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NCAA Tournament: Texas beats Long Beach in epic, wild grown man game

By James Caldwell

May 4, 2017; Columbus, OH, USA; The Long Beach State 49ers fans before the game against the BYU Cougars at St. John Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
May 4, 2017; Columbus, OH, USA; The Long Beach State 49ers fans before the game against the BYU Cougars at St. John Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports /
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When you put on a burnt orange uniform that says TEXAS across the chest, there are certain expectations that come with the honor.

On Saturday night, the Texas Baseball team lived up to that honor with a gutsy, 5-3 extra innings win over Long Beach State in the winner’s bracket of the Long Beach Regional. [ Full Box Score ]

The win was made by possible by a bunch of Texas Longhorns Baseball players who played like grown men on Long Beach’s home field.

Texas did not win an extra innings game during the regular season. That’s now over.

Texas did not lead at any point in this game against Long Beach until extra innings. The final score is all that matters.

The Horns trailed 1-0 and tied it 1-1. Texas trailed again 2-1 and the Horns tied it 2-2. Long Beach went up 3-2 and Texas tied it 3-3.

Then in the 12th inning, Travis Jones delivered a clutch, two-out, based-loaded single to give the Longhorns a 5-3 lead. In the bottom of the 12th, closer Beau Ridgeway took care of Long Beach to seal the win.

Texas Baseball: Grown Man List

There were so many grown man moments in Saturday’s win over Long Beach. Virtually everyone who played in the game had a role in making this win possible.

– Travis Jones: A game-winning two-out, two-run single in the Top of the 12th. Before Jones’ hit, Texas had not recorded a hit with runners in scoring position.

We now work backwards…

– Michael Cantu: Finished off an epic play at the plate in the bottom of the 10th to prevent the winning run from scoring.

– Patrick Mathis: Diving, highlight reel catch in right field to prevent the winning run from scoring in the 9th. With the game tied 3-3 and two outs, Mathis leaped for a sinking line drive that he snagged before it hit the ground to send the game to extras.

– Morgan Cooper: The Texas ace was absolutely brilliant in eight innings of baseball. He allowed two runs on two fluky plays where Long Beach essentially stole home. And, the other run came on a solo home run. But, the Texas offense picked him up…

https://twitter.com/TexasBaseball/status/871233460098052096

– Zane Gurwitz: With Texas down 3-2 in the eighth inning, the senior outfielder smashed a home run to tie the game 3-3.

– Bret Boswell: The first Grown Man of this game smashed two solo home runs. In his first at-bat, Boswell tied the game 1-1 with an opposite field jack. Later when Texas was down 2-1, Boswell pulled a monster blast into the Long Beach bullpen to tie the game 2-2.

Boswell also had an epic SportsCenter Top 10 moment at second base. On a hard hit ball up the middle early in the game, Boswell lunged for the ball and flipped it in the air toward shortstop David Hamilton all in one motion to get a forceout at second.

https://twitter.com/TexasBaseball/status/871195594450116608

What’s Next for Texas Baseball

Now, the Longhorns wait to find out who they will play on Sunday.

Long Beach has to turn around and play San Diego State in an elimination game on Sunday afternoon. SDSU beat UCLA earlier on Saturday after Texas kicked off their NCAA Tournament run with a win over UCLA on Friday.

The winner of LBSU vs. SDSU on Sunday afternoon will then face Texas on Sunday night.

If Texas Baseball wins on Sunday, they advance to the Super Regionals. If Texas loses on Sunday, then the Horns will play the same team on Monday to decide the Regionals winner.

Long Beach State was just as good as Texas in this game, so it very well could be a rematch. But, Long Beach also has a quick turnaround to play the Aztecs. Will they be rested enough with their season on the line?

Right now, the Horns are one game away from facing Cal State Fullerton in the Super Regionals. While Texas was playing in Long Beach, the Titans knocked off Stanford up the California coast in Palo Alto to win that Regional.

Next: Kacy Clemens Interview - 2017 UT Baseball, CWS, more!

If Texas can secure one more win, it will be the Augie Garrido Bowl in the Super Regionals between his former teams Texas and Cal State Fullerton. That’s on the horizon next weekend. Texas just needs to win one more in Long Beach to make it happen.

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