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CJ Hinojosa Walk Off Double Gives Texas 3-2 Win; Sunday Open Thread

Freshman shortstop CJ Hinojosa delivered the second walk off hit of his young Longhorn career on Saturday as the Horns overcame a litany of errors to beat UC Santa Barbara 3-2. The Horns go for the sweep on Sunday at noon.

By Abram Orlansky
Photo courtesy of Tim Irby

Texas proved on Saturday it could win a game against a solid opponent in spite of terrible offensive and defensive execution. Because of that the Horns will go for their second sweep of the season on Sunday which would equal 2012's sweep total.

Consider the mistakes:

  • UCSB got their first run in the top of the 2nd after Jacob Felts couldn't handle strike three with one out and a runner on third. Instead of man on third and two outs there were runners at the corners with one out when the UCSB hitter flew out to deep left. 1-0 UCSB.
  • Texas tied it at one in the 3rd but failed to take the lead in the bottom of the 5th after Brooks Marlow hit a leadoff triple to right. Weston Hall failed in a safety squeeze attempt, Taylor Stell struck out looking and Mark Payton grounded out after an Erich Weiss walk. 1-1 game but could've been much worse.
  • UCSB took the lead again in the 6th when Dillon Peters walked two runners to start the inning. Peters appeared out of trouble when he picked off a UCSB baserunner at first but Codey McElroy's throw to second was low and off target and the runner managed to make it to second safely. An RBI double for the next hitter gave UCSB a 2-1 lead.
  • Texas tied the game in the 7th on an Erich Weiss infield single but couldn't score with runners on the corners and one out in the bottom of the 8th. 2-2 game.
  • Ty Marlow relieved Peters (5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 walks, 4 Ks) and pitched a beautiful 3 and a third innings. The Horns got their heroic rally in the bottom of the 9th when Collin Shaw was hit by a pitch, Erich Weiss grounded into a fielder's choice and Mark Payton walked. With runners at first and second, freshman CJ Hinojosa doubled to deep right field scoring Weiss for a 3-2 Texas victory.

The win wasn't a thing of beauty and the opponent wasn't the greatest in the world, but Texas baseball appears to be showing grit, determination and strong starting pitching that it lacked so sorely a year ago. A sweep of UC Santa Barbara would be a fantastic bounce back from last week's disappointing events.

First pitch is at noon as junior Nathan Thornhill goes for the sweep. Join us here for an open thread.

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