TEXAS LOOKS FOR SOMETHING MORE FROM ITS BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL SQUADS
FEBRUARY, MARCH and April are busy months for Texas sports. With the men’s and women’s basketball teams wrapping up their 2013 campaigns (earlier than expected), tennis, golf, swimming, and track & field head into their seasons at full speed. Baseball and softball also play the major portion of their schedules during this three-month span.
The sports played on the fields …
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located east of I-35 will come under the brightest spotlight, as both the Longhorn baseball and softball teams look to wipe away their 2012 seasons — seasons that should’ve produced exponentially better results.
The Texas softball team — with Connie Clark at the helm — advanced to the NCAA Super-Regional and was one win away from the Women’s College World Series, before losing twice, at home on the same day, to Oregon.
Led by two of the best position players to grace McCombs Field — Lexy Bennett and Nadia Taylor — the Longhorns finished the season, 47-13 (16-8 Big 12). This season, infielder Taylor Hoagland, pitcher Blaire Luna and outfielder/pitcher Kim Bruins will lead the team. From what we’ve seen through the first few games, Texas will try to establish a viable second option in the circle to take some pressure off of Luna. If successful, that plan will prove paramount in pushing Texas further than last year.
Augie Garrido’s baseball team must forget about the fact that Texas lost eight of its final 11 games in Big 12 Conference play and missed the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 1998. With its pitching staff in shambles because of injuries, disciplinary issues and an overall lack of depth, the Longhorns (30-22) couldn’t do enough to secure a bid in 2012.
During their 13-year tournament run, the Longhorns won two national titles and advanced to the College World Series seven times. Expect Garrido to have his team at a fever pitch this season, as the squad has much to prove.
But even with the added motivation, Texas is predicted to finish third in the Big 12 race, behind Oklahoma and TCU and just ahead of Baylor. “I’m not much for predictions or expectations,” Garrido said at the start of practice. “If you give me a team that gets more runs than the other team, then I’ll get you a winner. It’s simple.”
Only Garrido can illustrate baseball this way. To paraphrase the coach, the Longhorns need more runs than the opposition this season and to win more games, or the fur is likely to fly. Just sayin’, ya know?
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