Can the Longhorns pull off the tournament win to make the NCAA Postseason? Their journey begins this morning at 9 AM against Texas Tech. Parker French on the mound for Texas. The Longhorns absolutely can't afford to lose a French start considering how thin the pitching staff is at this point.
CLICK THIS LINK FOR ALL SCHEDULE AND TV/STREAM INFO
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Lineup for today:
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Wednesday afternoon update:
The Longhorns showed some series signs of life today in a 2-1 opening win at the Big 12 Tournament. Against Texas Tech, senior Parker French absolutely shoved it to the tune of a complete game effort that included zero earned runs. In a game Texas desperately needed to win in a fashion that would limit the usage of its bullpen, French was arguably his best all season with impressive fastball location and command to go along with a sharp slider.
This morning's win was exactly what the doctor ordered. Not only did Texas win a close game to build momentum in the winner's bracket, it takes a rested bullpen into a possible game against TCU tomorrow (Texas plays the winner of TCU/Baylor at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow).
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Thursday game against Baylor:
*****
Thursday night update:
The Baseball Gods are smiling down at the Longhorns right now. Although there is still a ton of work to be done, Texas' start in the Big 12 Tournament couldn't have been scripted any better. After a brilliant, complete game effort by Parker French in a win over Texas Tech on Wednesday, Texas knocked off Baylor 4-3 in walk-off fashion thanks to Tres Barrera's two-out knock.
Texas and starter Ty Culbreth, who went the distance, carried a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning. But Baylor, after Texas wasted a prime opportunity to push a run across in the eighth by hitting into a double play with one out and runners on the corners, tied the game with a three-run homer with one out in the ninth. Culberth, who was brilliant all afternoon outside of that 1-2 mistake, finished the inning to toss Texas' second complete game in as many games after having none all season.
A common thing among Augie Garrido's best teams at Texas is to take a punch, and immediately respond with another. Texas loaded the bases with two outs for Tres Barrera. Known for over-swinging at times in such situations, Barrera took a mammoth hack at a righty-on-righty first-pitch change and missed. Then, Garrido called a timeout to chat with the sophomore slugger.
"Up comes the hero, Tres Barrera takes the righthanded batters box and swings thru the first change up. I went out and talked to him and I told him a dirty joke in Spanish. Apparently, it fired him up," said Garrido after the game. "Then he took a change up and lined for a base hit, the game-winner."
Barrera shortened up and lined what was almost the exact same pitch into left, which sent the Texas dugout into a frenzy.
"Because he swung through a change up and he swung for a home run," Garrido said after the game about why he called the timeout. "He's a very powerful person by personality and by body type. When you have adrenaline rushing like that and your excited and the whole team is relying on you. He knows and feels that. It wasn't anything I said. It was what he did. He calmed himself down and made an adjustment. He just stayed with the process"
Now, Texas gets a day off after using zero bullpen arms in its first two wins. The Longhorns will play the winner of tomorrow's elimination game between Texas Tech and Baylor on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
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Saturday afternoon update:
The Texas pitching staff has decided it is going to match the previous starter, and try to best the previous performance. On his 19th birthday, freshman righthander Connor Mayes was brilliant to the tune of a complete game shutout as Texas advanced to the Big 12 Championship Game with a 4-0 win over Baylor. After zero complete games in the regular season, Texas has thrown three-straight complete games in the Big 12 Tournament.
Texas jumped on the board first in the top of the first as Tres Barrera drilled a two-run bomb with two outs. Thanks to the pitching of Mayes and the Baylor pitching staff, the score remained 2-0 until the top of the eighth when senior Brooks Marlow, who was in a bit of a funk at the plate before this weekend, singled with two outs and the bases loaded to make it 4-0 Texas.
In the ninth, Mayes tossed a scoreless frame to complete the game. The senior used his three-pitch mix of a fastball, change, and slurve to give up just two hits in 9.0 innings and struck out 10 with just three walks.
"I want to thank Connor Mayes and his parents, his high school coach and anybody else that coached him because he did a great job today," said Augie Garrido after the game. "He's a great pitcher and will be in the future for The University of Texas."
Texas will play the winner of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State tomorrow at noon. Parker French was reportedly named the starter Sunday after today's game, but I'd be surprised if he started instead of Kyle Johnston. French threw 127 pitches in Wednesday's complete game win. It's very unreasonable to expect him to be able to start the game and pitch multiple innings.
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Sunday update:
Stunning.
Texas had one chance to make the NCAA Tournament, and it didn't waste it. Thanks to a classic Garrido team response in the eighth inning, the Longhorns are Big 12 Tournament Champions after their 6-3 win over Oklahoma State. This is the fifth time Texas has won the Big 12 Tournament and first time since 2009.
After Oklahoma State took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, Texas immediately responded by taking advantage of Oklahoma State miscues and playing its brand of baseball. Tres Barrera's safety squeeze turned into an error that allowed Texas to tie the game. Then, sophomore Zane Gurwitz went the opposite way down the right field line to drive in two. Another safety squeeze made it 5-2 before pinch-hitter Patrick Mathis drove in a run with a hard RBI single up the middle.
