AUSTIN, Texas — Collin Shaw stroked two doubles and three RBIs, and four Longhorn pitchers combined for a 5-0 shutout of the Minnesota Golden Gophers in game one of a doubleheader Saturday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
No. 8 Texas Baseball (5-2) got a strong start from sophomore left-hander Josh Sawyer who earned his first win of the year (1-1). Sawyer tossed five shutout frames, surrendering three hits and one walk, while striking out four Gophers to earn the victory.
The Longhorns were led at the plate by Shaw who was 2-for-4 with a pair of two-baggers, three RBIs and a run. For the series, Shaw now has five hits, all for extra bases (four doubles and a triple).
Zane Gurwitz also had two hits on the day and scored twice, and Joe Baker notched his first collegiate hit and scored two runs. Tres Barrera roped a double and C.J Hinojosa had a single and an RBI.
Both starters pitched well in the early going, with Sawyer recording all four of his strikeouts in the first three innings, and Minnesota lefty Dalton Sawyer retiring the first seven batters he saw.
Texas was able to breakthrough for a two spot in the bottom of the third. A one-out infield single by Gurwitz, followed by a walk to Baker and a base hit by Ben Johnson set the table for Shaw, who produced an RBI groundout advancing all the runners and scoring Gurwitz for the game's first run. A few pitches later, a wild pitch allowed Baker to score from third, making it 2-0 Horns.
Baker scored again in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-0. He led off the inning with a single to left field, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on a one out double to center off the bat of Shaw. The two-bagger gave Shaw his second RBI of the day and chased Dalton Sawyer, the Gopher starter from the game.
Josh Sawyer's day ended after the fifth inning and 78 pitches, giving way to the bullpen and right-hander Connor Mayes.
Shaw nabbed his third RBI and second double of the game in the bottom of the seventh, when he sent an 0-2 pitch down the right field line to score Gurwitz, who had singled and advanced on a fielder's choice. Hinojosa followed with a liner back up the box, scoring Shaw, making it 5-0 Texas.
Longhorn relievers Connor Mayes (1 1/3 IP), Kirby Below (1 2/3 IP) and Kyle Johnston (1 IP) combined to throw the final four shutout frames, surrendering four hits, two walks and striking out three. The bullpen's ERA dropped to 1.16 (four earned runs in 31 innings) after their outings in game one of the doubleheader.
The Golden Gophers fell to 0-5 on the season, and Dalton Sawyer lost his second start (0-2).
The second game of the doubleheader gets underway at 6:30 p.m from UFCU Disch-Falk Field with Texas' junior right-hander Chad Hollingsworth (0-0, 5.79) squaring off against Minnesota's sophomore righty Tim Shannon (0-0, 4.91).