Long gone are the days of us discussing the Longhorns as a potential 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament or a #2 finish in the Big XII. What's sad (for us) is that our enthusiasm for this team's potential has not diminished all that much. The team has the pieces to be good, and there have been encouraging signs in the past few weeks to go with all the discouraging ones. This weekend Texas travels to Waco (Friday) before returning home for the final two games of the series against Baylor.
It seems like only yesterday that we were wondering what was wrong with Kyle Russell. Whatever it was, from what the baseball preview says we think he's figured things out:
After hitting just one home run in 22 games in February and March, KYLE RUSSELL showered the opponents with 12 home runs in 19 games in April. For the month, Russell hit .324 (24-of-74) with two doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 28 RBI. The month’s onslaught included nine home runs in 12 league games and four two-home games.
Freshman Chance Ruffin has established himself as the Friday starter, and two of Cole Green, Austin Wood, and Big Bird (fresh off his no-no) will round out the weekend rotation. There's no telling which Longhorn team will show up this weekend, but we'd be really happy if it was the good one.
A series win could do wonders for the team's psyche and give it some momentum for the final series against a really good Texas A&M squad.
May 2, 2008
Texas: RHP Chance Ruffin (5-3, 2.27 ERA)
Baylor: RHP Kendal Volz (3-4, 4.19 ERA)
May 3, 2008
Texas: RHP Cole Green (2-4, 4.34 ERA) or LHP Austin Wood (3-2, 5.30 ERA)
Baylor: RHP Shawn Tolleson (4-3, 5.15 ERA)
May 4, 2008
Texas: LHP Austin Wood (3-2, 5.30 ERA) or RHP Kenn Kasparek (3-3, 4.29 ERA)
Baylor: RHP Willie Kempf (6-2, 3.99 ERA)