After losing the first game of the series to the Cougars 9-1 on Friday night, Texas baseball pulled together two ninth-inning come-from-behind wins to take the series in Houston. On Saturday, Texas won 6-5, and on Sunday 13-8.
After pitching struggles in all three games, it was home runs that kept the Longhorns close. Both wins came from a combined four ninth-inning home runs that drove in a total of nine runs. This was after Texas recorded just two hits in Friday’s game, one of which was a solo home run by freshman center fielder Will Gasparino.
On Saturday, junior Ace Whitehead gave up three runs and six hits in four innings, striking out just three batters. On Sunday, redshirt junior Lebarron Johnson Jr got the start and gave up three runs in just over two innings and struck out four batters.
Johnson was named the Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year but has not lived up to the expectations and lost his role as the Friday starter after poor performances. His ERA has fallen to 5.57 as he’s given up 27 runs in 42 innings pitched.
While the Texas pitching was slow, the batting was not. Freshman second baseman Dee Kennedy led the way with two home runs on Saturday including the game-winner in the ninth inning. Kennedy has now hit four home runs on the season and Saturday was his first career multiple home run performance.
On Sunday, Kennedy kept hitting well and started Texas’ eight-run ninth inning with a single to third base that drove home sophomore first baseman Jared Thomas. Texas went into the inning trailing 8-5 and rallied to win the game by eight runs.
Thomas would record a double and a single in the inning for an RBI of his own. A two-run home run from redshirt senior third baseman Peyton Powell would tie the game and Texas never looked back.
Sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores followed Powell with a solo home run of his own and sophomore right fielder Max Belyeu added a two-run shot to put Texas ahead and seal the series win. The Longhorns would add two more runs to bring the final score to 13-8.
While the win showed offensive promise, it also showed how fragile Texas’ bullpen is. It used seven pitchers in the win and only struck out nine batters. Senior Charlie Hurley, sophomore Cade O’Hara and redshirt junior Chase Lummus did not pitch full innings and only Lummus struck out any batters, punching out two. Lummus also did not give up any hits.
Freshman Easton Tumis and junior David Shaw both went two innings on the mound and only recorded one strikeout each. Shaw took the win for the day and gave up a solo home run in the eighth inning. He walked one batter and had an ERA of 6.39. Redshirt sophomore Gage Boehm finished the game for Texas and gave up no hits.
Despite Sunday’s poor pitching performance, the Longhorns did what they talked about at the beginning of the season, winning on Sundays.
Now, Texas will return home with a record of 22–15 and sits in fourth place in the Big 12 standings.
