Texas baseball one win away from supers after beating LA Tech

A game where No. 9 Texas baseball and head coach David Pierce had to pull off quite the balancing act against the two-seed Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in their second game of the Austin Regional saw this team move one win away from advancing. Texas had trouble keeping the Bulldogs off the bases, but that didn’t matter in the end.

Breakout starting pitcher Lucas Gordon did give up nine hits in this one but somehow managed to only give up one earned run in 5.1 innings of work on the mound. That was really the difference-maker in this one for Texas as Gordon was able to work out of trouble more effectively than the Louisiana Tech staff.

In fact, Louisiana Tech managed to strand more than a dozen runners on base in this one. Louisiana Tech actually out-hit Texas for nearly the entire game.

But Texas converted when it mattered most, despite them still stranding a double-digit number of runners on base.

Texas really got going late in this game, putting up three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and one in the eighth. That is when Texas could start feeling like they could take this win over the Bulldogs.

Ivan Melendez and Lucas Gordon lead Texas baseball to a 5-2 win over Louisiana Tech in the Austin Regional

The scoring got started for the Longhorns in this one in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run from Dylan Campbell. But that would be the only run for the Longhorns until the bottom of the seventh. That’s where Gordon coming through in the clutch was so important.

Then, Texas got runs batted in from the likes of Ivan Melendez, Murphy Stehly, and Skyler Messinger, all in the bottom of the seventh. Texas would also add one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning off the bat of Mitchell Daly in a sacrifice fly that scored Trey Faltine.

While Texas did get outhit in this game by Louisiana Tech, the execution in a timely fashion is what wound up being the most important factor. Melendez, Stehly, and Messenger were all clutch when it mattered to start giving the Longhorns a comfortable lead in the seventh.

And that is something that key players such as Melendez have done all season long. The Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year continues to come through in the clutch for the Longhorns, despite not getting a home run in this one.

To close this one out, Texas saw Tristan Stevens come in and rack up his fourth save of the season. Stevens got a good amount of work out of the bullpen to close this one out, allowing just one earned run in nearly four innings on the mound.

This win over Louisiana Tech, by the final score of 5-2, gives the Longhorns their second straight win in the Austin Regional. And they will face the winner of an elimination game between the Air Force Falcons and Louisiana Tech on June 5.