle, most because the only Longhorn to get a hit at the plate throughout the game was Murphy Stehly. On top of that, the collective pitching effort of Tristan Stevens and Tanner Witt combined for seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings pitched.
Arkansas only got four runs on six hits, but it was ultimately enough as the Longhorns only got two hits all game and scored on zero of them in a shutout.
Usually teams want to end a series on a high note, but Texas just kept sinking lower and lower after an 8-1 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. The only time the Longhorns got on board was a one-run home run by Cam Williams.
At first, the game was close at a 1-1 tie after five innings. However, giving up four runs in the sixth and three more in the ninth put Texas to bed and an end to a hellish weekend.
As a result of this past weekend, the Longhorns dropped from No. 9 in the country to No. 19, while the Bulldogs went from No. 7 to No. 5, the Razorbacks went from No. 8 to No. 2 and the Rebels went from No. 6 to No. 1 in the country.
Obviously the team had some cobwebs that needed to be dusted off after not playing a game since March 11 of last year, but they can’t afford to play like this again against other top competition.
The Longhorns still have a series against No. 17 South Carolina on their schedule, a matchup with arch rival and former Big 12 opponent Texas A&M, and plenty of Big 12 games against TCU, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State.
As of right now, they’ve got a target on their backs that they put there themselves.