With Texas baseball leading 4-3 heading into the ninth inning, it needed to shut out BYU to secure the win. With all eyes set on redshirt sophomore pitcher Gage Boehm, he left the Cougars without a chance, giving the Longhorns the victory on Friday night.
Boehm was able to stay poised as the Cougars began to catch up in the top of the sixth inning, with the score sitting at 4-3. In his 13th appearance on the mound, Boehm recorded five strikeouts and allowed no runs or hits in just over three innings pitched. Boehm entered the game in the sixth inning to relieve junior starting pitcher Ace Whitehead.
“Ace gave us a great start, and I just wanted to go out and finish what he started,” Boehm said.
Previously tied for first in the Big 12 for the most home runs, alongside fellow sophomore Max Belyeu, shortstop Jalin Flores started Texas on the right foot with a homer in the first inning. Now with 12 home runs on the season, Flores will take over as the conference leader unless Cincinnati’s Josh Kross extends his record.
Flores took the reins for the Longhorn’s offense, being the only player to register at least one hit, run, RBI and home run all evening. Flores recorded three runs and leads the team in most runs on the season, tied with sophomore first baseman Jared Thomas.
Hitting a fly ball right into the mit of a BYU outfielder, sophomore catcher Rylan Galvan began to circle back to the dugout before umpires interrupted to call a catcher’s interference. Being handed another shot to score and with bases loaded, freshman center fielder Will Gasparino singled to the shortstop for an RBI to bring Texas’ lead to 3-1 to end the third inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Gasparino came in with another last-minute effort. Believing he had already struck out, Gasparino walked out of the box before realizing he still had one more out left. He would go on to hit a sacrifice fly to center field to allow Flores to score, bringing Texas up 4-2.
Whitehead found himself challenged on the mound, allowing five hits, and three runs, including two home runs, and three walks across five innings pitched. A tough BYU offense wouldn’t let him off the hook easily, as Whitehead racked up 99 pitches before trading places with Boehm.
Transferring in from Blinn College this season, Boehm has already proven himself a crucial asset to the Texas defense as a relief pitcher. Teammates have even nicknamed him “the big show,” to describe his personality on the mound.
“He’s a competitor, he’s a guy that you can count on, and that’s what we’re looking for is reliability,” head coach David Pierce said. “If you can put a performance together like that, then you got a shot in every game.”
Texas looks to finish out the series with another conference win tomorrow, as the team has yet to drop a series against a Big 12 opponent.
