By Steve Habel, Senior Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — There’s a different feel around the Texas baseball team these days, but if the Longhorns are going to take the next step forward, they have to make things happen against the best squads in the Big 12 Conference, a league that’s as tough as any in the country.
The Longhorns showed Friday night in a 2-1 loss to defending conference champ and sixth-ranked Texas Tech in warm and breezy conditions at UFCU Disch-Falk Field that while they have the skills to go toe to toe with one of the league’s heavyweights, they just might not yet be ready to land that knockout punch — not yet, at least.
Texas Tech’s Davis Martin and two relievers allowed just two hits and Michael Berglund doubled home the game-winner in the seventh inning for the Red Raiders (15-4, 1-0 in Big 12 play).
Texas [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)](13-7, 0-1 in Big 12 play) threatened in both the eighth and ninth innings, putting runners on third base with two outs off Tech lefthander Parker Mushinski each time.
In the ninth, the Red Raiders turned to fireballing freshman reliever John McMilion, who walked Kody Clemens before striking out pinch-hitter Michael McCann on a 96-mile per hour fastball to end the game and earn his third save of the season.
“It was a well-pitched game by both starters, and both teams played good defense,” Texas coach David Pierce said after the Longhorns dropped their first conference game and snapped a six-game winning streak.
“We competed but we just didn’t get it done. Tech doesn’t make mistakes. You have to go earn everything you get. We had some opportunities to win, but we didn’t capitalize on them.”
Martin (3-1) struck out six and walked four in 6 1/3 innings of work in out-dueling Texas starter Nolan Kingham (2-2). Kingham allowed seven hits and two earned runs in seven innings while striking out three and not walking a batter.
Beau Ridgeway relieved in the eighth and was all but perfect, allowing a runner on an error by shortstop David Hamilton while striking out one.
Tech got on the board first via a one-out, solo home run over the left-centerfield fence by Michael Davis in the top of the third inning. The Longhorns’ Tate Shaw answered in the bottom of the frame with his own one-out solo long ball, a shot that barely cleared the rightfield fence into the teeth of a gusting wind, that tied the score at 1-1.
That deadlock remained until the top of seventh, when the Red Raiders’ Michael Berglund doubled to right field to score Hunter Hargrove, who led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch.
A one-out walk to Texas’ Ryan Reynolds in the bottom of the seventh inning chased Martin, but Mushinski coaxed Kody Clemens into a fly ball to center before striking out Michael Cantu to end the threat.
Hamilton’s single in the sixth inning was UT’s only other hit, and the Longhorns stuck out a combined 11 times.
“We swung at pitchers’ pitches tonight instead of waiting for pitches we could do something with,” Texas second baseman Bret Boswell said. “Martin had good control and he kept us off balance but we put ourselves in bad positions because of our lack of patience at plate. We will learn from this and move forward. We still can win this series.”
The Longhorns and Red Raiders return to action in a 4 p.m. matchup Saturday.
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