Following the Longhorns’ 10-6 loss on Feb. 27th to UTSA — a team Texas had beat 25 out of 30 times — head coach David Pierce came to the team’s Thursday meeting ready to help his team forget about the loss.
“Coach came out there. He’s got his notes, his box scores, his papers and stuff,” catcher Michael McCann recalled after game three of the LSU series. “He came out with a lighter and a little metal bucket and said, ‘You see this?’ (He) lit it on fire and let it burn in the bucket.”
Following the motivational display, Texas went on to sweep the No. 1 team in the country. But the glory was short lived as the Longhorns are now coming off a three-game losing streak against Stanford, which included a 9-0 blowout.
Texas has also seen sudden departures from key members. The Longhorns lost catcher DJ Petrinsky to a labrum tear, and pitcher Beau Ridgeway suddenly left the program last week. Catcher Michael McCann missed two out of the four games against Stanford with an injury.
These crucial losses may be to blame, but Texas may need another one of these box score burnings before their Tuesday game against Texas Southern. After the Longhorns face the 2–10 Tigers, they are slated to face another powerhouse, No. 13 Texas Tech.
In their 11 meetings against the Tigers, the Longhorns have won every single game. However, it wouldn’t be the first time this season if the Longhorns fell when
heavily favored.
In a postgame interview with assistant coach Sean Allen following their Stanford series loss, Allen told Texas Sports the team is looking to regroup before the weekday matchup.
“We’ll get back to home and just get better,” Allen said. “It’s all we can do, … and we have to find a way to learn from it — there is no question.”
The last time the Longhorns faced Texas Southern was during their first regional game of last year’s postseason. Beating them 10-0 was a stepping stone that allowed them to later advance to the NCAA College World Series.
Another win this time around against Texas Southern could be a stepping stone for the Longhorns as they look to turn around their losing streak before going into the weekend against Texas Tech.
Could another box-score burning be the answer the Longhorns need to forget their 3–1 series loss to Stanford? Following their UTSA loss, McCann said Pierce’s ceremonial demonstration helped him find closure after a “brutal” loss.
“We literally burned the papers — box scores — all that from that night and said, ‘It’s over with, it’s done, forget it,’” McCann said. “I think that was a great thing for us because it forced us to let it go.”
