SERIES SUMMARY
After a long road trip that saw the Longhorns struggle, UT returned home to UFCU Disch-Falk Field for a three-game series against the Incarnate Word Cardinals. Safe to say that Texas was happy to be home and they showed it with 41 runs over three games. The Longhorns were in need of some confidence building and they certainly got that with final scores of 19-2, 10-2, and 12-0. It was a great weekend all-around at the Disch with really nice weather and 20,760 fans taking in some baseball over the weekend. Coach Pierce went out of his way to acknowledge the strong performance of Longhorn fans, “the fanbase this weekend was incredible, it’s such a sign of them coming to watch our team play… no matter who the opponent is”.
THE BATS
The Texas offense was incredible this weekend in many different ways. UT scored 41 runs on the weekend with 29 of them coming with two outs. The hitters also showed great patience, reaching base 22 times via walk or HBP. There was also no shortage of power on display, Texas hit 7 homers on the weekend, 4 of them coming from the bat of Murphy Stehly. During a time of year that is dominated by March Madness, it was Murph Madness on Sunday as the utility man hit three homers to left field. After the game, Murph said this was his first three-homer game at any level and gave credit to his consistent line drive approach. Skyler Messinger looked much more comfortable at the plate and Mitchell Daly had better at-bats, driving the ball to the opposite field a few times. UT now has four hitters with an OPS over 1.000 with Murphy Sthely leading the way at 1.276. The other three are Melendez, Kennedy, and Faltine for those wondering. No, the pitching from Incarnate Word was not very impressive and is not comparable to what Texas will see in Lubbock, but 41 runs in three games at the Disch is impressive any way you slice it. This lineup has a good combination of patience, power, and speed that allows the Horns to score in many different ways.
THE ARMS
The Hansen-Stevens-Gordon trio combined for 19 efficient innings this weekend, giving up just four earned runs. The efficiency is something important to note, all three guys kept their pitch counts in check and fearlessly attacked UIW hitters. It will be critical that the starters continue to use their pitches efficiently as Texas continues to piece together the bullpen. Only two free passes were issued by the rotation this weekend as an emphasis was certainly put on throwing strikes. While it was not shocking to see proven guys such as Hansen and Stevens have success, the gem thrown by Lucas Gordon on Sunday is the big story. After a few shaky outings where Gordon had some command issues and was hit around a bit, the lefty was quick to make some adjustments, “Coach Allen and I were really working on getting to the bottom of the zone and making quick contact and getting quick outs” said Gordon. The work that Gordon and pitching coach Sean Allen did during the week showed on Sunday as Gordon threw 7 scoreless innings with no walks and 10 groundouts. When Gordon is not allowing free passes and is working the bottom of the zone with three different pitches as he was on Sunday, he is very tough to hit against. Much like Tristan Stevens did on Saturday, Gordon used his changeup to keep hitters guessing and generate some double plays. It is hard to overstate how important an outing like this could be for Gordon as he enters conference play as the Sunday starter. With every game being a blowout, there were no high-leverage innings to test the relievers. Some struggling pitchers such as Blair and Duplantier got to pitch and rebuild a little confidence and guys like Nixon and Southard looked solid during their no-pressure outings. Travis Sthele and Luke Harrison were not needed this weekend after being stretched out for potential longer outings in the future. Overall the pitching staff seems to be in a better place now than it was a week ago. It will be fascinating to see this group compete against a talented Texas Tech lineup in a hostile environment in Lubbock next weekend.
MAIN TAKEAWAYS
Early in the season, it was evident what this talented team looked like when they played with confidence and Texas seemed to get back to that level this weekend against a weak opponent. The issue of the Texas offense striking out too much was not tested this weekend by a sub-par UIW pitching staff and remains something to track in upcoming conference games. The lineup has a handful of guys swinging it extremely well and each pitcher in the rotation will be going into Lubbock on a positive note. Texas has shown an ability to dominate at home, now it is time to put it all together as the quest to becoming Big 12 champs is almost here.
WHAT IS NEXT
Texas has a home game on Tuesday against the University of Central Arkansas at 6:30. There will be plenty of baseball content throughout the week so keep an eye out!
I leave you with an Ivan Melendez homer.
HookEm
