Even with the pitching concerns, Texas baseball is in NCAA postseason contention | Golden
Texas baseball is in position to make a postseason even if it didn’t feel that way Sunday.
The Longhorns dropped a 7-2 decision to Oklahoma State in the finale of a three-game set, but that was merely a battle. Texas won the weekend war at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The math says they captured their seventh Big 12 series in eight tries — they opened with wins of 7-5 and 6-3 — though a conference sweep has proven elusive. The Horns have notched only two in their 16 tries dating back to last season, so this isn’t anything new.
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That said, two out of three wins should work all day long and on most Sundays, but there is still that feeling of what-could-have-been when one considers the Horns won the first two games.
“You’ve got two good teams out there and one team has everything to gain and the other team has to match that,” UT coach David Pierce said. “We fight that at times — not necessarily us, but just in college baseball, you see it a lot — but I’m proud of our guys. I thought they played well all week. Battling some rest, battling exams and then having the ability to win the series is pretty good job by our team.”
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The Longhorns (30-19, 15-9) have had their stumbles, but are basically in control of their own destiny when it comes to sewing up a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
They’re in a three-way tie with West Virginia and the Cowboys for second place, three games behind Oklahoma, whom they have already beaten in a road series. With two series remaining — at Central Florida this weekend and home against Kansas to close the regular season — Texas has a slugger’s chance to defend its league regular-season crown, which would guarantee a spot in the field.
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Beyond that, a strong close to the regular season and a nice showing in the Big 12 Tournament would bode well for a team whose RPI rose six spots to No. 51 this weekend.
Starter Johnson is still searching for groove
Pierce continues to search for some stability on a pitching staff he took over in the offseason to less than desirable results when judged by the program’s lofty standards.
Junior left-hander Ace Whitehead has been a godsend as the Saturday starter while Friday starter Max Grubbs' 3.44 ERA belies his 4-4 record. Then there’s big right-hander LeBarron Johnson Jr., who began the year as the Friday starter and the Big 12’s preseason pitcher of the year.
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The talent is undeniable, but the results just haven’t been there. Johnson started Sunday and opened with three scoreless innings for only the second time in 13 starts, but he ran into some familiar troubles in the fourth when the Cowboys struck for three runs on a pair of home runs, one from two-way star Carson Benge, who got the win on the mound.
While relievers Gage Boehm and Andre Duplantier II have emerged out of the bullpen, Pierce acknowledges he needs two of three more arms to grab the ball and run with it. Four proven arms would be ideal for postseason play and Pierce wants more arms to compete for starts. He'd love to see Johnson, a talented cat who hasn't found his groove, figure it out down the stretch, especially with former starter Tanner Witt an unlikely option since he's thrown only 20 innings in his two seasons since Tommy John surgery.
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Johnson dropped to 2-4 overall with an ERA of 8.53, numbers few could have envisioned in the preseason. "Why has it been such a tough year for LBJ?" I asked Texas' pitching coach.
“Maybe too much from expectations from being the preseason pitcher of the year,” Pierce said. “Maybe just the (MLB) draft and things that creep into guys’ heads. (His) stuff is good. It just goes back to command, too. There’s a lot on the shoulders of just trying to be that guy and sometimes it just needs to be LB.”
Texas is in nice position for a postseason run
Call this what it is, a largely offensive ballclub. The Horns have launched 99 homers — the most in the Big 12 and the fourth most among Power Five schools — and boast a .540 slugging percentage, which is 19th-best nationally and a huge indicator of how formidable their bats are, considering they play in a large ballpark.
Besides solo homers from Kimble Schuessler and pinch-hitter Jack O’Dowd, the bats were largely absent on a four-hit Sunday finale, and so were the players postgame since not one was made available to the media for interviews.
Perhaps a sweep would have gotten reporters someone other than Pierce to break down what happened over the weekend. There were plenty of feel-good player quotes to go around after wins on Friday and Saturday.
Still, credit this team for putting itself in a spot to reach the postseason, despite unforeseen struggles on the pitching staff and the season-long hitting slumps of players like Porter Brown and O'Dowd, everyday starters in 2023 who are hitting .207 and .125, respectively.
The Horns are right there with plenty of baseball left.
Pierce needs several players to rise to the challenge this next month will present. It’s winning time. We’ll see if the Horns are ready to put it all together when contenders will be separated from pretenders.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas baseball still has its NCAA postseason hopes because of its bats
