After taking a 10-3 lead, the Texas bullpen failed to contain the bats of Vanderbilt and gave up eight straight runs, eventually falling 14-11.
“It wasn’t good,” head coach David Pierce said about his team’s bullpen pitching.
He didn’t have anything else to say.
Redshirt sophomore starting pitcher Cody Howard left the game with one out in the fifth inning after giving up six hits, five runs and three home runs. Soon after, Texas collapsed.
Six pitchers came out of the bullpen and gave up a combined nine runs, allowing Vanderbilt to make a comeback and win the game.
“It’s an embarrassing loss when you’re up 10-3 and your offense gives you such a great start and you can’t hold the lead,” Pierce said. “They’re a really good team and they earned it. We just have to be better on the mound.”
Today wasn’t the only struggle for Texas on the mound this weekend. Today, Vanderbilt capitalized on the pitching woes.
“Honestly our stuff was just okay,” Pierce said. “They’re a really good hitting team and when we made mistakes, they hammered it and were ready to hit (the ball). We just didn’t attack the strike zone with our relievers, and when we did we were behind in (pitch) counts and they took advantage of that.”
Senior Heston Tole faced four batters and gave up three hits for two runs. Junior Ace Whitehead was the only reliever to pitch a full inning and had the best performance on the mound. He faced three batters and gave up no hits or runs.
Freshman Easton Tumis followed Whitehead and did not record an out. He faced three batters, hit one, and gave up three runs on two hits. Redshirt sophomore Grant Fontenot, who recorded the loss, faced four batters, struck out one, gave up a triple for two runs and hit one batter.
After that, junior David Shaw gave up three hits for two runs in five batters faced and struck out two. Sophomore Cade O’Hara followed Shaw and struck out one to end Vanderbilt’s scoring tirade.
Against LSU on Friday, Texas gave up six hits and four runs, three of which were unearned.
This isn’t the first time the bullpen struggled to keep runs off the board. Texas gave up six hits and four runs, three of which were unearned. Saturday against Texas State, the bullpen gave up nine hits for seven runs, including two home runs. Overall, the bullpen had a brutal 7.64ERA, 24 hits allowed and 15 runs, one of the worst performances that Texas has seen under coach Pierce.
Texas will now return home where it will face rival Texas A&M on Tuesday.
“The only way we go is up,” sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores said. “Obviously today or this weekend was a learning moment for the team, but I mean it’s always good to move forward. We know what we have to improve on, (and what) we’re gonna target what we need to work on.”
