Texas sweeps Texas Southern in doubleheader action

The Texas Longhorns executed in every facet of the game in a doubleheader versus Texas Southern on Saturday afternoon and evening. After scoring early in both games, the Longhorn batters and pitchers rode a wave of confidence and relaxation and swept the Tigers at UFCU Disch-Falk Field (4-0 and 12-0).

"I think you saw the team much more relaxed when in fact they had runs to work with," coach Augie Garrido said.

In the first game, the Texas pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter that helped Texas to a 4-0 victory. Parker French got the designated start and went three innings and stuck out two batters in his fifth win of the season. Travis Duke came on in relief and pitched two innings and Corey Knebel recorded his ninth save of the season after striking out four batters over two innings. Since the Longhorns were playing a doubleheader, Texas' first game was scheduled for seven innings, while the second game was scheduled for nine innings.

The Longhorns put their first run on the scoreboard in the second inning when Ty Marlow hit an RBI single to center field and scored Jacob Felts. Brooks Marlow drove in the second run of the game on an infield single, which allowed Collin Shaw to score.

Collin Shaw tripled to right center and the Longhorns added their third run of the game in the fourth inning after Ty Marlow hit a sacrifice fly to score Shaw.

C. J Hinojosa tripled off the wall in left field in the sixth inning. Jeremy Montalbano singled to left on the next at-bat and scored Hinojosa—4-0 Texas.

Three Texas batters went 2 for 3 in the first game—C.J Hinojosa, Mark Payton and Collin Shaw. Ty Marlow added two RBIs in the first game.

The Longhorns hit a season-high three triples—Brooks Marlow in the 1st, Collin Shaw in the 4th, and Hinojosa in the 6th inning.

The hot Texas bats picked up where they left off in the first game as the Longhorns scored runs in bunches and the pitchers shut down the Tigers' lineup again in a 12-0 victory.

Brooks Marlow, Mark Payton, Jeremy Montalbano, and Taylor Stell each had two RBIs in the game.

The Longhorns struck early in the first inning after Brooks Marlow hit a leadoff triple down the right field line. Mark Payton hit a RBI groundout in the next at-bat to score Marlow and put Texas up 1-0.

The Longhorns scored seven runs in the second inning—the most runs in one inning this season. With the bases loaded, Taylor Stell hit a 2-run double down the left field line and put Texas ahead 4-0. In the next at-bat, Brooks Marlow hit an RBI-double to score the runner from second. Mark Payton walked, before a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Weiss grounded out to second and scored Brooks Marlow. C.J Hinojosa hit an RBI-triple to right field. With Hinojosa on third base, Montalbano hit a sacrifice fly to put Texas on top 8-0.

In the sixth inning Texas added two more insurance runs. Taylor Stell garnered a infield base hit before Mark Payton tripled to right field to score Stell—9-0 Texas. A passed ball allowed Payton to score from third—10-0 Texas.

Texas (26-22, 6-14 Big 12) scored two more runs in the eighth inning to complete the sweep over Texas Southern. Brooks Marlow struck out swinging, but reached first base safely on a wild pitch. Weiss singled to center and Hinojosa walked. Another wild pitch allowed the runner to score from third—11-0 Texas. A fielder's choice allowed the Longhorns to add one more run in the inning—12-0 Texas.

A heart-warming moment occurred in the seventh inning when coach Augie Garrido allowed two seniors on the roster to pinch hit. One of the seniors, Patrick Marsh, garnered an infield base hit in his first career at-bat. Coach Augie Garrido pulled him out of the game to preserve his perfect average.

"How cool is that?" coach Garrido said. "That might be the coolest thing. Patrick [Marsh] now if anybody ever asks him, "How did you do at Texas?", he can respond—I batted 1.000."

Marsh's teammates and the Texas fans went crazy when Patrick hit the infield single.

"That was awesome," Parker French said. "That was one of the coolest things I've seen this year. Literally it kind of gave everyone goosebumps. How hard he's worked for four years...to get that one at-bat and one hit—that's special."

The Texas pitching staff was nothing short of dominant in the doubleheader. Three Texas pitchers combined to shutout the Tigers in the second game, allowing only one hit. Dillon Peters was the designated starter and picked up his sixth win of the season after pitching three innings and striking out three batters. Nathan Thornhill came on in relief and pitched four innings and struck out four. Josh Urban came on in the seventh inning and struck out one batter in the two innings he pitched.

The Longhorns combined for 26 hits in the doubleheader—10 of which were extra base hits.

The Longhorns will need to take this positive momentum and remain focused for next week. Texas returns to action on Thursday in a three-game series versus TCU in Fort Worth. TCU played a doubleheader against West Virginia on Saturday and lost the first game, but won the second, 7-4.

The Longhorns still have a mathematical shot at the post season. Texas will need West Virginia to beat TCU on Sunday and then Texas must sweep TCU in the three-game series for a chance to play in the Big 12 Tournament.

"We're going to play hard up in Forth Worth," French said. "We just have to watch and see what happens."