The Cowboys made things interesting in the eighth, but reliever Kirby Bellow was able to get a strikeout and a massive 5-4-3 double play with the bases loaded after Oklahoma State made it 6-3.
CLICK THIS LINK FOR ALL SCHEDULE AND TV/STREAM INFO
*********
Lineup for today:
***********
Wednesday afternoon update:
The Longhorns showed some series signs of life today in a 2-1 opening win at the Big 12 Tournament. Against Texas Tech, senior Parker French absolutely shoved it to the tune of a complete game effort that included zero earned runs. In a game Texas desperately needed to win in a fashion that would limit the usage of its bullpen, French was arguably his best all season with impressive fastball location and command to go along with a sharp slider.
This morning's win was exactly what the doctor ordered. Not only did Texas win a close game to build momentum in the winner's bracket, it takes a rested bullpen into a possible game against TCU tomorrow (Texas plays the winner of TCU/Baylor at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow).
*******
Thursday game against Baylor:
*****
Thursday night update:
The Baseball Gods are smiling down at the Longhorns right now. Although there is still a ton of work to be done, Texas' start in the Big 12 Tournament couldn't have been scripted any better. After a brilliant, complete game effort by Parker French in a win over Texas Tech on Wednesday, Texas knocked off Baylor 4-3 in walk-off fashion thanks to Tres Barrera's two-out knock.
Texas and starter Ty Culbreth, who went the distance, carried a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning. But Baylor, after Texas wasted a prime opportunity to push a run across in the eighth by hitting into a double play with one out and runners on the corners, tied the game with a three-run homer with one out in the ninth. Culberth, who was brilliant all afternoon outside of that 1-2 mistake, finished the inning to toss Texas' second complete game in as many games after having none all season.
A common thing among Augie Garrido's best teams at Texas is to take a punch, and immediately respond with another. Texas loaded the bases with two outs for Tres Barrera. Known for over-swinging at times in such situations, Barrera took a mammoth hack at a righty-on-righty first-pitch change and missed. Then, Garrido called a timeout to chat with the sophomore slugger.
"Up comes the hero, Tres Barrera takes the righthanded batters box and swings thru the first change up. I went out and talked to him and I told him a dirty joke in Spanish. Apparently, it fired him up," said Garrido after the game. "Then he took a change up and lined for a base hit, the game-winner."
Barrera shortened up and lined what was almost the exact same pitch into left, which sent the Texas dugout into a frenzy.
"Because he swung through a change up and he swung for a home run," Garrido said after the game about why he called the timeout. "He's a very powerful person by personality and by body type. When you have adrenaline rushing like that and your excited and the whole team is relying on you. He knows and feels that. It wasn't anything I said. It was what he did. He calmed himself down and made an adjustment. He just stayed with the process"
Now, Texas gets a day off after using zero bullpen arms in its first two wins. The Longhorns will play the winner of tomorrow's elimination game between Texas Tech and Baylor on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
****************
Saturday afternoon update:
The Texas pitching staff has decided it is going to match the previous starter, and try to best the previous performance. On his 19th birthday, freshman righthander Connor Mayes was brilliant to the tune of a complete game shutout as Texas advanced to the Big 12 Championship Game with a 4-0 win over Baylor. After zero complete games in the regular season, Texas has thrown three-straight complete games in the Big 12 Tournament.
Texas jumped on the board first in the top of the first as Tres Barrera drilled a two-run bomb with two outs. Thanks to the pitching of Mayes and the Baylor pitching staff, the score remained 2-0 until the top of the eighth when senior Brooks Marlow, who was in a bit of a funk at the plate before this weekend, singled with two outs and the bases loaded to make it 4-0 Texas.
In the ninth, Mayes tossed a scoreless frame to complete the game. The senior used his three-pitch mix of a fastball, change, and slurve to give up just two hits in 9.0 innings and struck out 10 with just three walks.
"I want to thank Connor Mayes and his parents, his high school coach and anybody else that coached him because he did a great job today," said Augie Garrido after the game. "He's a great pitcher and will be in the future for The University of Texas."
Texas will play the winner of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State tomorrow at noon. Parker French was reportedly named the starter Sunday after today's game, but I'd be surprised if he started instead of Kyle Johnston. French threw 127 pitches in Wednesday's complete game win. It's very unreasonable to expect him to be able to start the game and pitch multiple innings.
*************
Sunday update:
Stunning.
Texas had one chance to make the NCAA Tournament, and it didn't waste it. Thanks to a classic Garrido team response in the eighth inning, the Longhorns are Big 12 Tournament Champions after their 6-3 win over Oklahoma State. This is the fifth time Texas has won the Big 12 Tournament and first time since 2009.
After Oklahoma State took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, Texas immediately responded by taking advantage of Oklahoma State miscues and playing its brand of baseball. Tres Barrera's safety squeeze turned into an error that allowed Texas to tie the game. Then, sophomore Zane Gurwitz went the opposite way down the right field line to drive in two. Another safety squeeze made it 5-2 before pinch-hitter Patrick Mathis drove in a run with a hard RBI single up the middle.
The Cowboys made things interesting in the eighth, but reliever Kirby Bellow was able to get a strikeout and a massive 5-4-3 double play with the bases loaded after Oklahoma State made it 6-3.
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