FRIDAY RECAP
FRIDAY BOX SCORE
SATURDAY RECAP
SATURDAY BOX SCORE
SUNDAY BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Lucas Gordon (2-1)
Losing Pitcher: Mason Molina (1-3)
SERIES SUMMARY
Texas opened up Big 12 play over the weekend in Lubbock and well, things got crazy. Friday night Tech won 5-4 in the 10th on a walk-off steal of home. Tech then secured a series win on Saturday with a walk-off grand slam in the 10th for a 16-12 win. (Recaps of the first two games are linked above) The Horns responded on Sunday with a 12-1 run-rule victory to avoid the sweep. Yes, that is correct, three games were played and none of them ended after 9 innings.
On Sunday, Texas was led to victory by Lucas Gordon for the second week in a row. The lefty carved his way through a solid Texas Tech lineup for 6 innings, allowing just one run. Gordon was living on the corners and made quality pitches when he got hitters to two strikes. All nine starters recorded a hit on Sunday for Texas, an impressive feat for a seven-inning game. UT scored 12 runs on 17 hits Sunday and played tremendous team offense. When this offense is clicking, runs are being scored in many ways and that was the case in the series finale. Campbell bunted for a hit, Messenger had a sac bunt, Daly had a sac fly, Ardoin hit the ball hard to both sides of the field, and Trey Faltine hit one way over the wall. These are just a few examples of the different ways the Longhorns generated offense on Sunday.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES TO NOTE
I raved about what Ivan Melendez and Murphy Stehly are doing in the Saturday recap, so please check that out for thoughts and highlights regarding that dynamic duo. Those guys were unreal this weekend and were a joy to watch.
Skyler Messinger and Mitchell Daly had big days at the plate on Sunday. Daly, who has struggled this year, looked like the 2021 version of himself in game three. For really the first time this season, Daly used his quick hands to generate power for a few extra-base hits. The offense is clicking right now after 28 runs this weekend, but Mitchell Daly turning it on could take this team to a different level at the plate.
Earlier in the week, Skyler Messinger told the media that he had been working with hitting coach Troy Tulowitzki (a childhood hero of Skyler) on simplifying his swing. The adjustments that Skyler has made seem to be paying off considering Messinger was 8-13 with 4 RBI in Lubbock. Messenger played a nice third base all weekend and looked confident at the plate in all three games. After a slow start to the year, Messenger is hitting .360!
THE ROTATION
Pete Hansen, Tristan Stevens, and Lucas Gordon had very different experiences in Lubbock. Hansen was rocked early on, allowing three homers in the first two innings Friday before settling in for an ultimately solid outing (7 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 7 K, 0 BB). Tristan Stevens had the worst outing of his long career on Saturday. Texas Tech took advantage of walks and balls left up in the zone to knock Stevens out of the game before he even recorded an out. Stevens is a proven starter that has shown he has what it takes and therefore should be given the benefit of the doubt after this disastrous outing.
Lucas Gordon turned in by far the best performance of the weekend from a UT starter. The lefty from Cali came out of the gate filling up the strike zone against the Red Raiders on Sunday. Gordon did a nice job of keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate, especially with two strikes where he peppered the corners with all three of his pitches. Gordon’s command netted him 7 strikeouts over 6 innings of one-run baseball. Last week was a big step for Gordon when he showed he could produce as a weekend starter. On Sunday Gordon took an even bigger step forward when he showed he was capable of dominating a Big 12 opponent on the road. The starting rotation remains a strength of this team in my eyes.
THE BULLPEN
The clear weakness and main concern for UT is the bullpen and Tech made that painfully obvious this weekend. In 27 appearances in 2021, Aaron Nixon issued 10 walks. In his first 11 appearances this season, Nixon has already allowed 12 walks. A stunning turn of events for Nixon who was a sure thing for the Texas bullpen a year ago. Nixon’s slider is still dominant but he has lost command of his fastball and it finally cost the Longhorns in Lubbock. Not only did Nixon give up 5 earned runs over the weekend, but he also made two mental mistakes. On Friday he allowed Tech to steal home and win the game, then on Saturday he tried to make a play at the plate when he clearly should have taken the out at first. Nixon will need to fix his fastball command, regain his confidence, and tighten up his focus if he is to return to his 2021 form. This is a lot to ask of a college reliever, it will be interesting to see how Nixon is able to respond.
