Winning Pitcher: Charlie Hurley (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: Seth Higdon (0-2)
BOX SCORE
RECAP
In its final game before opening up Big 12 play, Texas hammered Incarnate Ward by a score of 17-11. This was the 11th straight win for Texas, completing a perfect stretch against weak opponents. The Horns hung 17 runs on the board in the first six innings, including four in the first, four in the fourth, and six in the sixth. UT continued its power-hitting ways with five homers on Tuesday night against the Cardinals. Texas struggled on the mound on a wet and slippery night at the Disch, but the offense was so good it didn't matter.
Some thoughts on this game and the recent streak...
Nice of Garret Guillemette to join the home run party. Guillemette has been one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup all year but had yet to launch a homer coming into Tuesday night. Not only did GG whack his first homer of the season, but he then added a grand slam in the sixth for good measure. The thing that continues to impress me about Guillemette is that he makes pitchers pay for mistakes. If a bad pitch is left over the heart of the plate against Guillemette there is an excellent chance that the ball will be hit hard to left field. His teammates gave him the silent treatment after the first long ball, but the impact Guillemette has had on the team has been LOUD.
I am mostly willing to throw out what was an objectively gross night of pitching. Most importantly, Charlie Hurley was good and only threw 51 pitches. He will be ready to go out of the bullpen this weekend. Ace Whitehead, Heston Tole, DJ Burke, Cody Howard, and Zane Morehouse all struggled on the bump to varying degrees. It was a rainy night at the Disch and at times it was pouring. The ball was certainly wet, the mound needed care in the middle of an inning because it was slick, but there were still too many walks and poor pitches. There's never an excuse for not being able to throw strikes with a big lead against Incarnate Word, but this pitching staff has earned the benefit of the doubt for now.
The power that UT has shown to this point is impressive and important. It will of course be more difficult to launch home runs against better pitching, but power is power and this team has more of it than many anticipated coming into the year (@AaronLittleOB). Jack O'Dowd sent one out of the yard to the opposite field for one of his four hits on the evening. The entire outfield can certainly uncork homers at any time and will need to do so going forward. This team won't live and die by the long ball, but the small ball component hasn't come to fruition in a major way. Bombs away for this offense heading into a tough series against Tech.
What does this win streak against bad teams mean? How important was it? Did we actually learn anything?
Those are all fair questions that can really only be answered with time.
But here is what I will say:
They won all 11. Those wins helped the record, RPI, and the vibes more than losses do. This still feels like a potential bubble team and stacking all 11 wins will look a lot better than 9-2 come bracket day.
Confidence matters. Baseball is weird and does funny things to a player's head. Four hits for Jack O'Dowd on a Tuesday against UIW might not mean anything to us. It might not even mean much to him, but it probably does. Seeing the ball land for a hit, feeling the ball hit the barrel of the bat, those things can help a player mentally regardless of the opponent. I am not predicting that O'Dowd is about to go on some crazy heater, but plenty of guys had plenty of moments during this stretch of wins and some of those moments will help later on in the season.
There is still so much to be worried about. I am not trying to rain on any parades, but this is far from a perfect team. This group still makes a lot of small mistakes that have been mostly harmless in this recent stretch, but that won't be the case with the upcoming schedule. Every mistake will be magnified. Texas has improved, but not to the point where the little things won't matter, and this team can't be trusted to do all the little things right.
The upcoming jump in competition will be fascinating. It's not just that this group is going from this recent stretch of cupcakes and hopping into Big 12 play. Texas is going from the waterpark to a warzone that is seven straight against Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State. Let's see what they got.
UP NEXT
Texas Tech. Friday. 7 PM. UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Losing Pitcher: Seth Higdon (0-2)
BOX SCORE
RECAP
In its final game before opening up Big 12 play, Texas hammered Incarnate Ward by a score of 17-11. This was the 11th straight win for Texas, completing a perfect stretch against weak opponents. The Horns hung 17 runs on the board in the first six innings, including four in the first, four in the fourth, and six in the sixth. UT continued its power-hitting ways with five homers on Tuesday night against the Cardinals. Texas struggled on the mound on a wet and slippery night at the Disch, but the offense was so good it didn't matter.
Some thoughts on this game and the recent streak...
Nice of Garret Guillemette to join the home run party. Guillemette has been one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup all year but had yet to launch a homer coming into Tuesday night. Not only did GG whack his first homer of the season, but he then added a grand slam in the sixth for good measure. The thing that continues to impress me about Guillemette is that he makes pitchers pay for mistakes. If a bad pitch is left over the heart of the plate against Guillemette there is an excellent chance that the ball will be hit hard to left field. His teammates gave him the silent treatment after the first long ball, but the impact Guillemette has had on the team has been LOUD.
I am mostly willing to throw out what was an objectively gross night of pitching. Most importantly, Charlie Hurley was good and only threw 51 pitches. He will be ready to go out of the bullpen this weekend. Ace Whitehead, Heston Tole, DJ Burke, Cody Howard, and Zane Morehouse all struggled on the bump to varying degrees. It was a rainy night at the Disch and at times it was pouring. The ball was certainly wet, the mound needed care in the middle of an inning because it was slick, but there were still too many walks and poor pitches. There's never an excuse for not being able to throw strikes with a big lead against Incarnate Word, but this pitching staff has earned the benefit of the doubt for now.
The power that UT has shown to this point is impressive and important. It will of course be more difficult to launch home runs against better pitching, but power is power and this team has more of it than many anticipated coming into the year (@AaronLittleOB). Jack O'Dowd sent one out of the yard to the opposite field for one of his four hits on the evening. The entire outfield can certainly uncork homers at any time and will need to do so going forward. This team won't live and die by the long ball, but the small ball component hasn't come to fruition in a major way. Bombs away for this offense heading into a tough series against Tech.
What does this win streak against bad teams mean? How important was it? Did we actually learn anything?
Those are all fair questions that can really only be answered with time.
But here is what I will say:
They won all 11. Those wins helped the record, RPI, and the vibes more than losses do. This still feels like a potential bubble team and stacking all 11 wins will look a lot better than 9-2 come bracket day.
Confidence matters. Baseball is weird and does funny things to a player's head. Four hits for Jack O'Dowd on a Tuesday against UIW might not mean anything to us. It might not even mean much to him, but it probably does. Seeing the ball land for a hit, feeling the ball hit the barrel of the bat, those things can help a player mentally regardless of the opponent. I am not predicting that O'Dowd is about to go on some crazy heater, but plenty of guys had plenty of moments during this stretch of wins and some of those moments will help later on in the season.
There is still so much to be worried about. I am not trying to rain on any parades, but this is far from a perfect team. This group still makes a lot of small mistakes that have been mostly harmless in this recent stretch, but that won't be the case with the upcoming schedule. Every mistake will be magnified. Texas has improved, but not to the point where the little things won't matter, and this team can't be trusted to do all the little things right.
The upcoming jump in competition will be fascinating. It's not just that this group is going from this recent stretch of cupcakes and hopping into Big 12 play. Texas is going from the waterpark to a warzone that is seven straight against Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State. Let's see what they got.
UP NEXT
Texas Tech. Friday. 7 PM. UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
