Texas v Kansas State April 12-14

Horns host the Wildcats at the Disch this weekend. If they have any hopes to win the Big XII really need a sweep.

Texassports preview:

No. 14 Baseball Preview: Kansas State - University of Texas Athletics

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
FRIDAY—Texas So. RHP Bryce Elder (2-1, 2.40) vs. Kansas State Fr. RHP Griffin Hassall (0-1, 2.77)
SATURDAY—Texas Jr. RHP Blair Henley (5-1, 3.86) vs. Kansas State Jr. RHP Kasey Ford (0-2, 11.74)
SUNDAY—Texas Fr. RHP Coy Cobb (0-2, 3.16) vs. Kansas State Fr. LHP Jordan Wicks (4-1, 2.53)

 

BON preview of series

No. 14 Texas set to host Kansas State in weekend series

 

Ugly loss Friday night to start series, recap from Texassports

No. 14 Baseball falls in series opener to Kansas State - University of Texas Athletics

 

Small sample size, but Horns seemed to have cleaned up their fielding sloppiness, and the bats cooled a bit, and pitching is still kind of like a box of chocolates.

FWIW, the 1983 season, in which the Horns won it all with a final W-L record of 66-14, started out a bit bumpy, splitting an early 4-game series with UT Arlington, then splitting a 2-game series with Texas Lutheran, a few games later losing a game to Lubbock Christian, St. Mary's, then splitting a 4 game series with Texas Wesleyan. Not saying this is that team, but "sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you..."

Clipped out part of that season record
Texas Baseball Year-by-Year Results (PDF) - University of Texas Athletics
through the Texas Wesleyan series, just before hitting SWC sked:

1983

Overall Record: 66-14
SWC Record: 18-3 (1st)
Southwest Conference Champions
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Midwestern (DH) W 12-2
Midwestern (DH) W 11-3
UT Arlington L 6-10
UT Arlington W 7-6
UT Arlington L 5-8
UT Arlington W 6-0
Texas Lutheran W 13-2
Texas Lutheran L 2-3
Louisiana Tech W 6-4
Louisiana Tech W 9-4
Louisiana Tech W 7-6 (11)
Oral Roberts W 4-1
Oral Roberts W 3-2
Cal State Fullerton W 8-7
Cal State Fullerton W 3-1
Cal State Fullerton W 10-3
Lubbock Christian L 2-4 (8)
Lubbock Christian W 8-0
Dallas Baptist W 6-0
Dallas Baptist W 4-0
Dallas Baptist W 9-4
Dallas Baptist W 8-6
St. Mary’s (Texas) L 1-5
St. Mary’s (Texas) W 12-2
Emporia State W 4-0
Emporia State W 14-1
Emporia State W 9-4
Emporia State W 9-5
Arizona State W 11-2
Arizona State W 6-0
Texas Wesleyan W 4-3 (9)
Texas Wesleyan W 7-0
Texas Wesleyan L 0-3
Texas Wesleyan L 5-6

 

You nailed it.

 

BON review of a Friday

No. 14 Texas baseball falls to Kansas State in series opener

 

Horns have all but lost any chance at a National seed, hosting a regional is still a possibility. To do that they need to put some wins together and they can’t lose any more games like last night to bad teams. They sit at 4-5 in conference with 14 conference games left. If they can go 11-3 in those 14 (and not lose any of their remaining OOC games all of which are winnable) they will finish top 3 in Big XII and will have regional hosting resume that includes enough strong OOC wins that they can slot in to one of last two or three host sites. Have to start today though.

 

7-0 Texas, bottom of 2nd following Zubia grandsalami, 2 outs, still batting.

 

Turned on game to a grand slam!

 

8-0 bottom of 4th, Zubia doubles for his 5th RBI this game so far.

 

9-0 bottom of 5th.

 

KSU scores 1 in top of 6th. Uh-oh. lol. 9-1 to bottom of 6th.

 

Todd with lead off triple. in bottom of 6th. Zubia gets 6th RBI for game with sac fly. Todd scores. 10-1 good guys.

 

Going to top of 9th, 10-1 Horns.

 

Horns win 10-2. Huge rubber game tomorrow.

 

With 2 outs, KSU solo homer off centerfield scoreboard. Uh-oh. Next batter flies out. Horns win 10-2.

 

Absolutely must win tomorrow - cannot lose the series to a bottom-feeder.

 

Recap recap of Saturday’s game from Texassports:

No. 14 Baseball rebounds with 10-2 win - University of Texas Athletics

 

I honestly can’t watch many games due to travel. When I do catch a game, they seem strong. But I see sporadic mediocrity on the games I did not see. What’s the current feel of where this team ends up?

 

The losses are starting to pile up. The two blown leads at TCU were brutal, and things seemed to go a bit south after that. The good news is they've shown they can come from behind...the bad news is they get behind. They have to win tomorrow and find a pitcher who can give them midweek wins. That's my humble opinion. Madden mIght be what we need for the midweek games if he recovers fully from the injury.

 

We all tend to forget that they lost a lot from last years team and from injuries and last year's Omaha run put some expectations on this team that are not quite as realistic as we all might hope. They have two good starters but a shaky third and no real midweek starter they can rely on. Pierce has an extremely young pitching staff and they are still finding themselves and he is still finding what he has in them. The loss of Hamilton on defense has led to more errors up the middle and the offense has struggled at times. All that said they have come back in a ton of games and they don't give up which is very encouraging. They are a year away from being a challenger not just to get to Omaha but to challenge for something special in Omaha. This season will be a success if they can finish top three in Big XII, host regional and get to a Super. With no real third or fourth starter they will struggle to get out of a regional but if they can host they will have good chance. Beyond that I cant see them getting out of a Super absent catching a break in the opponent.

 

Texas doesn't HAVE to win today.

The leader, BU sits at 7-3, Texas at 5-5. Note, the Horns were smoking them 6-0 in the 2nd inning, still batting, in their 3rd game with them before the rain cancellation.

Finish that game and we're probably looking at a 7-4 BU and a 6-5 Texas.

Besides that whatif, just above the Horns are WVU and OU, both at 6-5, both yet to play Texas, AT THE DISCH.

Above that TCU at 5-4, oSu at 7-4, and BU at 7-3. Texas is already through with TCU and BU, but goes to Stillwater to play oSu, which will be tough to get more than 1 win there. And Texas has also done away with Tceh 2-1, who sits below Texas at 5-6. Tech was pre-season favorite to walk through the Big 12 this year.

After today's games, the following non-UT key series are still to go:
BU at Tceh
oSu at Tceh
BU at TCU
Tceh at OU
oSu at OU
TCU at Tceh
BU at oSu

LOTS of blood yet to be spilt in the Big 12 race, most of it NOT likely burnt orange.

Hook 'em!

 

The bats have really been soft since Tech series. Nobody in the starting lineup has a BA that starts with a 3.

 

Offense has been completely asleep today, Horns trail 2-0 In the 8th.

 

Horns losing 2-0 in the top of the 8th inning.

 

Hons lose 2-0 and lose the series to KSU. That didn't go well at all.

 

Really ugly series to lose and to a bad team. At 5-6 in conference the Horns will have to win their four remaining series and get at least one sweep and maybe two if they want to host a regional.

 

I think our scrappy account is overdrawn at the bank.

 

It's extremely difficult to win a game in which you don't score. Need to find some consistent offense - quickly!