SERIES SUMMARY

After a lot of talk, excitement, and anticipation, the time came for this Texas team to show everyone why they were the preseason #1 team in the country, and this weekend they did just that. The talent disparity between these two teams was evident throughout the weekend with Texas outscoring Rice 36-3 over this three-game set. Rice pitchers issued 34 free passes to longhorn hitters, who showed impressive patience all weekend. The Owls also had 4 errors and numerous other miscues that led to runs for Texas. There was a lot of speculation about if Texas would have enough power to fill in some important spots now missing from the 2021 lineup. Silas Ardoin and Trey Faltine both mashed homers to left and some guy named Ivan Melendez pitched in with two towering homers himself. After the game on Sunday, David Pierce told reporters that the Friday starter, "sets the script" and Pete Hansen did just that. Over three games this talented Texas pitching staff yielded only three runs while striking out 25 Rice hitters. Texas took care of business all weekend long and did so in front of an opening-weekend record 21,580 fans.

INDIVIDUAL STANDOUTS

It was a monster weekend for the entire offense with many great performances. The bottom of the lineup was strong. Murphy Stehly and Trey Faltine in particular really strung together impressive at-bats and stood out. These two guys combined for eight hits and showed the ability to drive the ball to all parts of the field. Truly great offenses have the ability to hurt you with every spot in the lineup and that is exactly what this group of hitters showed this weekend for the longhorns. Faltine's trademark tremendous defense was on display all weekend and Stehly showed his ability to play in different spots, making it easy to find a slot in the lineup for his bat.

THE ROTATION

The 1-2-3 punch of Pete Hansen, Tristan Stevens, and Tanner Witt was expected to be the biggest strength of this team and this weekend they delivered on the hype. The Texas starters combined for 17 innings and allowed just one run. Pete Hansen showed his ability to command both sides of the plate while also utilizing off-speed pitches in every count. Tristan Stevens said he, "didn't have his best stuff" but that was not an issue for a veteran like Stevens who is able to control the pace of the game and consistently generate weak contact. Tanner Witt certainly left too many fastballs over the heart of the plate but was able to come through in every adverse situation that he found himself in. As a high-leverage reliever last season, Witt knows how to dig deep when he really needs to make a pitch. This is a trait that will prove to be very beneficial as he finds himself in big moments throughout his first season as a starter. All three guys did a solid job of getting ahead in the count and a GREAT job at fielding their positions. There is no reason why this can't be a really special rotation that is remembered for a long time.

THE BULLPEN

With Tanner Witt moving into the rotation and Cole Quintanilla being lost to the draft, there are major slots in the bullpen to fill. Luckily for Texas, there appears to be many guys with the stuff necessary to get big outs and bridge the gap to Aaron Nixon. Two guys that really stood out this weekend were Travis Sthele and Andre Duplantier. Sthele came in as a freshman and did something that Rice relievers could not do all weekend; fill up the zone from pitch number one. Sthele poured in fastball after fastball in the low 90's and had an impressive presence on the mound in two scoreless innings on Friday night. Coming off an elbow injury, Andre Duplantier was flat-out dominant in his lone inning of work. He embarrassed multiple Rice hitters with a wipeout slider that is going to induce many ugly swings this season.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

On Saturday Tristan Stevens emphasized that this team, "can win in multiple ways" and that is the exact takeaway I have from this weekend. Texas put tremendous pressure on a shaky Rice defense with their speed this weekend. Erik Kennedy, Douglas Hodo, and Mitchell Daly were flying around the bases constantly, causing headaches for the Owls. Texas scored a runner from SECOND base once via a wild pitch and another time via a short sac fly. Texas was nearly flawless defensively, including a momentum-shifting relay to the plate from Hodo and Daly on Saturday. The offense was fast when it needed to be fast, patient when it needed to be patient, and flashed some power. Rice does not figure to be a strong team this year and presented virtually no challenge for the horns, but give Texas credit for taking care of business. This is a deep team with many strengths and no noticeable weak spots. Texas fans were excited this weekend and should be given they get to watch this team play 53 more times in the regular season, before an inevitable postseason run.

WHAT IS NEXT

Tuesday, February 22nd, 6:35 PM - Texas @ Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Wednesday, February 23rd, 4:05 PM - Texas @ Texas A&M Corpus Christi

(Pierce said after the game that Lucas Gordon and Andre Duplantier are the likely starters)

Alabama comes to Austin next weekend

Be on the lookout for an article from Zach on Monday and more coverage throughout the week.

HookEm