Making amends: baseball wins three of four games in key-early season series against Northwestern

By Steve Habel/Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 23 Texas made amends, in a big way, for a sloppy beginning to a four-game series with Northwestern by dominating and recording wins the final three games of the series, including a 12-1, seven-inning victory Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

All that timely hitting and close-down pitching that Texas didn’t produce in the first game was displayed aplenty in the final three games, most notably Saturday’s nightcap and the series finale Sunday when the Longhorns (8-4) combined to score 28 runs, surrendered just four and never trailed.

“After losing Friday, coming back and [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]winning three straight games to win the series is just a great tribute to our guys fighting back and getting quality at-bats all weekend,” Texas coach David Pierce said.

“The defense was really superb. We understood that one got away from us on Friday night but we couldn’t dwell on it because we had a lot of baseball in front of us. We did a nice job of that moving forward.”

Junior left fielder Masen Hibbeler had career-high four hits, scored three runs and recorded two RBI in Sunday’s win, as redshirt freshman designated hitter Zach Zubia had three hits and three runs batted in, and sophomore third baseman Ryan Reynolds added two hits and three RBI to back the combined three-hit pitching of Matteo Boccie and Bryce Elder.

Bocchi, the right-hander from Parma, Italy, made his first career start at Texas and went 4-2/3 solid innings.

“We learned from that first night that we couldn’t take Northwestern lightly” Hibbeler said. “We came in these last three games really trying to keep the hammer down and do things the way we do. We’re feeling good. We’re starting to click as an offense and we hope to keep that rolling.”

Texas scored two runs in the first and three in the second, making an early statement that the series opener was an anomaly and not a harbinger of things to come.

The Longhorns used 15 hits, including six for extra bases (three of them triples) and scored in all but one inning of the run-rule victory.

Once again, Texas was bolstered by the top of the order. The first three hitters — sophomore shortstop David Hamilton, Hibbeler and junior second baseman Kody Clemens — each notched a triple in the game, the first time the Longhorns have hit three three-baggers in a game since May 11, 2013 against Texas Southern. Hamilton finished with two hits, and Clemens extended his season-long hitting streak to 12 games.

The Longhorns’ win in the series finale built on their doubleheader sweep Saturday of Northwestern and, most assuredly, helped to make up for UT’s loss to the Wildcats’ victory in the opening game of the four-game series on Friday night.

Northwestern (3-7) took the game right at Texas Friday, securing a 6-2 win via execution in situational hitting and the Longhorns’ inability to follow suit.

“Northwestern came in here ready to play and they beat us in all phases of the game,” Pierce said of the UT’s loss Friday. “They ran the bases really well, played good defense, pitched well and stayed off the fat of the bat. They just did a better job than us.”

Junior pitcher Chase Shugart (0-1) took the loss for the Longhorns after giving up five runs, all earned, and six hits in six innings on the mound.

Shugart left the game trailing 5-2 as the Longhorns threatened in the final three frames but could not make a dent in the Wildcats’ lead, leaving seven runners in scoring position in the game and 10 overall runners on base.

Zubia and sophomore outfielder Duke Ellis each had two hits to lead the seven-hit Texas attack in Friday’s game, while Zubia and Kody Clemens had a run batted in each.

“We need to work better together as a team,” junior Texas catcher Michael McCann said. “We got runners on base early but then we would pop up, or roll over and we didn’t get the runners in. We’re starting out hot, but we can’t capitalize. That’s what we need to do to win.”

The Longhorns capitalized much better Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader from Northwestern, 10-7 and 16-3, with UT’s power at the plate having the biggest say in the outcomes of those games.

In Game 1, the Longhorns hit three home runs, a two-run shot by Clemens in the first, another two-run blast by Reynolds in the fourth and solo round-tripper by Ellis in the seventh while pinch hitter senior Jake McKenzie added an RBI double in the eighth as extra base hits made up half of Texas’ eight hits in the game.

Junior Nolan Kingham (2-1) got the win for Texas, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out seven and walking three. Junior Andy McGuire relived pitched 2-2/3 innings, surrendering four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk before junior Beau Ridgeway earned his second save of the year with 2/3 of an inning of one-hit closure.

The Longhorns won despite being outhit 12-8 and by reversing the script from the series opener; Northwestern left 11 men on base as the Texas pitching and defense made the plays it had to to win.

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, played in misting rain, the Longhorns used a strong start from Blair Henley and four multiple-run innings on offense to overwhelm Northwestern.

Henley (2-0) was dominant in his six shutout innings of work allowing just two hits while striking out four and extending his scoreless innings streak to 12.

The offense behind Henley provided plenty of support as he left with the Longhorns ahead 13-0. Texas picked up a run in the first thanks to a passed ball and plated three in the second thanks to a Hamilton sacrifice fly and a Hibbeler two-run double.

It was in the third, however, that the Texas offense erupted. DJ Petrinsky and Reynolds notched back-to-back singles to open the frame before McKenzie drew a walk. With the bases loaded, Ellis lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to make it 5-0.

Kamron Fields then took a pitch to the shoulder to load the bases once again before Hamilton drew a walk to force in the Longhorns’ sixth run. The very next pitch hit Hibbeler in the back to make it 7-0 and a wild pitch followed to push the lead to 8-0. Clemens followed with a three-run, opposite field home run that expanded Texas’ lead to 11-0.

Texas added two in the fifth thanks to Zubia’s run-scoring single and a wild pitch and three in the eighth via a Hibbeler sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice that plated a run. The Wildcats countered with a run in the seventh off Parker Joe Robinson and two in the ninth off Bryce Verplank, but the deficit was too great and the Longhorns finished it out with a 16-3 win.

“We did what we were supposed to do today,” Pierce said after the two wins Saturday. “We came out and took charge of the game. I’m really proud of the defense today and how they stayed locked in the entire day.

“Overall it was a solid doubleheader. It’s hard to win a doubleheader against anyone, especially coming off an emotional loss Friday night. It’s a credit to our guys’ ability to know that we didn’t play as well as we could or should. They were able start with a clean slate to have the opportunity to bounce back, which shows a lot about our guys.”

Texas returns to action Thursday when it begins a four-game, four-day series with No. 8 Stanford at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

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