Habe on the ‘Horns: Horns baseball team shows grit over first two weeks

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

Nothing is easy in baseball, so you’ll have to excuse Texas’ somewhat mediocre record after the first two weeks of the 2016 season. Expect the Longhorns to be better than their 4-3 record through their initial seven games shows, with lessons learned along the way and plenty of sage advice from venerable coach Augie Garrido.

It has been either feast or famine for the Longhorns in six of their first seven games, with the exception being Sunday’s 11-1 loss to Stanford that allowed the Cardinal to escape Austin with a split of the teams’ annual four-game series.

The setback Sunday was the first time [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]this year that Texas was outplayed and the first time the Longhorns lost by more than one run.

“This is a prime example of how momentum can change in baseball from one game to the next,” Garrido said. “Baseball is such a game of nuisances and adjustments. Stanford had everything going its way today and we really didn’t have anything.”

The Cardinal took it to Texas from the beginning Sunday, taking advantage of the wildness of Texas starter Connor Mayes to score three runs in their first inning at the plate. Mayes walked two in the first inning, then gave up two soft singles — the second of which plated two runs — and then balked home a third run.

That was really all that Stanford and its starter Brett Hanewich would need. Texas scored its only run in the fourth, on a triple by Travis Jones that chased home Kacy Clemens from first. After that hit, Hanewich retired the next nine batters in a row and left the game with a 5-1 lead, having stranded six Longhorn batters in 6 1/3  innings of work.

Three of UT’s four wins have come in blowout fashion (11-2 and 7-0 last weekend versus UNLV and 7-0 Saturday against Stanford), and its other three games (two extra-inning losses and a 4-3 victory Friday against Stanford) were by one-run nail-biters.

The Longhorns are a team that lives on the edge and revels in the one-run game won by execution and the move-’em-along-and-rely-on-a-clutch-hit strategy preached by Garrido.

“It’s difficult not to play for results, but if (the players) think of results during the performance instead of process, the performance is not great,” Garrido said. “It’s a hard thing to learn, and the ones that can’t learn it or can’t sustain it, they don’t play very long.”

So what do we know about Texas after the first two weeks?

We know the Longhorns’ pitching will keep them in almost every game, and that catcher/designated hitter Tres Barrera can really hit the ball. We also know that infielder Joe Baker might be the key player for Texas, even as he deals with nerve damage in his throwing arm.

We learned that Kyle Johnston, the team’s closer for most of 2015, can thrive as starting pitcher, that freshman Chase Shugart is an able (and quick-working) closer, and that Travis Jones can hit.

We have learned that Texas will stick to its plan with situational pitching, especially if the starter is struggling. We know that lefthander Ty Culbreath has emerged as the Longhorns’ ace, winning his first two outings while allowing one run and six hits in 13 innings of work.

“We are working hard and fighting through some injuries,” Texas outfielder Zane Gurwitz said, “and we know we are going to get better as long as we keep the right attitude.”

There still is plenty of work to do and games to play, starting with Tuesday’s first contest away from Disch-Falk Field, against Texas State in San Marcos. Then the Longhorns continue with their early-season run through the Pac-12 Conference, hosting Cal for four games next weekend.

Texas heads to Los Angeles for three games against UCLA March 11-13 before heading to College Station for a showdown with Texas A&M. Remember them?

The youthful Longhorns — there are only two seniors on the roster — will get better, and Texas is going to win plenty of games, so let’s be patient. Four wins in seven games may not be the optimal way to begin the season but there’s certainly a lot of talent on which to build.

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