Texas baseball rebounds from Friday's loss to win series in Houston 2-1 – The Daily Texan

After losing the first game of the series 9-1 to the Cougars on Friday night, Texas Baseball came from behind to win two games in the ninth inning to clinch the series in Houston. Texas won 6-5 on Saturday and 13-8 on Sunday.

After pitching struggles in all three games, it was the home runs that kept the Longhorns close. Both victories came from a total of four home runs in the ninth inning that yielded a total of nine runs. This came after Texas recorded just two hits in Friday's game, one of which was a solo home run by freshman centerfielder Will Gasparino.

On Saturday, junior Ace Whitehead gave up three runs and six hits in four innings while striking out just three batters. On Sunday, redshirt junior Lebarron Johnson Jr. got the start, giving up three runs in just over two innings and striking out four batters.

Johnson was named Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year, but failed to live up to expectations and lost his role as Friday starter after poor performances. His ERA dropped to 5.57 as he gave up 27 runs in 42 innings.

While Texas' pitching was slow, the hitting was not. Freshman second baseman Dee Kennedy led the way with two home runs Saturday, including the game-winner in the ninth inning. Kennedy has now hit four home runs this season, and Saturday marked his first career multiple home run appearance.

On Sunday, Kennedy continued to pitch well, starting Texas' eight-run ninth inning with a single to third base that brought in second-year second baseman Jared Thomas. Texas entered the inning trailing 8-5 and won the game by eight runs.

Thomas would record a double and a single for an RBI of his own in the inning. A two-run home run by redshirt senior third baseman Peyton Powell would decide the game, and Texas never looked back.

Sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores followed Powell with a solo home run, and sophomore right fielder Max Belyeu added a two-run shot to put Texas ahead and secure the series victory. The Longhorns would add two more runs to bring the final score to 13-8.

While the win was promising offensively, it also showed how fragile the Texas bullpen is. In the win, seven pitchers were used and only nine batters were struck out. Senior Charlie Hurley, sophomore Cade O'Hara and redshirt junior Chase Lummus didn't pitch complete innings and only Lummus struck out all batters, striking out two. Lummus also didn't allow any hits.

Freshman Easton Tumis and junior David Shaw both went two innings on the mound and recorded just one strikeout each. Shaw picked up the day's win, giving up a solo home run in the eighth inning. He walked one batter and had an ERA of 6.39. Redshirt sophomore Gage Boehm finished the game for Texas and did not allow any hits.

Despite the poor pitching performance on Sunday, the Longhorns did what they said they would do at the beginning of the season and won on Sunday.

Now Texas returns home with a 22-15 record and sits in fourth place in the Big 12 standings.