It has been almost two years since redshirt freshman Andre Duplantier II stepped on the mound. 

Recruited as a two-way player with some juice in his bat and the ability to play every position, Duplantier II was an exciting recruit for the Longhorns. In his freshman year at Texas, the Humble, Texas product recorded three saves in eight relief pitching appearances alongside a couple of starts at third base.

However, a shortened 2020 season and elbow surgery kept Duplantier II off the baseball diamond for his second year at Texas. 

On Saturday, Duplantier II was brought out of the bullpen to make quick work of Rice’s offense in his inning pitched, striking out two of three batters faced in 12 total pitches. 

After Sunday’s game, head coach David Pierce said he planned to start Duplantier II and sophomore Lucas Gordon in the midweek games, claiming they were “both ready” to start.

In his first start since his injury on Tuesday, Duplantier II pitched four innings of baseball, allowing one hit for no runs and a couple of walks in No. 1 Texas’ 12-0 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Batters struggled to receive his tough breaking ball throughout the first half of the night.

In addition to Duplantier II, Pierce used redshirt freshmen Travis Sthele and Lebarron Johnson Jr. and redshirt sophomore Zane Morehouse, who combined for one hit in their total 74 pitches.

Supporting the pitching staff was the outfield tandem of Eric Kennedy and Doug Hodo III. In the fourth inning, Kennedy made a theatrical sliding catch in left field for a quick out while Hodo III caught two flies to bring an abrupt end to the inning. 

Texas’ offense had another game of patient batting that elongated innings. The team recorded eight walks and 14 hits on the Islanders, despite many batters struggling to hit within the foul lines when bases were loaded. 

Texas baseball wraps up the midweek games at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday before coming back to UFCU Disch-Falk Field for their weekend series against Alabama.