UT Baseball shows Texas Fight advancing to Big 12 Title game

Texas Baseball showed that trademark Texas Fight in a big win over in-state rival TCU Saturday night in Oklahoma City.

The Longhorns jumped out early to a first inning lead and did not let up on their way to a 9-3 win over TCU. Texas now advances to the Big 12 Tournament Title game on Sunday. [ Full Box Score ]

TCU had beaten Texas four times this season, including Saturday afternoon. For the first game, Texas showed up to Bricktown Ballpark looking sluggish and not ready to play against TCU.

But, with both teams facing elimination in the last game on Saturday night, Texas decided they were going to fight back against one of the top teams in the country.

TCU had already beaten Texas three times in Fort Worth during the regular season. And, after TCU beat the Horns earlier in the day, there was no way Texas was going to lose five times in the same season to another Texas team.

Texas had much more energy and they looked like a team that got a wake-up call after the first game of the day. First-year Texas manager David Pierce also made a big change that worked in his favor.

Texas Baseball Shakes up Lineup

Star freshman shortstop David Hamilton was given the assignment of leading off the game, moving from his typical ninth spot at the bottom of the lineup.

Hamilton rewarded Coach Pierce by leading off the game with a single. This set up a big three-run first inning rally to immediately take a 3-0 lead.

It was a big change because Patrick Mathis led off Saturday afternoon’s game with a home run. And, he was pretty much the only Longhorn who did anything in the first game. But, Coach Pierce rolled the dice with Hamilton leading off and it paid off.

Texas nearly gave up the lead in the second inning when TCU plated two runs, but starter Blair Henley was able to limit damage and keep a 3-2 lead.

The Horns then got a huge contribution from catcher Michael Cantu. Cantu was bumped from the starting lineup in favor of Michael McCann in the Big 12 Tournament. But, Cantu was ready when his name was called to start this game.

In the top of the fifth inning, Kacy Clemens led off with a single. He stayed there after the next two hitters were retired. Then, Patrick Mathis delivered an infield single. With two outs, Cantu smashed a home run to left center that opened up a 6-2 lead for the Longhorns.

From there, Texas played add-on against a taxed Horned Frogs pitching staff. Meanwhile, the Texas bullpen limited TCU to just one late-inning run for the final score of 9-3.

Now, Texas advances to a big title game against Oklahoma State on Sunday. After Blair Henley pitched on Saturday night, you would expect to see Texas ace Morgan Cooper in the Big 12 Tournament final on Sunday.

Cooper pitched in relief in the Oklahoma game on Wednesday and should be fresh to start the biggest game of the season for Texas Baseball on Sunday.

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Big 12 Tournament Title Game:  Texas Baseball vs. Oklahoma State first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in OKC. The game is also scheduled to air on FSN.