Winning pitcher: Coy Cobb (2-0)
Losing pitcher: Javier Ramos (1-1)
SERIES SUMMARY
Talent. Experience. Heart.
Those are the three things that lead this Texas team to a crucial series win over Oklahoma in Arlington this weekend. After Pete Hansen carried the Horns to victory on Friday night, OU responded with a 4-2 win on Saturday, setting up a huge Sunday showdown to determine the winner of the 2022 Red River Series. Texas fell behind 7-1 on Sunday and things were looking worse than ever for the Longhorns. With the season seemingly headed down a dark path, UT flipped a switch in the 7th inning and stormed back for the 12-8 victory. Here is a look at how talent, experience, and heart played into this comeback.
TALENT
This lineup is littered with talent. Each guy can make a pitcher pay for a bad pitch at any given moment. With two guys on base and Texas trailing by six, Dylan Campbell stepped up to the plate in the top of the 7th. It has been a tough year for Campbell who is hitting just .234 on the season. Campbell has tremendous speed and a very smooth swing that generates a lot of power despite his smaller frame. With Texas desperately needing a spark, it was Campbell that provided one with a blast to left. The 3-run shot from Campbell cut the OU lead in half and injected life into the Texas dugout that had been quiet all afternoon. The Longhorns capitalized on this sudden momentum shift when Murphy Stehly tied the game with a 3-run homer of his own just a few batters later. Just like that the game was tied, the crowd was rocking, and the Sooners were absolutely shell-shocked. Stehly and Campbell are some talented dudes and they showed it in the 7th inning on Sunday.
EXPERIENCE
It’s hard to find two guys on the Texas team that are easier to root for than Austin Todd and Coy Cobb. Todd is in his sixth season as a Longhorn due to continuous bad luck with injuries. Each time Todd has gone down with an injury he has worked to get back on the field, with this season being no exception. On March 8th Todd re-injured his shoulder in San Marcos and it seemed as if Todd’s career at Texas might have ended. Instead, Todd was able to return to action less than a month later, grabbing a start at DH on Sunday. The sixth-year senior started the 7th inning rally with a single up the middle but he wasn’t done. In the 9th Todd came up with the bases loaded and two outs when he delivered some insurance runs via a two-strike knock to center. After six years on campus, Austin Todd still has more to give.
Coy Cobb’s career at Texas has not been a smooth ride. After serving as the Sunday starter in his freshman season, Cobb struggled through many tough appearances in 2020 and 2021. As a redshirt junior, Cobb was not expected to be a guy to contribute much on the mound this year. However, due to the struggles of other arms in the bullpen, Cobb found himself on the mound in a big moment on Sunday. Cobb is throwing from a lower arm slot this year, giving him great movement on his pitches. With the game tied in the 8th, Cobb issued a leadoff walk before quickly erasing the baserunner with a huge 6-4-3 double play. Cobb finished the game strong and picked up the victory. Texas is in search of bullpen guys that they can rely on and Coy Cobb could in fact be one of those guys. Cobb has now thrown 9.1 innings and has a 1.93 ERA with a 0.75 WHIP. Todd and Cobb have been through a lot in their time at Texas, and on Sunday it was special to see them come through in such a big game.
HEART
Texas did not have a hit on Sunday until the fifth inning. Lucas Gordon struggled on the mound, Oklahoma had all the momentum, and the series looked destined to end in disappointment. The Horns didn’t give in. All of a sudden the bats woke up and Texas fought their way back into the game, scoring 11 unanswered runs at one point. This is not the first time UT has come back from the dead this season, they had a similar resurgence last Saturday in Lubbock. If we have learned anything this year it is that this team won’t just roll over and die.
MAIN TAKEAWAYS
This team is FLAWED. The bullpen remains a mess and this team is not to be trusted. But they also should not be dismissed. There are so many pitchers that have the ability to get outs in the UT bullpen that some of them will find a groove eventually… right?! Despite quiet stretches from the offense, a rough outing for Lucas Gordon, and a bad weekend from Aaron Nixon, Texas won 2 out of 3. And more importantly… Oklahoma gets on the bus heading back to Norman feeling heartbroken and devastated after a vintage Sooner choke!
WHAT IS NEXT
Texas (21-9, 3-3) will take on UTRGV Tuesday night in Austin, before welcoming TCU for three games next weekend.
HookEm
