Texas Baseball: Horns Fall Short on Turning Lemons Into Lemonade

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

There is no way that the Texas baseball team’s two-and-gone appearance in the NCAA tournament can be considered anything but a disappointment – especially after the Longhorns overcame the longest of odds to win the Big 12 tournament and clinch the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAAs.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

Every indication seemed to show that Texas had finally put all its considerable pieces together at the same time, but losses to Oregon State and a surging Dallas Baptist (which in a bizarro world hosted the Longhorns for a regional instead of the other way around) showed that the Longhorns, ultimately, were just not prime-time players.

Texas, which did not win a game in the NCAA Dallas regional, joined “household” names such as Oral Roberts, East Carolina, Mercer, Florida A&M, Lehigh, Houston Baptist, Texas Southern, Sacred Heart, Ohio, Lipscomb and Morehead State as those going 0-2 in the tournament.

It was certainly not the way the Longhorns, who were 30-27 overall, hoped to conclude the season after finishing in a tie for third in last year’s College World Series.

“I believe there was more talent on this team than we showed this season,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said after the Horns’ 8-1 loss to Dallas Baptist that ended their season.

Texas didn’t do enough of the things that were needed to win most games, much less the biggest ones even though Garrido pushed every button he had but just couldn’t get this group of Longhorns to play to their potential.

There will be plenty of questions to be asked – and answered – between now and next February for this Longhorns’ team. Expect outfielder and top player Ben Johnson to be picked high in the Major League Baseball draft, and second baseman Brooks Marlow, who started 217 games in his four years on the 40 Acres, may have the highest professional upside of any of the Texas players.

Outfielder Connor Shaw has run out of eligibility and also likely finished at Texas is shortstop C.J Hinojosa, who has the lowest batting average of any regular Longhorns player (.241), but still has the eye of Major League scouts based on his potential.

Garrido has two years left on his contract and it’s unlikely that Texas athletic director Steve Patterson will force Garrido – who is the winningest coach in college baseball history – out of his job before that contract ends.

It was painful watching the Horns not play up to their considerable talent and makeup this season, but there are plenty of players in the program and on the way to Austin to out Texas baseball back on track. To quote Tom Petty: “the waiting is the hardest part.”

Just sayin’, ya know?

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The Habe is Steve Habel, Horns Illustrated’s senior editor. He was the magazine’s first staff member, in 1994, and has covered Texas sports ever since.