The No. 3 Longhorns (35-11, 13-5) lost their first series of the season earlier today when the resumption of yesterday’s suspended game, because of weather, resulted in an anticlimactic 5-3 defeat. No. 11 Texas Tech (30-11, 10-8) wouldn’t load its buses and head back to Lubbock with a sweep, though. Texas, behind a magnificent effort by Pete Hansen and a seventh-inning grand slam by Douglas Hodo, feasted on Texas Tech’s Sunday starter and thin bullpen and avoided a sweep with an 11-3 win.
Some big picture and weekend thoughts:
--- Yes, you read correctly. Hansen delivered the magnificent outing. Game three starter Kolby Kubichek, after a bad start at Oklahoma State last weekend, didn’t even record an out. The righty struggled with his control from the jump, gave up back-to-back hard singles, walked the next batter on four pitches and then walked in a run. Texas sent pitching coach Sean Allen out earlier in the inning, and it didn’t take David Pierce long to make a move.
Hansen did his best Houdini act to limit the damage to a run. Cam Williams started a 5-2-3 double play and a fly out ended the inning. UT’s left-handed pitcher gave up a run in the second inning, but his offense picked him up with a four-run second inning.
It felt like Texas couldn't catch a break all weekend, but it finally did when Texas Tech right fielder Easton Murrell lost Ivan Melendez’s sky-high fly ball in the sun, which resulted in a triple. Murrell’s throw missed everyone, allowing Melendez to score. And after robbing Texas of run-scoring hits all weekend, Trey Faltine, with the bases loaded and one out, finally hit one where Texas Tech center fielder Dillon Carter couldn’t catch it. The two-RBI double to the wall in right-center was followed by a sacrifice fly thanks to a very competitive at-bat by Mike Antico, giving UT a 4-2 lead.
--- Let’s get back to Hansen: Pierce confirmed following the game the left-hander would move into the Sunday starting spot moving forward.
“We had a nice meeting this week and just talked about getting back to enjoying the competition and not putting so much pressure on yourself and it just didn't work out,” said Pierce about Kubichek when asked about his start, Hansen’s outing and what it does to the Sunday role. “And every player is going to go through some adversity, and he's having a hard time right now. And it's tough on him. It's tough on us. We're going to help him through it. But we definitely got to go and move Pete into that Sunday role right now.”
For most of the season, Kubichek, who entered today’s start with a 3.26 ERA, was solid or better on the mound. But in addition to his rough outing at Oklahoma State, the righty was the beneficiary of stranding a lot of runners on base. He entered today with 18 walks compared to 14 strikeouts in Big 12 competition, and at some point, consistently walking the tightrope was going to get to him, although no one expected it to look as bad as it did today.
Hansen wasn’t the guy today he was throughout last season and didn’t break 90 MPH with his fastball. However, today was his best outing of the season in terms of stuff, which is a promising development for Texas; it was the closest he’s looked to the guy who finished the shortened 2020 season with a 0.00 ERA. College pitchers capable of throwing strikes with multiple pitches and mixing speeds can generate a lot of outs even against the good lineups. That’s what Hansen did today...
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