Oh Brandon Loy, where art thou? A Jordan Etier error on a possible double play ball with one out in the bottom of the 14th and Texas up 6-4 turned a likely Texas series win into a Saturday rubber match. The Horns clawed their way back from down 4-2 against one of the conference's best pitchers but were unable to overcome three errors and a tiring Corey Knebel in the 7-6 loss. The sophomore closer was doing his best Austin Wood impression, throwing 6.2 strong innings of relief and over 100 pitches, but the lack of trusted alternatives in the Texas bullpen meant it was Knebel or nothing for a long time last night.
Despite Tech's apparent dogpile after winning the second game of a conference series, Friday's loss is not the end of the world. There's no shame in losing in Lubbock, especially if the Horns can rebound today for a series victory at 2 PM. Jonathan Walsh is 1-13 in the last three games, and Texas needs its other best slugger (after Erich Weiss) to rebound soon.
A third straight road series victory in conference would be a thing of beauty that would position the Horns well in the conference moving forward. This can be your open thread as Ricky Jacquez takes the mound. With Knebel unavailable and Milner having already pitched twice this weekend, expect to see a bunch of freshman arms today.