The 2021 Texas baseball season has come to a close and by every standard it was an amazing success. Coming in to the season Texas was a solid top three team in the Big XII and also a pretty solid top ten to twelve team nationally. I thought they would challenge for the Big XII title but with so many freshman starting, that a second or even third place finish was more likely as both Tech and TCU were stacked and experienced teams. I also thought a national seed was possible though somewhere in the 6-8 range if the starting pitchers which was the strength of the team all stepped up and if the freshman could grow quickly.
The season started with a lost weekend in Arlington where it seemed like Texas was going to challenge every record ever written for strikeouts in a game, a weekend, a season..... That 0-3 start though was the impetus for a players only meeting and what came out of that was a team united not down and a sense of purpose that stayed constant throughout the season. It was clear early on that this team had an outstanding pitching staff both in the weekend rotation and in the bullpen. I started to think this team could be special when they swept a good South Carolina team in early March and then the 16 game win streak after the midweek loss to aggy where Pete Hansen pitched great but the bats never came alive put this team in great position to challenge for the Big XII regular season title and a national seed. The freshman and redshirt freshman in key positions were outstanding from Faltine at SS who is already the best defensive player at that position we have seen in a long time to Silas Ardoin who was a rock behind the plate. Fellow freshman Hodo and Daly became mainstays in the lineup and Dylan Campbell made some key contributions. Meanwhile the grad transfer Antico was such a leader and with Zubia and Petrinsky there was a solid group of older players who brought stability to such a young lineup. And of course my fellow El Pasoan Melendez transferring in was showing his strength and power and his 6 game home run streak was just awesome.
The Big XII was not as stacked as years past as really there were only 4 good teams and a couple of just average ones. The Horns had winning weekends in Waco, Fort Worth, and Stillwater and even with the series loss to Tech they claimed a share of the Big XII regular season title. While the Horns would go 2-2 in OKC that was a meaningless weekend as they had clinched a national seed already and there was no need to overwork their pitching staff with far more important games on the horizon.
Ty Madden and Tristan Stevens were a fantastic top two starters and again it was freshman in Witt and Nixon who led an outstanding bullpen. One thing I really appreciate about Pierce is that he knows that seasons can be made or lost in the midweek games and so he has a strong number 4 pitcher and an emphasis on winning those games. To start the year it was Hansen in that number 4 role though he was too good to stay there and by the end it was Kubichek and Gordon. That number four starter is critical come post season and those midweek games are the proving ground. Hansen was so good midweek he worked his way up to the three spot and by the end of the year he was pitching as well, if not better, than Madden and Stevens.
One of Pierce's greatest strengths (and unfortunately his biggest weakness) is his trust in his pitchers. I honestly think its why he is such a good recruiter of pitching talent, he doesn't have the quick hook and he lets his pitchers pitch their way out of situations. Pitchers want to pitch for a coach who trusts them. Unfortunately for the many times where that trust works there are always a few times where it doesnt and those tend to be in critical times like the last game of this season when Stevens was allowed to come out for the sixth against MSU even though he had struggled mightily in the fifth. The night before I felt he stayed with a tired Witt too long into the 8th. The tradeoff usually works in his favor but for Pierce to go from great coach (which he already is) to the truly elite level, that is something he will need to get a better handle on.
The other recurring issue throughout the season was the strikeouts. While that is a baseball wide issue and we all loved watching Madden mow down double digit strikeouts in games it was frustrating when the opposing pitchers did it to a very good Texas lineup culminating in a 21 strikeout bang your head against a wall performance on the first game of the CWS that led to an incredibly frustrating 2-1 loss. This Texas team forced pitchers deep into counts and that depleted other teams staffs, Texas also had great power and was hitting home runs at a pace we haven't seen in a long time so there was a tradeoff for all those K's and when you win 50 games and make the national semifinals its hard to nit pick but the K issue was a season long dilemma.
At the end of the year I thought Texas was a legit top five team and would slot in at the four or five seed but the NCAA gave the Horns a very favorable two spot. Going into the post season Texas had the pitching staff to not only get to Omaha but really do some damage. But this was very young team and how they would stand up in the crucible of the post season was an open question. The home regional drew a solid field with traditional power Arizona State and a Fairfield team that had only lost three games all year. In the supers was a likely matchup with pre-season number one Florida or traditional power Miami. Texas made quick work of its regional and watched as the world was turned upside down in Gainesville and South Florida was the surprise winner. The Horns almost blew game one of the super but a ninth inning rally won that game and they cruised to Omaha with a game two blowout. The team that had dominated all year, Arkansas, was upset in its home super and going into Omaha the Horns were the top seed remaining. The Horns pitching in Omaha was good enough to win it all but at crucial times in the two losses the bats went silent. You cant win when you strikeout 21 times and you almost never win when you only get four hits and that is what led to the two losses. In spite of that opening loss in Omaha, the Horns showed incredible resilience winning three straight elimination games before falling in another heartbreaking loss to a very good Mississippi State team. Texas ends the year with NC State as co number three finishers.
While the loss last night is heartbreaking it does us all well to remember just how young this team is and just how much it accomplished and in many ways how it over achieved. While Madden, Stevens, Zubia, Melendez, Antico, Cam Williams and a few others are likely gone, the freshman core of this team will be back next year with all this experience and with a likely weekend rotation of Hansen, Witt, and Gordon next year, Texas will start the year as a top five team. Pierce has shown his recruiting chops and the future of Texas baseball is in good hands and is very bright. It has been a tremendous pleasure watching Texas baseball this season and this is a team quickly climbed into a group of my favorite teams at Texas for its heart, grit, and never say die attitude. 2021 will always have a special place in my memories.
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