I would have preferred Friday start because their best pitcher (who threw 170 something pitches last Friday and yesterday) really shouldn't be available until Sunday earliest and this gives him extra day of rest. Texas has pitching advantage overall while Stanford has home field and edge on offense though that is same advantage Miami had last weekend. Its not a crazy SEC venue so home field advantage is not like a Baton Rouge but its still a road series in California after playing on east coast the weekend before. Frankly this series comes down to three things, Gordon and LBJ continuing their season long awesome pitching, the bullpen being as solid in Palo Alto as it was in Coral Gables, and the bats actually showing up.
The weather will be fantastic. I read the home crowd is as non-energetic as fans watching an orange-white scrimmage. Our team will be amped to play this series. If Horns lose, it because they will have fallen back on their bad habits. They will have no one else but themselves to blame.
Here's some vintage artwork from our adversary's camp: And here's one suggestion the alumni shot down:
2023 NCAA Baseball Super Regionals: Five Things to Watch For "3. THE BALANCE OF TEXAS When you look at the sport of college baseball, most teams have some sort of flaw. Either they can hit great and pitch poorly or vice versa. However, when you look at a team like Texas, I see nothing but a balanced baseball team. The Longhorns had the best pitching staff in the Big 12 this season with pitcher of the year Lucas Gordon alongside Lebarron Johnson Jr who pitched a complete game last weekend against Miami. Not to mention the other arms they have coming out of the bullpen. To go along with their stellar pitching, Texas has also been doing well at the plate. Eric Kennedy, Garret Guillemette, Porter Brown, Peyton Powell, Dylan Campbell, and Jared Thomas have all been raking lately which makes this team a serious threat to win it all. I must admit, I didn’t see this team being this good this season, but I was wrong. They have some great young talent and now they have an opportunity to get to Omaha when nobody gave them a chance before the year started." Baloney! I did--I had us going to Omaha! And still do!
Lately emerging as a "Dude" at the plate near the back of the lineup, and appearing in Palo Alto this weekend; presenting................................ The Jack of (Sunken) Diamonds:
Uh I been talking about it since pre-season. I saw it but thought it unlikely as in lower percentage than usual but here we are on the cusp.
Starting with the Kansas series, late in the year, Jack has hit at a 0.340 batting average. He has hit 3 homeruns since the start of the Conference Tournament. This kind of performance near the back of the lineup makes a difference.
Sometimes a guy, whose bat has been pretty so-so all year at the plate (being generous here), will ignite at just the right time. He's done it before.
I don't know what it is but Texas always seems to hit another gear when it comes to the playoffs. This has transcended coaches, Daly, Flores, O'Dowd and LBJ has stepped up their performance and we are only going as far as those four and the bullpen can take us all things being equal. Someone will have to step up and be the hero from the bullpen this weekend for us to advance. Gordon isn't going to pitch a complete game.
David Maroul and Chris Carmichael comes to mind, they just come out of no where and perform at an unbelievable level to propel their team to victory. Who is it going to be this year?
Is Stehle going to finally elevate and show the college baseball world that he is the second coming of Roger Clemens? Is Daly, Flores or O'Dowd going to hit that game changing home run and be this years Carmichael or Maroul? Maroul also made some outstanding defensive plays at third base that year. These things are exciting and what hooked me on Texas baseball, LBJ and Hurley both stepped it up last week as did Daly, Flores and O'Dowd. Can't wait to see who the hero's are this weekend.
In baseball, we can truly say "We're Texas". We step up, and to be honest, I think we have seen occasions where perhaps the best explanation for the performances our opponents have turned in against us... is also "We're Texas". Occasionally, they clinch up because of that name on our jerseys.
My opinion is that Augie and DP play for the post season. There are several ways you can go about that. Pierce for example doesn’t giveaway the midweek resume building games. Contrast that to KSU this year. They lost out because they weren’t good during these games. For certain guys that he believes in, they get a fairly long leash in chances. LBJ is a good example too. Who cares that he wasn’t a full time starter early. He was building up his pitch count and confidence to get him to this moment. Augie and his bunting was about the team. He’d let off that some once the post season began. Not just this board, but others, I find it funny that the general tenor of the teams abilities has changed. It’s much more positive now. I haven’t looked incredibly closely, but I think we got the toughest draw to get to the final series at the CWS. We hit east coast and west coast. Stanford has talent and experience at deep runs. Miami had talent and some positive play leading into the tourney. They had a top position player and pitcher (albeit closer). Stanford has a top flight offense. Then if we pull this off, chances are good we get Wake. Maybe even twice before the final series. Take nothing for granted. Don’t be surprised by any positive outcomes.
Since he has been here hasn't the talk of "the guy is a fraud.....contract buy-out" by early March, and then going to Omaha sort of been Pierce's calling card? Seems like the "nobody gave them a chance" card pretty much makes them sort of a stone-cold lock for Omaha.