Almost six hours after the first pitch of the rubber match in game three between Baylor (22-8, 6–2) and Texas (21–13, 4–4), the game was called due to inclement weather.
Unfortunately for the Longhorns, they probably wish game three was able to be carried out.
Texas stormed out of the gates in game three and through the first two frames, the Longhorns quickly built a 6-0 lead. Ryan Reynolds and Masen Hibbeler each collected two RBIs and pitcher Coy Cobb was entering his second inning of the day after a quick, scoreless first inning.
According to Big 12 rules for conference series, the game will not be made up and the 6-0 lead the Longhorns built will not go down in the scorebooks at all.
Instead, the series will end in a 1–1 tie with the Longhorns rebounding from a game one loss to win game two in come-from-behind fashion after going down 3-0 after the first inning.
Starting pitcher Blair Henley played a large part in the comeback victory after slowing down the Baylor Bears’ offense after being given control of the pitch calling by Texas head coach David Pierce in the fifth inning.
“Every pitch he throws is his conviction,” Pierce said of Henley in a postgame interview with Texas Sports. “Every pitch he throws is his choice. There’s no blame then. It’s all about him and the hitter and the confrontation between him and the hitter. He did an outstanding job giving us seven innings when it didn’t look like he was going to get out of the fourth.”
Despite allowing five runs on 10 hits, Henley can take away a major positive with the way he finished the final two innings of his night.
The comeback was sparked by a two-run home run by Austin Todd and capped off by a double by second baseman Lance Ford, who finished with four RBIs on the evening.
Texas was in desperate need of a victory after opening the series with a 6-5 walk-off loss after blowing a 4-0 lead.
The loss was another loop in a wacky, wild roller coaster ride of the last two weeks of play for the Longhorns. However, catcher Michael McCann doesn’t think there should be much worry about the No. 12 Longhorns.
“I know we have the stuff,” McCann said. “We have the guys, we have the heart, we have the work ethic, all the factors that going into that to be a very strong, good and successful team. I would say I’m just concerned about the execution of it all. We need to focus back into a certain goal, a certain mindset.”
Texas was certainly on track to remove all doubt about the first game of the series with the strong start to game three, but the Longhorns will now have to wait until Tuesday to truly find out if they are back on track.
The Longhorns will host Rice on Tuesday with first pitch currently set for 6:30 p.m.
