Texas Baseball: Tristan Stevens starts in elimination game vs. Tennessee

A disappointing start for the Texas baseball program and head coach David Pierce saw this team fall short by a margin of just one run in their opening game of the College World Series on June 20. No. 2 ranked Texas lost to the No. 7 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs and starting pitcher Will Bednar by the final score of 2-1 to round out the weekend.

Following a tough outing where the Longhorns were not able to capitalize on a solid pitching performance from redshirt sophomore right-hander Ty Madden in the loss to Mississippi State, there is no room for error. Texas will get a difficult matchup against the second highest-ranked team in Omaha in their next matchup in the College World Series.

On the afternoon of June 22, Texas will face the No. 3 ranked Tennessee Volunteers to try and stay alive in Omaha. Both Texas and Tennessee had rough outings to start out the College World Series that fell below expectations. That is especially true since these were the two highest-ranked teams coming into the College World Series.

Tennessee fell short to the No. 6 ranked Virginia Cavaliers in their opening game in Omaha last weekend. And that loss to Virginia for the Vols was a pretty convincing one, coming by the final score of 6-0.

Tristan Stevens gets the elimination game start for Texas baseball vs. Tennessee

With the Tennessee bats looking to wake up against the Longhorns in their second game in Omaha, they will have to do so against a very good pitcher in redshirt junior right-hander Tristan Stevens. This is a familiar top duo for the Longhorns, as they’ve gone with Madden and Stevens to top the rotation all season.

Stevens comes into this game sporting a solid record of 11-3, with a 2.97 earned run average. He’s also registered 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings, just 1.6 walks, and 7 hits. Stevens has allowed a batting average of just over .230 on the season. He’s been lights out most of the way for the Longhorns in 2021.

Moreover, the pitching was not the problem for Texas in the one-run loss to Mississippi State on June 20. The bats need to wake up for the Longhorns, much like they do for the Vols. Granted, we don’t want to see the Vols’ bats wake up on this day.

Texas comes into this game with a record of 47-16 following their June 20 loss to the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, Tennessee comes into this game with a record of 50-17 following their loss to Virginia last weekend. First pitch between Texas and Tennessee is set for 1 p.m. CT on June 22 in Omaha.