411 on the Forty: Cross country headed to NCAAs, volleyball falls at Baylor

By Riley Zayas

Sam Worley leads men’s cross country to NCAA Championship berth
The Texas men’s cross team brought back to Austin its first South Central Title since 2012, earning a bid in the 2019 NCAA Championship, which will be held next Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.

Sam Worley led the Longhorns, and all teams running the men’s 10K, by [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]winning the individual medal in 29:49.8. His individual title was the first individual Regional media by a Longhorn since 2003.

“I’m really proud of the boys,” UT head coach Pete Watson said on Texassports.com. “Coming into Fayetteville and getting both a team win and individual win is a great feeling for the guys and a move forward for this program.”

The women also ran well, finishing second, and headlined by Destiny Collins (who finished in eighth place) and Kathryn Gillespie (ninth). Coming in just behind No. 1-ranked Arkansas, which was running on its home course, the Longhorns also automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.

“I’m very pleased with the effort that our team put forth today,” head coach PattieSue Plumer said. “It was their best race of the year and sets us up for nationals.” 

Top-ranked volleyball falls to Baylor in Waco
The home-court advantage proved to be the edge No. 3 Baylor needed to take down No. 1 Texas, 3-2, in a spirited showdown between the Big 12 best two volleyball teams Wednesday evening in Waco. The Horns entered the match undefeated (13-0) in Big 12 play, including a home win over the Bears earlier in the season.

Baylor won the first two sets by identical 25-23 scores. The pressure was then on the Horns, who found their footing and won the next two sets to force a fifth and deciding set. Texas fell, , 15-9, in the final set as the Bears took home the victory. Interestingly, both of UT’s losses prior to this one in 2019 were five set losses, as they fell to Stanford 3-2 and then Rice by the same score. Three players, Logan Eggleston, Micaya White, Skylar Fields all posted double-digit kills. Eggleston had a double-double, aiding in the effort with 12 digs and four blocks.

UT Baseball Plays Three Great Games in the Orange and White World Series
The baseball team was back on the diamond Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday for its annual Orange and White World Series.

The two teams were managed by starting pitchers Ty Madden (who managed the Orange team) and Bryce Elder (White), each of whom delivered a superb performance for his team in the first game of the series. Elder, whose team was named “Warrior,” picked up the 4-2 victory, despite a rough start. Madden’s squad, nicknamed “the StockHorns,” loaded the bases multiple times in the bottom of the first, but were only able to get leadoff man Duke Ellis across the plate on an RBI groundout by Sam Bertleson to take the early lead. After going down quietly in the previous four innings, the Warriors’ bats exploded, starting with a Cam Williams homer over the right field wall. Following him with walks were Silas Ardoin and Colton Rathjen. Ardoin scored on a huge Eric Kennedy single to take the lead, then Rathjen came across, along with Kennedy, when freshman sensation Brenden Dixon doubled to left. That would be enough for them to take home the win, although the StockHorns made it interesting by loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth before Andre Duplantier II popped out to end the ballgame. Overall, fans were treated to great pitching in game one as both Madden and Elder figure to be regular starters for the Horns.

In game two, the StockHorns carried over their momentum from game one, as they put up a two-run third inning. Douglas Hodo III, singled to right, bringing in Ellis. Hodo then came across the plate when Trey Faltine legged out a triple. The StockHorns’ lead extended to three in the sixth, with catcher Caston Peter drawing a walk with the bases loaded, as Bertleson crossed the plate to make it 3-1. Cam Constantine then hit a bases-loaded RBI single through the right side of the infield, which was enough to bring Peter Geib across the plate, extending the StockHorns’ lead. Hodo continued what would eventually become a six-run sixth with an RBI single. The StockHorns’ scored five in the top of the ninth to make it 13-2. Warrior started a rally in the bottom of the ninth but could not complete it, scoring just four runs and falling, 13-6. It evened the series at 1-1 heading into a crucial game three, where the winner of the game also became the victor of the series.

In game three, it seemed as if the StockHorns would carry over their game two momentum as they began with two first-inning runs from Duplantier and Bertelson to take the early lead. But in the third, Warrior showed that it was not going to go down without a fight, putting four across the plate in the fourth, all unearned due to a couple of crucial errors by the StockHorns. The scoring continued to go back and forth as Faltine sharply hit a sensational double to bring Hodo in to score for the StockHorns. But DJ Petrinsky came up and promptly hit a two out, two run double to make the score 8-3 in favor of Warrior. Although the StockHorns were able to put a few more runs across the plate later on, it was Warrior who was victorious in this year’s Orange and White World Series with a 9-7 win.
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