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FINAL
Texas - 5
Kansas - 4
Winning Pitcher: Gage Boehm (5-2)
Losing Pitcher: Hunter Cranford (3-3)
Horns win the Thursday night series opener, improving to 33-20 overall and 18-10 in Big 12 play. The Horns are now just a win away from their 6th straight series win in Big 12 play, while a series win would see them close out their final Big 12 season with 9 series wins out of 10.
RECAP
Going into the Bottom 5th inning, the Horns and Jayhawks had traded scoreless innings, with each team having their own opportunities, but unable to come through with the clutch hit. Rylan Galvan led off the inning by striking out, bringing Will Gasparino to the plate, where he would hit a triple to CF, putting a runner in scoring position with just one out. Jack O’Dowd unfortunately would strike out, but it brought snake farm, aka Jared Thomas to the play and he stayed back on a ball and hit a liner into the RF corner for an RBI triple to give the Horns the 1-0 lead.
In the Bottom 6th, the Horns would tack on another run as Will Gasparino came to the play with 2 outs and bases loaded, hitting a 2 run RBI single up the middle on an 0-2 count to extend the Texas lead to 3-0.
Unfortunately, the Horns would give those two runs back in the Top 7th as Chase Lummus ran into command issues. Thankfully for the Horns, Andre Duplantier was able to come out of the pen and limit the damage to just the two runs and get the final two outs of the frame to preserve the Horns lead.
In the Top 9th, Gage Boehm came back out to work after sitting the Jayhawks down 1-2-3 in the Top 8th. After getting getting two quick outs, Boehm gave up a single to lead off man John Nett, who was a menace at the plate all night. That brought Ben Hartl to the plate who got a slider over the plate and hit it out to LF just over the wall for a 2 run HR to give the Jayhawks their first lead of the game 4-3.
After the game, Pierce said that Boehm had to attack Hartl as the dangerous Kodey Shojinaga was due up next and they did not want to face him. Unfortunately, the ball caught too much of the plate.
In the Bottom 9th, freshman Casey Borba pinch hit for Jack O’Dowd and came through in a big way, hitting a breaking ball that hung over the plate to LF over the bullpen wall to tie the game, giving new energy to the Horns.
Lead off man Jared Thomas then drew a walk against Kansas closer Hunter Cranton, bringing Jalin Flores to the plate. Flores got a 96mph fastball over the plate and he hit a liner to the gap in right CF where it dropped in for an RBI double, scoring Thomas from 1B to walk it off and send the Texas players onto the field in celebration. Game. Blouses!
BIG MOMENT
In the Bottom 9th, freshman Casey Borba pinch hit for Jack O’Dowd and came through in a big way, hitting a breaking ball that hung over the plate to LF over the bullpen wall to tie the game, giving new energy to the Horns.
Lead off man Jared Thomas then drew a walk against Kansas closer Hunter Cranton, bringing Jalin Flores to the plate. Flores got a 96mph fastball over the plate and he hit a liner to the gap in right CF where it dropped in for an RBI double, scoring Thomas from 1B to walk it off and send the Texas players onto the field in celebration. Game. Blouses!
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
RHP Charlie Hurley has had an up and down time as a pitcher at Texas. The 6’8” righty has good stuff, but command has eluded him at times, which is unsuprising given his lanky frame and release point.
On Tuesday, David Pierce informed Hurley that he would get the ball tonight in lieu of Max Grubbs, who Pierce said he wanted to keep on his normal schedule of Friday night. Hurley delivered in a big way, going 6 IP, scattering 4 H, 1 BB, and striking out 9 which is a career high for Hurley.
The Horns have desperately needed a 4th starter all season and they potentially have found their man late in the season. After the game, a young fan asked Hurley for the baseball he was holding. Hurley walked over to the kid and said sorry, this is for my grandmother, but let me get you another one and an autograph. Great stuff to see out of a young man who has had his struggles at Texas.
TAKEAWAYS
Texas showed a lot of resiliency and grit tonight as Kansas had all the momentum in their dugout. Huge at-bat for freshman Casey Borba coming off the bench to help lift his team, and a lot of maturity shown in that at-bat when he did not look good on the first breaking ball he saw.
It isn’t always pretty, but the Horns continue to find ways to win series and stack wins. As mentioned previously, there are definite flaws with this team, but you cannot doubt the fact that they will battle till the end.
A series win over Kansas really isn’t going to big a huge needle mover, but when the committee looks at the body of work, winning 9 out of 10 conference series will be big. If the Horns do win the series, a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament is an absolute lock.
NEXT UP
Horns are back in action tomorrow at 6:30pm as they take on the Jayhawks looking for a series win.
