The No. 1 seed Longhorns didn’t win any batting titles today with 17 strikeouts, but they did eliminate rival No. 4 Oklahoma with a 4-1 win during Big 12 Tournament action. UT’s win kept its Big 12 Tournament stay alive and effectively ended OU’s season.
“I think it was very important,” responded David Pierce when asked how important getting a win today was to avoid an 0-2 stay in the Big 12 Tournament. “We committed to that in our meetings and basically said, we haven't played well at neutral sites. We need to show that we can handle adversity. And it was kind of a challenge for us, the team, and we met the challenge. I thought it was big. Really, I think it's important, whether we continue to win in the tournament or not, to stick around a little bit as good as our season has been. I think it's important."
In order to stay a while longer, the Longhorns didn’t just need good pitching. They needed good pitching that also lasted a while so Texas wasn’t forced to use a lot of its bullpen. Tristan Stevens again proved to be the perfect man for that assignment.
Stevens showed his maturation on the mound by adjusting to utilizing his changeup more this afternoon, especially against lefties, and knew after the first inning which pitches he had best feel of.
“Today was one of those days where I didn't have great sinker command or feel for my sinker. So, I had to switch to living off my secondary stuff with my changeup and slider, and then kind of pitch off my fastball. But yeah, that adjustment kind of helped me extend my outing a little bit,” said Stevens about adjusting his pitch usage early in the game.
Across 7.0 innings, the veteran right-handed gave up just one run on four hits, two walks and struck out four. The only damage from Oklahoma came on a two-out single in the top of the third inning. It appeared, with Texas leading 3-1, in the top of the seventh inning like Oklahoma might chase Stevens from the game before Texas planned. The righty issued a rare walk, but followed it with a strikeout and then a strikeout and caught stealing to erase the threat.
The Longhorns were able to add an important insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning when they loaded the bases with two outs and Douglas Hodo, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one RBI, a double and two walks, scored on a wild pitch. Making his first appearance since May 9th at TCU, Aaron Nixon looked as sharp as usual. He tossed 2.0 shutout innings and gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out four with his dominant fastball-slider combo.
Weather in Oklahoma City, as usual, has thrown a wrench into the tournament’s schedule. Today’s 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. games were postponed until Friday. Fortunately, there were only two games originally scheduled for Friday, but it’s possible Texas’ game doesn’t start at 7 p.m. like currently planned. Regardless, Pete Hansen will start for the Longhorns and they’ll face the loser of No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 8 West Virginia.
DISCUSS TEXAS BASEBALL AND LONGHORN SPORTS INSIDE THE 40 ACRES
As for those strikeouts, Pierce felt they were more about Oklahoma’s stuff and execution than Texas. Wyatt Olds, a future high MLB Draft pick, came out of the bullpen with an electric, high-spin fastball from a unique slot and good breaking ball. Tip the cap to him and his 11 strikeouts.
“I think their stuff is really good. It's one of those deals like West Virginia, if they land it that day, it's a pretty tough day. Didn't make many mistakes. Probably the biggest mistake made was he hung the slider to Zubia and got the RBI and I think it was the third run. But yeah, he was lights out; 94-97 MPH, plus slider. I don't know why we keep seeing all this stuff. It's good stuff,” said Pierce about the strikeouts today.
That said, there were some truly ugly at-bats, including slugger Ivan Melendez finishing 0-for-3 with three strikeouts; each Texas player struck out at least once, and that’s at least a partial cause for concern until UT shakes the funk, which it has done all season.
