Texas Baseball Takes 2 of 3 from Baylor

by 40AS on May 4, 2008 6:44 PM CDT

Texas' starting pitchers threw 23.1 innings, giving up a total of 3 earned runs, and the Horns took 2 of 3 from Baylor in a critical series that may be a sign that things are looking up. Texas won Friday 12-1 and Sunday 2-0 , but dropped Saturday's game in a closer-than-the-score-would-indicate 6-1 game.

Chance Ruffin threw an unbelievable 150 pitches in a complete game on Friday, further solidifying his position as the team's Friday starter. Kenn Kasparek proved that Tuesday's no-hitter was no fluke with a tremendous 8 innings (3 hits, 9 Ks), and had Austin Wood gotten some run support, his 6.1 innings (the first 6 scoreless) wouldn't have gone to waste.

Critically, this team appears to be coming together. Looking at where the team is, it's amazing how far the team has been forced to go to define roles. Preston Clark is at 3B, Russell Moldenhauer is your left fielder, Cole Green is the ace reliever, Michael Torres is your leadoff hitter. Not exactly how things were drawn out in February.

Hitter of the Series: Brandon Belt was fantastic this weekend, going 7-11 with 4 RBI. It wasn't a great weekend at the plate for the Horns. After scoring 12 runs on Friday, Texas only scored 3 on Saturday and Sunday. Without the pitching this weekend would have been very different.

Pitcher of the Series: Kenn Kasparek threw a no-no on Tuesday and 8 spectacular innings on Sunday, not a bad week. If anyone close to this Big Bird shows up, the Longhorns will be very hard to beat in a series. We've been saying things like this all season, Ruffin stuck, hopefully Kasparek will too. After KK's 17 straight scoreless innings his ERA has returned to a much more respectable 3.70.

Chance Ruffin Honorary Kiddie Corpsman of the Series: We might as well name the award after Chance Ruffin. Pretty much nothing this phenom does surprises us any more. He has an ERA below 2 and opponents are hitting below .200 against him. Having a freshman Friday starter this good is a special thing and will pay huge dividends in the next three years.

Next Up: Texas has a much needed week off for exams, returning to action against TBA on May 14th before closing out the season with the all-important series against Texas A&M.

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PLAYOFFS!?

So what’s the deal… are we a lock to make the tourney yet?

I don’t know anything about UT baseball, but I see that we’re #34 in RPI.

How are we 11-6 on the road and just 14-11 at home? Compared to the home records of the 33 teams ahead of us, it’s rather pathetic.

by goingforthecorner on May 5, 2008 5:36 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Kasparek Honored

Not only was he the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, he’s been awarded the National Pitcher of the Week from Louisville Slugger. Not a bad way to break out of a season-long slump.

Big Bird Honored

Does this performance make him our second starter in the post-season?

Life is an Occasion. Rise to it.

by patienthornsfan on May 6, 2008 11:49 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Our attempts at answers to both questions

1. This should make Texas a lock for the Tournament barring a major collapse (i.e., swept ugly by A&M and then 2-and-out in the conference tournament), but even such a sorry finish should still get the ‘Horns a 3-seed at someone’s regional.

2. It’s hard to say exactly what the order of the starters will be beyond obvious top dog Chance Ruffin. Remember, aside from a bad 7th inning Austin Wood pitched very well against Baylor on Saturday as well. But this is clear: another great start by Big Bird should put him somewhere in the postseason rotation, and every game is so important once you get there that it’s not tremendously significant if you’re the second or third pitcher. In fact, it’s not such an awful thing to be fourth; history indicated that the way college baseball’s tournaments are set up, a team with four quality starters improves its chances to be successful deep into the postseason by quite a bit.

by 40AS on May 6, 2008 3:59 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs