The 2021 baseball season has officially kicked off for the Texas Longhorns as they defeated the San Jacinto Gators in a 14 inning pre-season match by a score of 16-3 (9-3 after nine) to begin the fall schedule of play.
Pitching:
The stadium was at about 40% capacity, but the fans were loud as the game began. Sophomore Tanner Witt got the start on the mound, lasting a full two innings where he surrendered 1 run and a couple hits, but also struck out two in the second to bounce back in a major way.
In relief, we saw outings from: Redshirt Freshman Travis Sthele, Sophomore Lucas Gordon, Sophomore LeBarron Johnson Jr, Redshirt Junior Daniel Blair, Sophomore Aaron Nixon, Freshman Joshua Stewart, and Redshirt Sophomore Andre Duplantier II all saw action in the first nine innings of play.
By just reading, it’s clear the pitching unit is young. While there is work to be done on control, there is plenty of upside in this group, with multiple pitchers working into the middle 90s with their fastball, and mid 80s on their off-speed work.
Before moving on the offense, I want to point out Redshirt Sophomore Jared Southard, who closed out the game in the 14th inning, putting out a lot of heat on his pitches. Glazing over at the scouts behind the plate, they seemed to be very intrigued by his work. Speaking to one of them in attendance, he told me he topped out at 94 MPH.
Hitting:
The Longhorns showed plenty with their bats in the outing, and discipline did wonders as well. Scoring 16 runs on 18 hits, with a plethora of walks on top of it all to result in a large scoring day. In the ordinary 9, the Longhorns outscored the Gates by a total of 9-3.
Catcher Silas Ardoin had a solid day of work, getting on base three times, twice on walks. The name of the game for the Longhorns offense was getting to first, whether it was with singles or base on balls. The team had no doubles or triples on the day through the regular nine innings.
In terms of power, shouts should go to Skyler Messinger and Murphy Stehly who both blasted home runs to left to help open the game up. Messinger is a transfer from Kansas, who had an okay day overall, plate discipline still needs some work as he whiffed on some big hacks, but the power is promising. He batted .324 for the Jayhawks last season, so the production should be more than enough over the course of the season.
Orangebloods Spotlight:
Ivan Melendez held down first base today, illustrating plenty of impressive plays in the field. He worked counts all game with some questionable calls that resulted in strikes, but overall Melendez had a solid day at the plate. He smacked a single in his first at bat of the game. He also took quite a hard tag getting thrown out coming home from second.
Rochman Grade: B, The play in the field and his work at the plate (despite the umpire’s rulings) offered plenty of potential to get on base. Melendez looks good, and should be a key part of the Longhorn lineup this season.
Player of the Game:
Mitchell Daly gets the nod as player of the game, it’s tempted to go with the power, but Daly was absolutely raking at the plate today, contributing 3 hits on the day even with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the 5th. Daly enters the season with plenty of hype following a .316 batting average last season. If today’s game was any indication, the success at the plate is here to stay.
Outlook:
It’s not bold to come on here and say the Longhorns have a promising season ahead of them, we all know that they should be very good, with aspirations of winning it all. However, I think what is most exciting for this lineup is just the spread out attack of it. All season long, there could be a cold game from anyone, and there is still plenty of talent throughout the roster to overcome. This seems to be a top five team in my eyes, and assuming they continue improving and enter postseason play with momentum then there’s nothing stopping them from being national champions.
Up Next:
The Longhorns have a spooky next game. That’s not an evaluation of their next opponent but rather to the date in which the two clubs face off. Next Sunday, October 31st the Longhorns will host McLennan Community College in what will be their last Fall game before the Fall World Series.
Pitching:
The stadium was at about 40% capacity, but the fans were loud as the game began. Sophomore Tanner Witt got the start on the mound, lasting a full two innings where he surrendered 1 run and a couple hits, but also struck out two in the second to bounce back in a major way.
In relief, we saw outings from: Redshirt Freshman Travis Sthele, Sophomore Lucas Gordon, Sophomore LeBarron Johnson Jr, Redshirt Junior Daniel Blair, Sophomore Aaron Nixon, Freshman Joshua Stewart, and Redshirt Sophomore Andre Duplantier II all saw action in the first nine innings of play.
By just reading, it’s clear the pitching unit is young. While there is work to be done on control, there is plenty of upside in this group, with multiple pitchers working into the middle 90s with their fastball, and mid 80s on their off-speed work.
Before moving on the offense, I want to point out Redshirt Sophomore Jared Southard, who closed out the game in the 14th inning, putting out a lot of heat on his pitches. Glazing over at the scouts behind the plate, they seemed to be very intrigued by his work. Speaking to one of them in attendance, he told me he topped out at 94 MPH.
Hitting:
The Longhorns showed plenty with their bats in the outing, and discipline did wonders as well. Scoring 16 runs on 18 hits, with a plethora of walks on top of it all to result in a large scoring day. In the ordinary 9, the Longhorns outscored the Gates by a total of 9-3.
Catcher Silas Ardoin had a solid day of work, getting on base three times, twice on walks. The name of the game for the Longhorns offense was getting to first, whether it was with singles or base on balls. The team had no doubles or triples on the day through the regular nine innings.
In terms of power, shouts should go to Skyler Messinger and Murphy Stehly who both blasted home runs to left to help open the game up. Messinger is a transfer from Kansas, who had an okay day overall, plate discipline still needs some work as he whiffed on some big hacks, but the power is promising. He batted .324 for the Jayhawks last season, so the production should be more than enough over the course of the season.
Orangebloods Spotlight:
Ivan Melendez held down first base today, illustrating plenty of impressive plays in the field. He worked counts all game with some questionable calls that resulted in strikes, but overall Melendez had a solid day at the plate. He smacked a single in his first at bat of the game. He also took quite a hard tag getting thrown out coming home from second.
Rochman Grade: B, The play in the field and his work at the plate (despite the umpire’s rulings) offered plenty of potential to get on base. Melendez looks good, and should be a key part of the Longhorn lineup this season.
Player of the Game:
Mitchell Daly gets the nod as player of the game, it’s tempted to go with the power, but Daly was absolutely raking at the plate today, contributing 3 hits on the day even with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the 5th. Daly enters the season with plenty of hype following a .316 batting average last season. If today’s game was any indication, the success at the plate is here to stay.
Outlook:
It’s not bold to come on here and say the Longhorns have a promising season ahead of them, we all know that they should be very good, with aspirations of winning it all. However, I think what is most exciting for this lineup is just the spread out attack of it. All season long, there could be a cold game from anyone, and there is still plenty of talent throughout the roster to overcome. This seems to be a top five team in my eyes, and assuming they continue improving and enter postseason play with momentum then there’s nothing stopping them from being national champions.
Up Next:
The Longhorns have a spooky next game. That’s not an evaluation of their next opponent but rather to the date in which the two clubs face off. Next Sunday, October 31st the Longhorns will host McLennan Community College in what will be their last Fall game before the Fall World Series.
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