In the middle of Mitchell Daly’s seventh-inning at-bat, the Longhorn faithful at UFCU Disch-Falk suddenly and loudly jumped to its collective feet and let out a roar followed by an ovation. At that point, Texas led 10-1. West Virginia looked totally disinterested in the game since the first inning. So, players on the field were probably wondering why the applause during the middle of an at-bat?

“I was about to hit. I think I was third up that inning. And someone turned around and said, ‘Hey, what's the TCU score? And I heard 8-8, bottom ninth, runner on first, one out. That's all I heard. So then I was on deck, everyone just goes absolutely berserk. And I was like, ‘Oh my God. They lost.’ I was like, ‘Holy cow,’ and you look up and it’s 10-1. Obviously, you got to stay focused. But I was like, ‘Oh my God. This could happen.’ And I you know, it's just a surreal feeling to have that be us, I mean, to be able to say you’re a Big 12 champ... It's a great feeling.”

Quickly, they probably realized the cause for commotion. Did Kansas State beat TCU? Indeed, the Wildcats did. Down 8-4 in the bottom of the ninth, they rallied and hit a two-out, three-run walk-off homer. If K-State slugger and today’s hero at two Big 12 ballparks, Chris Ceballos, ever decides to take in a weekend series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, he’ll be treated to free drinks and life as a king beyond left field. It’s more than fair to say after he was smack dab in the middle of the skirmish between K-State and Texas in Austin, he totally redeemed himself in the eyes of the Longhorns.

“It was just pure joy. I mean, everybody had a smile ear-to-ear. Nobody could hold it back,” said Eric Kennedy about the crowd letting everyone know what happened in the Kansas State game. He also said Occupy LF was giving him updates when he was in left field. “Several of us were talking about [getting] goosebumps. Just a surreal feeling. It's just kind of like a kid in a candy store. You just can't get enough of it. You know, this is why you play college baseball for moments like this. The crowd was amazing for letting us know and then especially after the game it’s fun to celebrate.”

The No. 2 Longhorns (40-13, 17-7) were able to enjoy the crowd reaction because they were in total control of the game. They finished the job in the eighth inning by run-ruling West Virginia, 12-2. And they're Big 12 champs.

Like the previous two contests, West Virginia (23-25, 8-16) jumped on fastballs early in the count and put a lot of traffic on the bases during the first inning. And like Tristan Stevens yesterday, Pete Hansen quickly adjusted, received some help from his defense, and minimized the damage.

WVU pushed across a first-inning run, but the way the inning played out felt like a mini-victory for Hansen. From there, the lefty began to rack up swings and misses with a good slider routinely, kept WVU guessing the rest of the way and even snuck in a few rare curves later in the outing, which showed some promise. Across 6.0 innings, Hansen gave up just one run on two hits, walked four and struck out six.

On the mound, West Virginia elected to treat today as a bullpen day because its place in the Big 12 Tournament couldn’t change. And it became immediately obvious its bullpen lacked control. Majorly. Texas took advantage of eight combined walks in the second and third innings to grab a commanding 7-1 lead. The big blow was delivered by Eric Kennedy.

A tad out in front of a changeup, Kennedy kept his hands back and barreled the pitch, which sent it flying into the home bullpen for a three-run homer. In the fourth inning, he again provided a huge swing of the bat when he burned the left fielder for a RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-1 Texas. Kennedy finished 3-for-4 with three runs, four RBI and a walk.

Lucas Gordon gave up a solo homer in the seventh inning, and Pierce wasn’t messing around. He immediately called on Cole Quintanilla. Following a four-pitch walk, Quintanilla struck out the final batter of the seventh. He then struck out the side in the eighth and touched 97 MPH, his hardest fastball of the season. The big righty appears to be peaking at the right time.

Texas completed the walk-off, run-rule victory in the bottom of the eighth inning when Zach Zubia’s hard liner resulted in a sacrifice fly. As Kennedy crossed home, Zubia was chased into the outfield and mobbed by teammates. UT coaches shared congratulatory hugs. A few minutes later, Zubia danced in the middle of a team huddle hoisting the Big 12 trophy. It felt like 2018 all over again as Texas again won the league at TCU’s expense. For Zubia, it felt like a return to Texas for a chance of what 2020 robbed him of was worth it.

“The emotion started to kick in this morning,” responded Zubia about the game beginning with Senior Day and ending with him holding a Big 12 trophy. “I was kind of going through my daily routine and then going, ‘Shit. This is Senior Day.’ But it's kind of weird because we have regionals. And we have the big four championships… it was just kind of like, ‘Oh, wow.’ Even though I have a year of eligibility, I just kind of started collecting my thoughts about how many years or how much fun I've had over the years here.

“And just like the amount of people [I] met and the amount of relationships I've made, and it was an overflow of emotion. And then to hoist a Big 12 trophy. Holy cow. How about that? You know, these guys deserve it. This team deserves it. This is the best Texas baseball team I've been a part of, from top to bottom. They're just a great bunch of guys. And I cannot tell you how appreciative I am of every single one of these people on this team.”

A regular season that began with a disastrous weekend in Arlington during one of the worst ice storms in Texas history ends with a Big 12 championship. Pierce told his team after the Arlington weekend they’ll remember that, and get better from it; in fact, it even became a rallying cry - R.T.A (Remember The Arlington).

How did they do it? Pierce chose the word “grit” to encapsulate his group before praising it the same way he has since the preseason.

“This is the most special team I’ve been a part of,” said Pierce.

And that team is capable of doing the most special thing any college baseball team can, and their hard work will allow them to play every regional or super regional game at home in front of what again became a special atmosphere this weekend. The Longhorns are conference champs, but they’re not done.

DISCUSS TEXAS BASEBALL AND THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONS INSIDE THE 40 ACRES