By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer
AUSTIN – Texas third baseman Ryan Reynolds is not a player to be trifled with or challenged, whether at the plate, in the field, or in the clubhouse.
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Reynolds is the Longhorns’ switch-hitting junior from Sugar Land, not the Deadpool actor or the husband to Blake Lively. Still, he illustrated his star power and overall worth in spades on Friday, driving in Texas’ first two runs and making a sterling over-the-shoulder catch of a foul ball down the left-field line to help the Longhorns roll past Purdue 7-2 in the team’s home opener at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Texas (4-1) will play the Boilermakers three more times this weekend, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Reynolds will have a say in outcome of those games as well.
After batting .247 last season and ranking at the bottom among the Longhorns with at least 151 at bats, Reynolds has turned over a new leaf for the new campaign. He’s had at least one hit in each of the Longhorns’ five games.
Reynolds has stepped up to help fill the leadership void on the 23rd ranked Longhorns left by the likes of All-America second baseman Kody Clemens, who’s moved on to professional baseball, and shortstop David Hamilton, Texas’ sparkplug shortstop who’s out for the season after going 0-for-1 in his personal battle with one of the city’s infernal scooters.
“I was frustrated in the offseason as I watched the game from a different perspective,” Reynolds explained. “From behind the cage things look so easy, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t take anything for granted.”
Reynolds’ two-out single to left field in the bottom of the first inning plated Eric Kennedy and Austin Todd with the game’s first two runs.
“Ryan has just continued to mature, and when he sat out this summer with an injury he had to watch from behind the cage for batting practice and sit out of intersquads, and that just ate at him and has driven him to be a better player,” Texas coach David Pierce said.
Purdue (0-4) cut the lead in half when Johnny Sage’s double to left-center field was mishandled by Texas’ Duke Ellis, allowing Skyler Hunter to score all the way from first base.
The Longhorns responded with solo runs in the fifth, when Michael McCann’s single drive home Reynolds (who had walked), and in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Zach Zubia was deep enough for Eric Kennedy to rush home.
Reynolds’ sterling catch in the top of the sixth was every bit as impressive as anything he did at the plate on Friday. He chased the ball down the line on the dead run and caught it while leaning back toward the field. Reynolds then had the presence of mind to stumble to his feet in time to make a throw to second base to try to double off a Boilermaker runner trying to advance from first.
That Purdue runner was initially called out but was allowed the base when the play was overruled by umpire replay.
Reynolds may not have been able to make that play last year. He lost about 25 pounds in the offseason by swearing off junk food and late-night snacks, including his beloved Double-Stuffed Oreos. “Could I have made that catch last year?” Reynolds asked. “I don’t know – it would have been close.”
Pierce likes what he’s seeing from Reynolds, who’s never lacked for confidence or intensity.
“The biggest things is that Ryan’s body is in great shape,” Pierce said. “He’s always been great in the clubhouse, and he’s learning to control himself and handling his role as a leader much better.”
Those four runs were plenty for Texas starting pitcher Brad Elder (1-0), who scattered six hits and that lone unearned run in six innings of work.
While Elder was not as dominant as he was last Friday in the season-opener at Louisiana-Lafayette (when he pitched eight innings of one-run, four-hit baseball and struck out nine in a no-decision), he was good enough, striking out six and walking three.
Texas broke open the game with three runs in the seventh, as Hibbeler walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch before Todd ripped a two-run triple to the wall in right-center that chased home Ellis and Bryce Reagan.
Reagan and DJ Petrinsky led had two hits each to lead Texas’ eight-hit attack.
Cole Quintanilla pitched the seventh and eighth for Texas without allowing a hit and striking out one. Beau Ridgway surrendered three straight singles and a run in the ninth inning to close out the win.
The Longhorns and Boilermakers continue their series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
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