Longhorns Baseball Getting Back that Winning Feeling

It’s taken the better part of three seasons, but the Texas baseball team finally looks like itself again. Texas leads the Big 12 and has climbed into the top 10 in the national rankings with sights set on returning to their late May home-away-from-home.

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Following a College World Series berth in 2011, the Longhorns got away from legendary coach Augie Garrido’s calling cards, and the results showed. Pitching became less dominant and Texas forgot how to play small ball.

The 2012 team won 30 games and finished third in the Big 12 regular season standings but didn’t receive an invitation to the NCAA tournament after getting swept out of the conference tournament in Oklahoma City. The 2013 team hit – as far as Texas baseball is concerned – rock bottom: just 27 wins, a ninth-place finish in the Big 12 and no post-season of any kind.

Those disappointing seasons came after the 2011 team tied for the conference regular season title and rallied to win both the regional and super regionals at home after suffering early losses. Led by the pitching of Taylor Jungmann, Sam Stafford, Cole Green and Cory Knebel, those Horns posted a collective 2.35 ERA to complement an offensive attack that hit a modest .269 with 166 extra base hits in 68 games. More importantly, those Horns bunted runners over 111 times.

In the depths of 2012 and 2013, the noticeable difference in team statistics became the bunting. Over 104 games, the Longhorns successfully sacrificed runners only 118 times. They didn’t compensate for the lack of small ball with booming bats, either. The 2012 team managed 127 extra base hits and the 2013 team had just 100.

This year, though, Texas is back to its winning ways. Heading into a homestand that began Tuesday, Texas has already surpassed last year’s win total of 27 and matched the 2012 total with its next 10-2 victory over UT-Arlington. Led by senior Mark Payton’s .350 average and season-and-a-half long on-base streak, Texas is hitting a collective .268, averaging two extra base hits and 1.6 sacrifice bunts per game. That’s right on pace with the 2011 CWS team.

Baseball America, which ranks Texas sixth nationally this week, noticed that Garrido’s team has its mojo back.

“What you see that’s different, it’s about their spirit. Isn’t it cool?” Texas coach Augie Garrido told Aaron Fitt. “We have a different attitude about what we’re doing at the University of Texas. We have kicked the character ‘Entitlement’ out of our facility. He doesn’t get to play here; ‘Entitlement’ has been removed. So it’s the attitude change, that everyone is contributing to the team, and giving to the team. It’s an ongoing process of getting better each day.”

Longhorns pitchers are enjoying the resurgence as well. Texas has a 2.12 ERA, lowest since that 2011 season. Of the regulars, Lukas Schiraldi has the highest ERA at 3.68, but he’s also second on the team with five wins (tied with Dillon Peters). Current Big 12 pitcher of the week Nathan Thornhill has emerged as an ace, posting a 6-0 record and a minuscule 0.78 ERA. In Sunday’s sweep-clinching complete game at Oklahoma, Thornhill saw a 23.1 inning scoreless streak end. He’s allowed just one run in his last 30.1 innings, two in his last 35.2. Parker French (4-2, 2.21) rounds out the starting rotation and John Curtiss closes things down. He’s recorded five saves in 13 appearances with a 0.92 ERA and allowed just nine hits in 19.2 innings.

Texas opened a nine-game homestand Tuesday against UT-Arlington before TCU comes to town. After a mid-week tilt with UT Pan American, Oklahoma State comes calling. The Cowboys and Horned Frogs are second and third in the conference standings behind the Longhorns.
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