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FINAL
Texas - 9
Kansas - 7
BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Lebarron Johnson Jr (3-4)
Save: Boehm (8)
Losing Pitcher: Evan Shaw (3-1)
Horns move to 35-20 overall and 20-10 in Big 12 play. Next up the Horns will travel to Arlington for the Big 12 Tournament, likely to face #10 seed Texas Tech as Oklahoma State won the first game of the double header against Houston 20-3 and lead 6-1 in the 6th inning.
RECAP
The Horns got things started early on against the freshman Jayhawk starter as Jared Thomas led off with a single, then stole 2B, then moved over to 3B on a wild pitch, eventually coming home to score when Max Belyeu hit a pitch out in front of the plate to give the Horns an early 1-0 lead.
In the Bottom 3rd, the Horns tacked on another run as they got 2 out production from Peyton Powell who hit a double down the LF line to score Jalin Flores who had hit a single to LF in the prior at-bat to make it 2-0 Horns.
In the Top 4th, LBJ gave Horns fans a sense of dread as he quickly got two outs but then gave up back to back to back hits, which resulted in the Jayhawks playing a run to make it 2-1. Thankfully, LBJ was about to get out of the jam and limit the damage.
In the Bottom 4th, the Horns responded as Kimble Schuessler took a 1-0 fastball deep to LF for a solo bomb to make it 3-1 Horns.
In the Bottom 5th, the Jayhawks went to the bullpen again and put up a crooked number to create some separation. Jared Thomas led off the inning by earning a walk. After Jalin Flores struck out swinging, Peyton Powell reached base after he was hit in the back with a 78mph breaking ball. Max Belyeu then hit a double to left center, scoring Jalin Flores to make it 4-1, but unfortunately Powell took a wide path around 3B and was thrown out at home on a very close play. Not finished, Kimble Schuessler hit an RBI single off the new Jayhawk reliever, scoring Max Belyeu and reached 2B on a throwing error to make it 5-1 Horns. Freshman Casey Borba then stepped to the plate looking to get a hit after being beamed in the helmet by a 92mph fastball earlier in the game. On a 1-2 count, Borba got a hold of a pitch and launched it to LF, hitting it just far enough to clear the wall for a 2 run home run to make it 7-1 Horns.
In the Top 6th, starter Lebarron Johnson Jr issued a lead off walk, but got a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to finish out his day with a very solid stat line of 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, and 7 K. That definitely qualifies as a quality start!
In the Bottom 6th, the Horns tacked on another run as Jack O’Dowd and Jared Thomas both walked, with pinch hitter Dee Kennedy eventually scoring when Peyton Powell hit a sac fly to LF, making it 8-1 Horns.
In the Top 7th, the Horns turned to Heston Tole in relief of LBJ, and that is when things started to turn pear shaped. Heston certainly was not helped out by the defense, but he also was not fooling anyone as the Jayhawks plated a pair of runs, forcing David Pierce to the mound to make another call to the bullpen. Pierce chose to go with LHP David Shaw, which in hindsight, certainly was not the best choice as Shaw issued 2 walks and a hit by pitch, in addition to giving up a run on a sac fly and a run on a wild pitch, seeing the Horns 8-1 lead cut to 8-5. Pierce of course turned to Gage Boehm to get the last out of the inning, which he did after giving up a single.
In the Top 8th, Boehm struggled to put the Jayhawks away as he issued a lead off walk and then a double to LF to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. The lead off walk of course came in to score on the next at bat as Kansas hit into a fielders choice. Unfortunately, a fielding error by Jared Thomas at 1B allowed the next run to score, making it a 8-7 game, filling Horns fans with sudden dread of the impending. Boehm battled back though and got the 2 hole and 3 hole hitters out to end the scoring threat and preserve the Texas lead.
In the Bottom 8th, the Horns came to bat after the Jayhawks had pulled within one run after some shaky defense by Texas. The momentum was firmly on the Kansas side, especially as Texas defense was not playing to the normal standard.
Freshman Will Gasparino came to the plate and on a 1-0 pitch hit a ball out to left center that fell in between the LF and CF, allowing Gaspo to cruise into 2B for a double. Fellow freshman Dee Kennedy then laid down an outstanding bunt down the 1B line, moving Gasparino over to 3B with just 1 out and the top of the Horns lineup coming to the plate. There was not a single shred of doubt that Texas was going to score another run at that point. That is the kind of confidence that the Horns and staff have in the top of the lineup in big situations.
Sure enough, Jared Thomas hit a deep sac fly to LF, bringing home Gasparino and giving the Horns a much needed insurance run as they led 9-7.
In the Top 9th, Gage Boehm again issued a lead off walk, but battled back to get three straight outs, with the final out being a line drive to CF that Will Gasparino made an excellent read on and caught the ball on an excellent sliding catch to slam the door.
BIG MOMENT
In the Bottom 8th, the Horns came to bat after the Jayhawks had pulled within one run after some shaky defense by Texas. The momentum was firmly on the Kansas side, especially as Texas defense was not playing to the normal standard.
Freshman Will Gasparino came to the plate and on a 1-0 pitch hit a ball out to left center that fell in between the LF and CF, allowing Gaspo to cruise into 2B for a double. Fellow freshman Dee Kennedy then laid down an outstanding bunt down the 1B line, moving Gasparino over to 3B with just 1 out and the top of the Horns lineup coming to the plate. There was not a single shred of doubt that Texas was going to score another run at that point. That is the kind of confidence that the Horns and staff have in the top of the lineup in big situations.
Sure enough, Jared Thomas hit a deep sac fly to LF, bringing home Gasparino and giving the Horns a much needed insurance run as they led 9-7.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
Kimble Schuessler was not one of the guys that I thought would have a breakout type year coming into the 2024 season, but he has done just that. Today Schuessler helped power the Horns offense, going 2-3 with 2 Runs, 2 RBI, and a home run.
TAKEAWAYS
The Horns have won 4 straight games and earned their first conference series sweep of the season. Believe it or not, the Horns are getting hot at the right time and roll into the conference tournament with some momentum and belief that they can handle whatever is thrown at them. This team does not win pretty and continues to have some mind boggling dumb plays, but they have found a way to get to 20 conference wins, which is the most since 2010. I caveat that by saying that the Horns played 6 more conference games this season than they did back in 2010 and in previous seasons.
I will admit that I chuckled when I first saw the title from D1Baseball about this being David Pierce’s best coaching job, but in some ways, as a staff, it likely it in reality as the Horns simply do not have the type of talent on the mound that they have had in the past. There is still a long way to go to consider this season a success, but at the beginning of the season I stated that this team feels like a Super Regional team at best and a 2 seed in a Regional as the most likely eventuality. The good news for the Horns is that they still have everything in front of them.
There is still a lot to clean up though as the Horns still do not have an answer on how to bridge from the starter to Boehm, at times rely too heavily upon extra base hits, and have a tendency to fall apart when getting a big lead.
NEXT UP
Horns will await the official time and date for their next game, but very likely it will be on Tuesday night at 7:30pm against Texas Tech in Arlington for the Big 12 Tournament.
