The Longhorns brought their A Game Friday night, crushing Brown 8-0 on the strength of an eight inning, three-hit performance by Taylor Jungmann. For those counting at home, that brings Jungmann's ERA to a ridiculous 0.78 on the season. Jordan Etier continued to build confidence on the offensive end with a 2-for-4 night, including a double. The other hitter we mentioned in our preview as needing to pick up the pace, Paul Montalbano, went 2-for-5 from the leadoff spot and collected an RBI. As a team, it's very encouraging that Texas pounded out 11 hits against a starter in Matthew Kimball who shut down Vanderbilt last week. The Longhorns also managed the coveted crooked number in the first inning, opening the game with a four-spot.
Our other "key" heading into the weekend was the bullpen, but as usual Jungmann made the point moot. Keifer Nuncio did toss a scoreless ninth, but the rest of the weekend will likely give us a better indication of where the bullpen is at this point in the season. Aside from an inability to pitch around two errors in one inning against UTSA, howeverm, the indications are that the pitching staff as a whole is coming into form: the Longhorns have not allowed a single earned run in their last 21 innings.
Another intriguing factor for the remainder of the weekend will be the Texas starters: because this is a four game series, all three guys fighting for the other two weekend starter slots will get to make their cases. Hoby Milner starts the noon game and Sam Stafford the nightcap in today's double header, and Cole Green tosses on Sunday. With the conference season kicking off against Kansas State next weekend (!), it's do or die time for these guys.
Video for both games is here.