In the wake of an extra-innings upset, Texas baseball dominated Baylor in its second game of the series on Saturday with a 10-2 win over the Bears.
Hitting the ground running, sophomore first baseman Jared Thomas led off a single to right field before taking second base on a sacrifice bunt from freshman infielder Dee Kennedy. As Thomas made it to third and sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores walked to first, sophomore outfielder Max Belyeu smacked another single, bringing Thomas home to put Texas on the scoreboard.
Enter freshman Will Gasparino, who knocked his fourth home run of the season past left center field with three RBIs. A sonic boom from Smokey the Cannon appropriately followed, along with a roar from the Texas dugout to celebrate a 4-0 first inning lead.
Texas starting pitcher and junior Ace Whitehead only allowed one run each in the second and third innings, giving Baylor two opportunities to score. At 4-1 in the top of the second, the Bears’ sole run on the board would be matched by Thomas working his magic once again as he homered down the right field line, extending the Longhorn’s lead to 5-1.
A single and a double from Baylor would allow it to score once again in the top of the third inning, but the Bears remained silent for the remainder of the game thanks to Whitehead and his five strikeouts thrown. Whitehead pitched his first complete game of the season.
“I’m not going to overpower many hitters, maybe a little deception here and there,” Whitehead said. “But at the end of the day, if you can go out and trust your guys, trust your stuff, and try to will it to happen, you’re going to have a lot of success more often than not.”
In Friday’s performance against Baylor, Texas was held scoreless from the fourth through the seventh innings, failing to capitalize on hits and leaving multiple players stranded on third base. This time around, the Longhorns looked efficient on both sides of the ball through the middle innings, despite only bringing in two runs, one in the fourth and another in the sixth. Texas saw a total of 10 RBIs, two stolen bases, and only had six players left on base for the afternoon.
Head coach David Pierce harped on the importance of not being stagnant in between the first and last couple innings, and said the pressure his team faces can sometimes cause them to come up short.
“I don’t think it’s a lack of concentration, if anything, maybe just a lack of discipline and trying to do too much,” Pierce said. “What is really the moment of truth (is) who are you at the first at-bat, the second at-bat, and can you be the same guy when the game seems to speed up. … It’s critical that they just continue to believe in themselves and trust their work.”
Carrying a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth, sophomore center fielder Rylan Galvan set up a scoring spree for the Longhorns with a home run to right field on his first swing. Not long after redshirt senior outfielder Porter Brown made it to first on a walk, Thomas stepped in to slam another homer for Texas with two RBIs to seal the deal.
Texas will face Baylor once more on Sunday for a chance to win the series, with the two now tied at 1-1.
