No. 24 Texas Baseball traveled to Lubbock, Texas to play No. 17 Texas Tech, one of Texas’ most welcoming of rivals in the friendliest of zip codes, and this is what happened in the first of three games the teams will play in the last Big 12 regular season.
There comes a point when you have to face reality and deal with it. Texas lost four games in a row in the first five days of March, and to make matters worse, Texas A&M let them have it, at home in front of a full Yeti Yard and packed Disch-Falk Field, 9-2. Texas had just six hits against Texas A&M
Texas rolled into a friendly neighborhood in Lubbock, TX better known as Texas Tech and showed how sick and tired they were of losing, how sick and tired they were of the horns down, and how sick and tired they were of being defeated by ranked teams.
At the end of the first inning, Texas scored four runs on four hits, one a home run from #44 Max Belyeu. Texas inhaled over the next two innings and wouldn’t you know, Texas Tech tied the game 4-4.
Top of the 4th, Texas said ‘hold my beer’ and went to work at the plate with seven runs starting off with a Peyton Powell single that scored Will Gasparino and Kimble Schuessler for two. Downtown Porter Brown sent a ball to orbit so fast the centerfielder did not even turn to look to see if he had a chance and never moved from his spot. The ball was gone, obliterated to smithereens. That home run added three more runs. Schuessler, batting again in the fourth, hit a double down the third base line that scored Belyeu and Rylan Galvan.
All this while Texas has two outs.
In the fifth inning, Texas scored five more runs capped off with a Rylan Galvan GRAND SLAM over left field that scored sluggers Brown, Powell, and Jered Thomas. You could call those insurance runs, but Texas was not finished yet even though the score was 16-4 after five innings.
Catching their breath, Texas scored two more in the sixth on just one hit. Texas Tech pitchers walked in both runs.
If that was not enough, just to shut up the ‘horns down’ fan in the most welcoming of zip codes, in the ninth, Texas put the game so far out of reach with four more run on a Will Gasparino GRAND SLAM home run over left field. Texas Tech’s only chance of coming back would have been if a t-ball was set up for them, even then Texas would have likely struck them out.
Ace Whitehead gets the win pitching the second half of the ball game after facing 21 batters, throwing 82 pitches (53 strikes), striking out seven, walking two, and allowing five hits.
Texas players had 47 chances at bat, every player scored a run, four players scored three runs, Gasparino scored four runs, and every player got at least one hit with Powell getting four hits, Gasparion smashing five hits.
Texas released so much energy upon Texas Tech you could have measured it on a Rickter scale, and this was no tremor, but a full on earthquake.
After a good smoke and a night of rest, Texas plays Texas Tech again Mar 9 (Sat) at 2 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+.
Texas puts Cody Howard on the mound to start the game. Howard is a 6’1″ right-handed pitcher from The Woodlands, Texas. Howard is 2-0 so far this season with a 3.29 ERA.
#HookEm
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