Horns hoping to clean up at Kansas this weekend

By Riley Zayas
Horns Illustrated Contributor

Just when things seemed to be improving for the Texas baseball squad, another loss came the Longhorns way Tuesday night, 6-2, to nonconference foe Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

It wasn’t the way any of the players wanted the midweek game to go after dropping two of three in the previous weekend series at home hosting West Virginia.

“Until we understand that it’s about us being much better and maturing when things matter, the key for us is understanding we have the ability to continue to get better,” head coach David Pierce said.

[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

Now the Horns look to get back on a win streak as they travel up to Lawrence, Kansas to face the last-place Jayhawks. With that said, there is a number of things Texas has done right as well as a numerous amount of things to watch in a series in which it is vital they win and even hope for a sweep in order to stay out of last place in the Big 12.

Superb freshmen showing their slugging ability

Just because Pierce has one of the youngest teams he’s ever had at Texas certainly doesn’t mean they can’t compete against the top teams in the Big 12. This is the case when it comes to Lance Ford and Eric Kennedy, both true freshmen who hadn’t fully yet made their mark — until now. Ford showed off his natural slugging abilities with a two home run game against West Virginia in the series finale. Even better, one of those homers was a grand slam, which blew the game wide open and helped the Horns break a six game losing streak by getting the 10-2 victory.

Kennedy’s big day came against the Mountaineers during the opening game of the series. In that contest, he had a career-high four hits and scored the Horns’ only two runs of the evening. Not to mention he currently leads Texas in batting average (minimum of 50 ABs), least amount of strikeouts (minimum of 50 ABs), ranks sixth on the club in walks and fourth in RBIs.

While seniors Masen Hibbeler and Duke Ellis are the leaders on this young ballclub, Ford and Kennedy, along with other freshmen, have begun to step up, making key plays which are critical to a team’s success.

“I refuse to let them run from the expectations,” says Pierce. “They’re going to have to build callous’ because I refuse to say, ’Well, they’re young’ and all that stuff.”

The maturity has definitely showed in these two freshmen and will be on display more than once against the pitching staff of the Kansas Jayhawks.

A battle at SS: Masen Hibbeler and Benjamin Sems

A brief comparison of these two stellar shortstops makes it obvious that a game wouldn’t be the same without their presence at the plate and especially in the field. Benjamin Sems has proven he can hit as he walloped two homers in Kansas’ recent showdown against Furman. At the same time, Hibbeler has put together a three-game hit streak and has 11 hits over the past seven contests.

Consistent hitting is just one facet of a great shortstop. One of the most important qualities playing in the hole is being sure handed defensively. As the Longhorns found out the tough way at Oklahoma State, errors quickly result in runs, and runs result in losses. Batters won’t be able to get much past either of these guys as Sems has only committed five errors on the season and Hibbeler has a .943 fielding percentage.

This will be an interesting matchup because the play of these two will factor into their team’s either winning or losing the series. For example, during games in which Hibbeler has at least one hit, Texas is 15-11. But when he is hitless, they have posted a measly record of 8-11.

While it is true that one player doesn’t win a series, the outcome of these three games in Lawrence will reflect which one of these shortstops played at the higher level and led their team down the road of success.

Dangerous one-run games

For both the Longhorns and Jayhawks, one-run games are extremely dangerous and both teams will try to avoid these types of contests at all costs. Recently, the Horns were on a frustrating streak, having lost four straight games in the ninth inning, all by just one run.

Meanwhile, Kansas has a poor 3-9 record in one-run games, proof that neither of these two teams have been strong when games are close.

Part of this is due to the pitching, which has been a weak spot for both squads throughout this season. Texas’ team ERA is 4.25 while Kansas’ 5.31 ERA is ranked last in the Big 12. In the end, this series will hinge upon who can get out ahead early, and whose relievers can close it out — a big task for two groups who are young and have struggled recently.

Pierce continues to have confidence is his relievers.

“I think some of our pitching challenges have come from trying to be perfect and having this negative creeping inside, as opposed to being the enforcer, the guy on the attack,” he said. “We know they’re good arms and will continue to be good pitchers.”

With such an important series coming up, the Horns have to make sure to stay positive and continue to play at the high level they’ve been at all season.

In nonconference play, Texas managed to sweep LSU, take a game from Stanford and beat Arkansas, all nationally ranked teams. Pierce knows this and isn’t worried about his team’s effort or talent heading into the final eight games of the regular season.

“Our guys’ effort is right. The Big 12 is a extremely strong league right now,” Pierce said.”Then there’s the level of talent, and if our mentality is right and we’re focusing pitch by pitch, that’s all I ask for.”

Indeed, this Texas ballclub has the skill and effort to win, but it will come down to the will to win and getting things to go their way. After a 1-7 record in their last eight games, the ball needs to start bouncing the Longhorns’ way really soon to help them earn a couple of, or even better, a few victories on the road this weekend.

Texas opens the series at Kansas Friday at 6 p.m., with Game 2 coming Saturday at 2 p.m. and the finale starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [habeabk] [/s2If]