The rest of the bullpen is full of guys trending in different directions. Justin Eckhardt, Marcus Olivarez, Zane Morehouse, and Coy Cobb have been looking good. Meanwhile, Travis Sthele, Luke Harrison, and Jared Southard all looked very shaky this weekend. When a bullpen is running on all cylinders, the coaches know what they are getting from each guy, and roles are clearly defined. That is *NOT the case with the current UT bullpen. There are no set roles besides Nixon as the closer. It is a coin-flip as to who will succeed and who will fail and that leaves the coaching staff in a helpless position when determining who to give the ball to in various situations. I predict more bullpen turbulence throughout the year as Texas desperately searches for dependable arms.
MAIN TAKEAWAYS
Losing two of three in Lubbock is never fun. It is even less fun when the two losses come via dramatic walk-offs. Texas has a minor issue with situational hitting and a major issue in the bullpen. However, this weekend also showed that this team has a lot of fight. The Longhorns came back from an early deficit on Saturday before collapsing late. UT then bounced back for a big win on Sunday when many teams would have folded after two heartbreakers. The road to a Big 12 title and a top 8 national seed looks pretty difficult at the moment, but this is by no means a team that should be dismissed from those conversations.
What is next for Texas? (19-7, 1-2)
BIG BIG BIG WEEK AHEAD. NEXT WEEK IS NOT ABOUT THE STANDINGS, IT IS NOT ABOUT RECORD OR RPI. THIS IS ABOUT PRIDE. Texas has the Aggies coming to town on Tuesday before heading to Arlington for three vs the Oklahoma Sooners. One week, four games against the Aggies and Sooners. Rest up on Monday, this week is personal.
HookEm
FRIDAY BOX SCORE
SATURDAY RECAP
SATURDAY BOX SCORE
SUNDAY BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Lucas Gordon (2-1)
Losing Pitcher: Mason Molina (1-3)
SERIES SUMMARY
Texas opened up Big 12 play over the weekend in Lubbock and well, things got crazy. Friday night Tech won 5-4 in the 10th on a walk-off steal of home. Tech then secured a series win on Saturday with a walk-off grand slam in the 10th for a 16-12 win. (Recaps of the first two games are linked above) The Horns responded on Sunday with a 12-1 run-rule victory to avoid the sweep. Yes, that is correct, three games were played and none of them ended after 9 innings.
On Sunday, Texas was led to victory by Lucas Gordon for the second week in a row. The lefty carved his way through a solid Texas Tech lineup for 6 innings, allowing just one run. Gordon was living on the corners and made quality pitches when he got hitters to two strikes. All nine starters recorded a hit on Sunday for Texas, an impressive feat for a seven-inning game. UT scored 12 runs on 17 hits Sunday and played tremendous team offense. When this offense is clicking, runs are being scored in many ways and that was the case in the series finale. Campbell bunted for a hit, Messenger had a sac bunt, Daly had a sac fly, Ardoin hit the ball hard to both sides of the field, and Trey Faltine hit one way over the wall. These are just a few examples of the different ways the Longhorns generated offense on Sunday.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES TO NOTE
I raved about what Ivan Melendez and Murphy Stehly are doing in the Saturday recap, so please check that out for thoughts and highlights regarding that dynamic duo. Those guys were unreal this weekend and were a joy to watch.
Skyler Messinger and Mitchell Daly had big days at the plate on Sunday. Daly, who has struggled this year, looked like the 2021 version of himself in game three. For really the first time this season, Daly used his quick hands to generate power for a few extra-base hits. The offense is clicking right now after 28 runs this weekend, but Mitchell Daly turning it on could take this team to a different level at the plate.
