Shane Reynolds’s Son Keys Texas Baseball To Series Win Over UConn

Ryan Reynolds hit his first-career home run for Texas Baseball to key a series win over UConn Sunday afternoon in Austin.

Ryan Reynolds, the son of former Houston Astros MLB pitcher Shane Reynolds, broke the seal on Sunday’s game against UConn with a two-run home run in the first inning. It led Texas to an eventual 9-3 victory over UConn to win the rubber game of their weekend series.

The true freshman Reynolds had struggled mightily at the plate before the homer. Reynolds was only hitting .100 with two hits in 20 at-bats. But, he changed that with a big fly over the new left field wall a Disch-Falk Field.

After Reynolds got Texas on the board, senior Kacy Clemens got his first career stolen base to set up Texas’ third run of the game in the first inning.

Then, after UConn drew within 3-2, Reynolds and Clemens were in the mix again. This time, Clemens drove in Reynolds with an RBI double. Clemens then scored on a passed ball to make it 5-2.

Game of Firsts Included Zane Gurwitz Contributing

Zane Gurwitz, who was out of action for the first five games of the season, finally got on the board for Texas Baseball in 2017.

With runners on the corners in the bottom of the sixth, Gurwitz got his first hit of 2017 with a solid single up the middle to make it 6-2 for Texas.

And then there was Ryan Reynolds again. Reynolds left off the bottom of the seventh with a Hit By Pitch, which set the stage for a big inning.

Texas put together the HBP, a sac bunt-turned-bunt single for Kacy Clemens, a sharp two-run single by Patrick Mathis, and an RBI error off the bat of Zane Gurwitz to make it 9-2.

Mathis had also struggled big time in 2017 before Sunday’s game. Gurwitz, Mathis, and Reynolds were the only regular position players without an RBI this season. And they took care of that in one afternoon to help Texas win big against UConn.

Texas Bullpen Also Came Up Big

The Texas Bullpen joined Ryan Reynolds in struggling at the start of the season. But, the bullpen was lights out on Sunday against UConn.

Jake McKenzie entered the game in the third inning to help freshman Blair Henley escape a jam to keep the game 3-2. McKenzie, who was credited with the win,  dominated the Huskies through the seventh inning while the Longhorns bats came alive.

Texas reliever Tyler Schmipf then gave up one run in the eighth inning for the final margin of 9-3.

Overall for the weekend, the bullpen gave up zero runs until Schmipf’s late inning concession. The bullpen’s performance helped Texas win on Friday and nearly come back to win on Saturday. McKenzie then locked it down on Sunday to win the series.

There were plenty of good signs for Texas Baseball with Ryan Reynolds’ bat coming alive, the first RBIs of the year for Gurwitz and Mathis, Kacy Clemens continuing to lead the team by grinding out at-bats, and the bullpen responding to last weekend’s poor performance.

Next: Roger Clemens Wants to Help Texas Sports Turnaround

Now, the Longhorns are 5-3 on the season leading to their next game Tuesday night against Lamar. It’s a tough week for Texas Baseball with five games on the schedule, including a four-game set in California against Stanford.