Texas baseball one win away from Big 12 Tournament Final

It feels like head coach David Pierce and the five-seed Texas baseball have found their magic at the right time at the outset of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship in Arlington, TX, this week. Texas knocked off two of the best teams in the Big 12 to start the Big 12 Tournament in the last couple of days.

It all started with Pierce and the Longhorns cruising past the four-seed Oklahoma State Cowboys for the first time this season in what was the first game of the Big 12 Tournament. Texas downed Oklahoma State back on the morning of May 25 by the final score of 4-0.

Ace pitcher Pete Hansen led the way for the Longhorns as he shut out the Pokes in nearly eight innings of work on the mound. That was a much-needed effort on the mound for the Longhorns as the bats didn’t get going until late in that game against the Pokes.

The solid pitching efforts continued for the Longhorns in their May 26 matchup in Game 7 of the festivities at Globe Life Field in Arlington. Texas saw Lucas Gordon spin a gem for this team as he let up just one earned run in 7.2 innings of work, along with just two hits allowed, two walks, and four strikeouts.

Gordon found his clutch gene lately for the Longhorns. And it definitely came at the right time.

The good work that Gordon did on the mound in this game helped the Longhorns notch the key May 26 win over the top-seeded TCU Horned Frogs on the afternoon/evening of May 26. Texas did have to stave off a rally from the Horned Frogs at a few points of this game, though.

Texas topped TCU on May 26 by the final score of 5-3.

Murphy Stehly lifts David Pierce and Texas baseball past TCU 5-3 on May 26

Another spark for the Longhorns in this game was provided by the increasingly-dangerous Murphy Stehly, who knocked his 17th home run of the season so far. That homer for Stehly came in the top of the first inning and knocked in three runs for Texas.

Stehly also gave the Longhorns two hits and one run scored in three at-bats in this game.

The spark that Stehly provided the offense wound up being a huge difference-maker. And that’s what Pierce and the Longhorns need at this time of year. Texas is getting big-time performances from the pitching staff and the offense at the right time so far during the Big 12 Tournament.

Moreover, the two-run win over the Horned Frogs on May 26 puts the Longhorns in the driver’s seat in their portion of the Big 12 Tournament bracket. Texas is now just one win away from making it to the final game of the Big 12 Tournament this coming weekend.

The last step for the Longhorns before being able to advance to the final round will be at least one game either against Oklahoma State or TCU. This is a double-elimination tournament, thus Texas will have to beat one of those two Big 12 foes just one time.

TCU and Oklahoma State will duke it out in Game 9 of the Big 12 Tournament on May 28. That means we won’t find out the next opponent for the Longhorns until well into this coming weekend.

The two favorites to come out of the bottom portion of the bracket for the Big 12 Tournament will be the two-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders and three-seed Oklahoma Sooners. But Texas will have to worry about making it through at least one game with either the Pokes or Horned Frogs this weekend.