Earlier in the week, Skyler Messinger told the media that he had been working with hitting coach Troy Tulowitzki (a childhood hero of Skyler) on simplifying his swing. The adjustments that Skyler has made seem to be paying off considering Messinger was 8-13 with 4 RBI in Lubbock. Messenger played a nice third base all weekend and looked confident at the plate in all three games. After a slow start to the year, Messenger is hitting .360!
THE ROTATION
Pete Hansen, Tristan Stevens, and Lucas Gordon had very different experiences in Lubbock. Hansen was rocked early on, allowing three homers in the first two innings Friday before settling in for an ultimately solid outing (7 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 7 K, 0 BB). Tristan Stevens had the worst outing of his long career on Saturday. Texas Tech took advantage of walks and balls left up in the zone to knock Stevens out of the game before he even recorded an out. Stevens is a proven starter that has shown he has what it takes and therefore should be given the benefit of the doubt after this disastrous outing.
Lucas Gordon turned in by far the best performance of the weekend from a UT starter. The lefty from Cali came out of the gate filling up the strike zone against the Red Raiders on Sunday. Gordon did a nice job of keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate, especially with two strikes where he peppered the corners with all three of his pitches. Gordon’s command netted him 7 strikeouts over 6 innings of one-run baseball. Last week was a big step for Gordon when he showed he could produce as a weekend starter. On Sunday Gordon took an even bigger step forward when he showed he was capable of dominating a Big 12 opponent on the road. The starting rotation remains a strength of this team in my eyes.
THE BULLPEN
The clear weakness and main concern for UT is the bullpen and Tech made that painfully obvious this weekend. In 27 appearances in 2021, Aaron Nixon issued 10 walks. In his first 11 appearances this season, Nixon has already allowed 12 walks. A stunning turn of events for Nixon who was a sure thing for the Texas bullpen a year ago. Nixon’s slider is still dominant but he has lost command of his fastball and it finally cost the Longhorns in Lubbock. Not only did Nixon give up 5 earned runs over the weekend, but he also made two mental mistakes. On Friday he allowed Tech to steal home and win the game, then on Saturday he tried to make a play at the plate when he clearly should have taken the out at first. Nixon will need to fix his fastball command, regain his confidence, and tighten up his focus if he is to return to his 2021 form. This is a lot to ask of a college reliever, it will be interesting to see how Nixon is able to respond.
The rest of the bullpen is full of guys trending in different directions. Justin Eckhardt, Marcus Olivarez, Zane Morehouse, and Coy Cobb have been looking good. Meanwhile, Travis Sthele, Luke Harrison, and Jared Southard all looked very shaky this weekend. When a bullpen is running on all cylinders, the coaches know what they are getting from each guy, and roles are clearly defined. That is *NOT the case with the current UT bullpen. There are no set roles besides Nixon as the closer. It is a coin-flip as to who will succeed and who will fail and that leaves the coaching staff in a helpless position when determining who to give the ball to in various situations. I predict more bullpen turbulence throughout the year as Texas desperately searches for dependable arms.
MAIN TAKEAWAYS
Losing two of three in Lubbock is never fun. It is even less fun when the two losses come via dramatic walk-offs. Texas has a minor issue with situational hitting and a major issue in the bullpen. However, this weekend also showed that this team has a lot of fight. The Longhorns came back from an early deficit on Saturday before collapsing late. UT then bounced back for a big win on Sunday when many teams would have folded after two heartbreakers. The road to a Big 12 title and a top 8 national seed looks pretty difficult at the moment, but this is by no means a team that should be dismissed from those conversations.
What is next for Texas? (19-7, 1-2)
BIG BIG BIG WEEK AHEAD. NEXT WEEK IS NOT ABOUT THE STANDINGS, IT IS NOT ABOUT RECORD OR RPI. THIS IS ABOUT PRIDE. Texas has the Aggies coming to town on Tuesday before heading to Arlington for three vs the Oklahoma Sooners. One week, four games against the Aggies and Sooners. Rest up on Monday, this week is personal.
HookEm
