It will be a short wrap-up today, as I (AO this time) am in charge of the judges for the greatest event of the year and have some stuff to do for that. But on to something you care anything about.
The baseball Longhorns got back on track with a crucial series win at home against Texas Tech this weekend. Texas took Game One 9-5, lost Game Two 4-2, and won the rubber game 8-1. While it was disappointing to squander a 2-0 first-inning lead on Saturday that could have gotten the Longhorns a big conference sweep, the team did what they absolutely had to do: get back in the win column after a really tough 0-3 weekend in Lawrence. The way college baseball is set up, the formula for success is to win two of three the vast majority of the time, get an occasional sweep, and avoid getting swept. Texas has already failed on the third point, but one off weekend won't kill their conference title hopes. There is no reason the 'Horns can't expect to win two games each weekend from here on out.
A few notes:
Next up: Oral Roberts comes to UFCUDFF tomorrow evening at 6:30, and the Longhorns travel to Stillwater "At Least it's Not Norman," OK to take on the Cowboys this weekend.
0 recs | 6 comments
Tech Series
Thanks for the post, but I am not as optimistic as you are.
I do think we have excellent pitching, and our defense is pretty solid.
Our execution continues to be suspect. We had two base-running errors on Saturday, most likely due to 3rd Base Coach Tommy Harmon, that probably cost us getting 2 runs, if not 3. I really think we might have won the game but for those mistakes. Another bad decision on the bases on Sunday.
Saturday and Sunday we failed to execute sacrifice bunts, I think 3 times.
And don’t discount the four runs on four errors by Tech Friday night in one inning, plus a balk. 4 unearned runs are gifts we can’t expect often.
This is a very talented group of baseball players, but they have some real challenges on offense and are going to have to gel more as a team soon. This weekend will be a big challenge. Okie State is a decent ball club.
I am still optimistic that we have a shot at a good post-season, but they have their work cut out for them. More than anything else, they need to start hitting. We have two guys hitting over .300 – Belt & Hernandez, and Hernandez is on the bench (8 errors and .887 fielding percentage). I am pretty sure Belt got over .300 this weekend.
Let’s hope for a good win tomorrow night against Oral Roberts and a series win in Stillwater.
Hook Em.
ATXHornsFan - March 30, 2009
Bullpen
The Austins — Dicharry and Wood — were both excellent in relief yesterday afternoon. They combined to give up just two hits and no runs over 4.1 innings of work. Keith Shinaberry only faced one batter, giving up an infield single. These three carried the torch after a pedestrian start by Cole Green. Green only gave up 1 run (a solo blast to left center), but scattered 7 hits over 4.2 innings. Tech hit several balls hard, but right at Texas defenders. On a positive note, Green was able to get himself out of trouble twice by inducing double plays.
Sweed4Heisman - March 30, 2009
What I observed at the baseball games on Friday and Sunday....
Our hitting approach is a very educated approach. In both of the games, hitters seemed to get 4-7 pitches a bat routinely. Whether the batter was up 3-0 and took a 4th ball or being down 1-2 and fighting back by fouling off pitches at bat, our hitters made Tech’s pitchers throw a lot of pitches.
This approach forced Tech to go through 5 pitchers on Sunday and this sophisticated approach at the plate is what makes Augie the best coach at UT.
My professional team(the Texas Rangers) is just now figuring out how to work the pitch count, even on good pitchers. The Rangers hitting instructor, Rudy Jaramillo, is proclaimed to be “the best hitting instructor in major league baseball” by many major leaguers. However, what Rudy teaches is the swing and how to hit, but not so much the mental part of the game that Augie focuses on and what to do in different hitting situations. This allows a good pitcher to go 7 or 8 innings instead of 6 or 7, if the count was worked right.
The Longhorns have good(or really good) pitching and pretty good defense. I personally feel that it’s just a matter of time before our hitting truly breaks out of the funk and starts to knock in some serious runs. At the end of the day, I’ll take our good pitching and lack of offense, as the bats will eventually come through.
A couple of funny things from the games:
1. Tant Shepherd missed the easiest catch this weekend on Friday night when he was getting ready to gun down a guy at the plate, but forgot to catch the ball first. He made up on Sunday with a very nice sliding grab out in left.
2. Moldy got hit by a pitch in the back part of his thigh on Sunday and the ump ruled that he stepped into it. The only thing he did wrong was not jump back 5 ft from his batting stance, but whatever.
3. Augie came out during maybe the 5th inning or so Sunday to talk to the first base coach about Tech pitching too fast. As he got back to the dugout, the home plate umpire stopped the game to wipe off the home plase bag, haha. As y’all know, we now have turf EVERYWHERE! There is no dirt, maybe a little synthetic black pebble or two…..but it was hilarious as the ump obviously wanted to show Augie who was in charge.
I know it’s frustrating when the ‘Horns aren’t hitting, but if we exercise a little patience with this team, they might really impress us….Hook em!
SneezyBeltran - March 30, 2009
Also, how does Tommy Harmon still have a job?
I don’t know how hard it is to coach 3rd base, but I’ve definitely seen better coaches hold down 3rd base…
SneezyBeltran - March 30, 2009
Great observations
It’s funny, as the starting pitching has begun to slide, which was inevitable, the bullpen has really impressed. Dicharry and Shinaberry are really coming on and Jungmann and Wood are just terrific. The offense has been concerning at times, but with the pitching being so good I have to think this team is in great shape.
40AS - March 30, 2009
Dicharry was very good Sunday!
He really impressed me and as far as I could tell Shinaberry was only put in as a matchup against the hitter and then when that guy got a hit, they just put in Dicharry who I figured would go 3 or 4 innings. I think he got about 3 and looked good doing it.
SneezyBeltran - March 30, 2009
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