Baseball take advantage of opportunities to win finale, series against Connecticut

By Steve Habel, Senior Editor

AUSTIN, Texas — When the Texas Longhorns needed a little help from their bullpen to earn the time to rev up their offense Sunday in the rubber game of the three-game series against Connecticut, Jake McKenzie answered the call in a big way.

McKenzie retired 13 of the 14 batters he faced in a 4-2/3 innings stint in the middle innings and Texas scored six of their nine runs with him in the game in rolling past the Huskies, 9-3, before a crowd of 4,292 on a cool and overcast afternoon at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

He earned his first victory since 2015, when he [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]was 2-0 in 15 relief appearance and fashioned a 0.50 ERA. In 2016, McKenzie started 18 of the Longhorns’ final 19 games at second base and had a .237 batting average.

“We went to each of the players before the season started and asked them what they thought was their best position, and Jake said pitcher,” Texas coach David Pierce said. “He was the key to the win today. We like the way he showed confidence in his pitching and stayed ahead of the hitters. We know Jake is going to field his position well and getting a performance like this is a bonus for us.”

Kacy Clemens, Bret Boswell and Michael McCann led the Longhorns (5-3) with two hits apiece while Zane Gurwitz, Ryan Reynolds and Patrick Mathis had two RBI each for Texas’ nine-hit attack.

McKenzie, who had struggled mightily in his only other appearance this season, entered the game with one out in the third inning with runners on second and third base and the Huskies trailing, 3-2, after roughing up Texas starter Blair Henley.

McKenzie promptly coaxed an inning-ending double play on a lineout and then got in the groove, allowing just one single over the next four innings while striking out a career-high four batters. He also had five assists when he snagged grounders that were heading up the middle.

“I appreciate the coaches giving me the opportunity to get in the game again and allow me to show them that I’m better than I was in that first appearance,” McKenzie said. “I didn’t have my slider in the first game and I didn’t have it today, either, but I knew what was working for me and that’s what we stuck with.”

Texas got on the board in its half of the first inning, scoring three times on a two-run home run by Reynolds that plated David Hamilton and an RBI single by Boswell that allowed Clemens (who had walked and stolen second) to come around from second base.

Connecticut cut into the lead with a run in the second via an RBI single by Alex LeFevre and another in the third on ringing double from Isaac Feldstein to drive home Aaron Hill. But the Huskies also made huge baserunning gaffs in both of those innings that led to double plays and kept them from doing more damage.

The Longhorns added to their advantage in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs as a Clemens one-out double brought home Reynolds (who face-planted on the successful head-first slide into the plate) and a passed ball allowed Clemens to race home from third to make it 5-2.

Gurwitz’s two-out single drove home Boswell from third with a key insurance run in the sixth. Mathis, who had struck out his first three at bats in the game, delivered a two-out, bases-loaded, two-run single in the seventh to push the advantage to 8-2. A ninth Texas run scored on a bases-loaded fielding error on a grounder by Gurwitz.

Meanwhile, McKenzie stayed in the groove, retiring the side in order in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. His stint in this game was longer that the total amount of innings he pitched last season.

After striking out 28 times in the first two games against UConn combined, Texas fanned just eight times on Sunday.

“We were better today with our patience at the plate and by figuring out to focus better and not be anxious and it paid off with some key hits in important situations,” Pierce said.

Earlier in the three-game series the Longhorns split their games with Connecticut Friday and Saturday.

Texas got seven strong innings from ace right-hander Morgan Cooper and a pair of home runs from Clemens to post a 4-1 win in the series opener. Cooper (1-0) outdueled Huskies ace Tim Cate, who was forced from the game with an injury in the fourth inning, going seven innings while allowing four hits and a run and striking out eight. Chase Shugart got the final two out of the game to secure his first save of the season.

Clemens ripped a two-run home run to right in the third inning to chase home Michael Cantu (who led Texas with three hits in the series opener) before Joe Baker plated Patrick Mathis with a two-out single.

Clemens added a solo shot in the sixth inning to right field, giving him the first two-homer by a Longhorn since C.J Hinojosa went deep twice May 16, 2015 at Baylor.

The Longhorns’ inability to even put the ball in play regularly cost them a chance to win Saturday’s second game of the series, as Texas batters struck out 17 times in a 2-1 loss to the Huskies.

Longhorns starter Kyle Johnson (1-1) did not allow a hit through the first 5-1/3 innings but then surrendered a bunt single to Anthony Prato, a single by Zac Susi and a two-run double by Feldstein hit a to give the Huskies the lead and the only runs they would need.

In the ninth and trailing by two, the Longhorns rallied as Clemens and Boswell coaxed walks from Connecticut reliever John Russell. Travis Jones brought home pinch runner Tate Shaw with a single but that’s all Texas could muster. The Longhorns outhit the Huskies, 5-4, in the defeat but left nine runners on base.

Texas returns to the field Tuesday when it hosts Lamar before traveling to Stanford for a four-game series beginning Thursday in Palo Alto, Calif.

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