Horns are finding their offensive stride

By Steve Habel/ Horns Illustrated Associate Editor

There was never a doubt that pitching was going to be the strength of the Texas baseball team and that the main need for improvement from last season – when the Horns did not win a Big 12 Conference series and finished last in the league – to this one would be made in the batting cage, the batter’s box and on the base paths.

UT dominated in both phases of the game over its past four outings, all wins, against Dallas Baptist on March 18 and this past weekend versus Columbia.

In those four games, the 15th-ranked Longhorns outscored the opposition 29-4. Texas beat Columbia, the favorite to win the Ivy League, 6-1 and 11-0 on Saturday after thrashing the Lions 7-3 on Friday night.

Texas sophomore outfielder Ben Johnson says it gets tiresome when[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]  people say the Longhorns can’t hit.

“We have to do something about that,” Johnson said. “Overall it was great to sweep [Columbia] this weekend and do really well offensively and play great defense as well.

“Winning like we did helps us build some confidence, especially for the younger guys who aren’t used to playing on teams that have put up good offensive numbers like they have in the past,” Johnson added. “So, it is good to show that we have the potential to do it, we just have to go out there and do it.”

In the three games against Columbia, Texas (19-6_ never trailed – after scoring run in the first inning of both games of the doubleheader Saturday, the Horns are now 9-0 this season when scoring in the first frame.

The Lions (5-12) had just 11 hits in the doubleheader Saturday and were outscored 24-4 in the three-game series.

The Longhorns (19-6) have scored 108 runs in their 25 games so far in 2014, with 55 of those (51 percent) coming with two outs in an inning. In the Columbia series Texas plated 23 runs, 14 of them (61 percent) with two outs.

Some other superlatives from Saturday’s doubleheader sweep:

Freshman Tres Barrera has raised his average 141 points (.128 to .269) since March 11, going 15-of-30 (.500) in that eight-game span. He was 7-for-13 (.538) in the three games against Columbia.

In the series, Johnson went 4-for-9 (.444) with three RBI and two runs; Brooks Marlow went 5-for-12 (.417) with four walks, a .563 on-base percentage, four runs and three RBI.
Texas committed just one error all weekend while turning four double plays. The Longhorns have 24 twin killings on the year.

The UT pitching staff forged a 0.67 ERA and surrendered just two earned runs in the series as Texas starters Dillon Peters, Parker French and Nathan Thornhill combined to work 21 1/3 innings.

Senior outfielder Mark Payton extended his national-best reached-base streak to 64 games.

Texas returns to action on Tuesday when its hosts Texas State at 6 p.m. The Longhorns then will hit the road for four games, including a three-game Big 12 series versus Texas Tech in Lubbock March 28-30 and a single game at Rice April 1.

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