Behind 11 innings of combined work, Longhorn starting pitchers junior Chad Hollingsworth and sophomore Josh Sawyer led the Longhorns to two 5-0 shutouts in Saturday’s doubleheader against Minnesota.
In the first game, Sawyer threw five innings of three-hit work bouncing back from a tough outing against Rice.
“[For me] I think it was all about location and throwing with conviction,” Sawyer said. “[Pitching Coach] Skip [Johnson] always preaches about throwing with conviction, every pitch. Tonight, I really worked on that, throwing with conviction and hitting my spots well.”
The Texas offense backed up Sawyer with a two-run third inning. Sophomore center fielder Zane Gurwitz hit a single followed by a walk from freshman designated hitter Joe Baker and a single by junior left fielder Ben Johnson. Senior right fielder Collin Shaw hit an RBI single to give Texas a 1-0 lead. The Longhorns added another run in third off a wild pitch.
Texas put a run in the bottom of the fifth and two runs in the seventh inning. Minnesota’s offense couldn’t stage a comeback and the Longhorns won the first game of the double header 5-0.
In the second game, Hollingsworth earned his first win in 6.1 innings of work throwing five strikeouts and only allowed two hits.
Texas helped Hollingsworth offensively with a big fourth inning. Senior Brooks Marlow broke through the scoreless game when he crushed a ball into the right field bullpen for a home run. The Longhorns added an additional run in the fourth.
The Longhorns would add three insurance runs in the eighth inning and to sweep Saturday's doubleheader 5-0.
In their first three games against Minnesota, the Longhorns have scored 23 runs on 37 hits.
“It's a lot of fun when you're playing baseball like this,” Marlow said. “We don't have an easy out in the line-up and that's what makes baseball fun. And scoring runs every game like the first night and hitting the ball hard like these two games makes baseball fun and makes us loose.”
Texas and Minnesota will conclude their four game series Sunday at 1 p.m.
