Saturday 6:23 p.m. Update:
In a beautiful afternoon ballgame at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the No. 4 Texas Longhorns (24-8, 9-2) dismantled the Kansas State Wildcats (17-13, 2-6), 15-1. Mike Antico started the ballgame off with a bang, a lead off homer off the scoreboard in right field, but the real explosion came later when the Texas batters put up crooked numbers in back-to-back innings.
First, Tristan Stevens deserves recognition for another excellent outing. Despite having plenty of room to work with on the scoreboard, He took it upon himself to make sure Kansas State never felt like they were in this game after the third inning. Stevens was incredibly efficient, throwing only 68 pitches in seven complete innings and allowing 1 run on 8 hits.
The story of the night was the Texas offense, though. Despite missing three players due to yesterday's bench-clearing debacle, the bats did not skip a beat. Antico's leadoff blast set the tone for the game, immediately giving Texas a 1-0 lead.
The onslaught of plate-crossings began in the third, when the Longhorns put up 7 runs with 3 walks and 6 hits. RBI singles by Ardoin, Hodo III, and Stehly were capped off by a RBI double by Dylan Campbell. That's not all, of course. In the fourth, the Longhorns, supported by a towering home run by Ivan Melendez (his fifth game in a row with a homer), tacked on 5 more runs.
From then on, Texas set the game on cruise control and rolled on to a double-digit crushing victory that finished in time to get home for dinner.
"We not only think that we can play well, we are showcasing it." Zach Zubia said following the victory. His biggest moment of the game came when he drew a bases loaded walk, which began the scoring for the Longhorns in their massive third inning. Remarkably, Zubia walked in six straight plate appearances dating back to yesterday before breaking the streak with a single in the seventh.
"You're tough to beat when you go out and pitch with efficiency, play great defense, have great at-bat after great at-bat against good stuff," head coach David Pierce said,"Im just so proud of this team, their work, and their togetherness. We're going to deal with some adversity, there's no doubt, but I just like the mindset and the mentality of this team right now."
"Tough to beat" is an understatement in this instance.
Can't ask for a much better effort than that from the boys in burnt orange and white. once again, they'll be playing for a sweep on Sunday.
Final Stats:
