Texas Baseball: Xavier weekend sweep, look ahead vs. Aggies

All it took was three anxiety-driving weekend showdowns for Texas baseball to get the fans through a key series sweep over Xavier.

The Texas baseball team finished off a much-needed sweep of the Xavier Musketeers on Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Texas baseball defeated Xavier in all three games by a final score of 6-5. Friday night and Sunday afternoon both came off walk-off hits.

Friday night’s contest saw a wild finish that went 12 innings. Seven runs were scored in extra innings, but it all ended with a Duke Ellis ground rule double to send the Disch into a frenzy. Sophomore Bryce Elder continued his great season by pitching six shutout innings. It became a dog fight after Elder exited with both teams exchanging runs in the late innings, but the Longhorns set themselves up to win it in the 12th and Ellis delivered.

Saturday was all about the number five for Texas baseball. They put up five runs in the fifth inning to give them a great cushion for the rest of the game. Xavier put up three in the ninth after the Horns tacked on one in the eighth, but the Burnt Orange squeezed out another tight one.

It was also head coach David Pierce’s 100th career win at the helm of the Longhorns. Texas got another solid outing from their starter Blair Henley who moved to 4-1 on the season. He only gave up one earned over six innings, but again, the bullpen struggled to put the game away quietly.
The Horns came into Sunday knowing that the Musketeers would not go down without a fight trying to avoid the sweep.

Texas took advantage of how Xavier’s Conor Grammes not being able to find the strike zone. He walked five Longhorns alone in he first frame which led to three quick runs. Xavier battled back as they did in each game of the series and took the lead going into the bottom of the ninth.

Did the Horns have any more magic in them? Oh, yes, they did.

Tate Shaw came to the plate with two outs and two men on with an opportunity to give Texas the sweep. He ripped a 2-1 pitch that hit halfway up the wall in right-center fielder which scored the runners and gave Texas a 6-5 victory.

It all came full circle as Friday night’s hero Duke Ellis smacked the celebratory pie in Shaw’s face after Ellis was the one to receive it just two days earlier. The Texas Longhorns baseball team moved to 20-11 on the season and the month of March is finally past them.

They were actually very successful going 13-8 against some of the best teams in the country. After series with LSU, Stanford, Texas Tech, and TCU, Texas can finally focus their attention to Big 12 opponents. But not quite yet, as the little brother comes to town on Tuesday night. The Disch will be sold out and rocking.

The Texas A&M Aggies will be the opponent during a mid-week matchup, and you can bet the emotions will be running high. Tuesday is not just an opportunity to beat an arch rival, it’s a chance to build momentum before the bulk of conference play begins. The starting pitching and clutch hitting has been there. If the bullpen can clean some things up, watch out. The push for Omaha starts now.