By the numbers: Five Longhorn pitchers shut down the Coral Gables regional
David Pierce’s Texas Longhorns are in the super regional round thanks to standout performances on the mound from five pitchers. Texas topped Louisiana in Game 1 before defeating regional host and No. 9 overall seed Miami in back-to-back days to advance to the round of 16 for the fourth time since Pierce became head coach ahead of the 2017 season.
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Texas boasted two first-team All-Big 12 pitchers in Lucas Gordon and Lebarron Johnson. Both Gordon and Johnson lived up to their all-conference billing and then some, but the boost from three other pitchers put the Longhorns into a position where they can sit in Austin on Monday and await the winner of the Stanford regional, whether it be the No. 8 overall seed Cardinal or the rival Texas A&M Aggies.
Here’s a look at the numbers posted by Woody Williams’ staff in all three contests.
Game 1 – Texas 4, Louisiana 2
Lucas Gordon (W, 7-1): 7.0 IP, 5 H, ER, 8 K, HBP, 27 batters faced, 83 pitches
Gordon allowed one run in his outing via a two-out double followed by a single in the sixth inning of Friday’s game. His performance lived up to the standards of a pitcher honored as the Big 12 pitcher of the year and a Collegiate Baseball first-team All-American.
Zane Morehouse (S, 6): 2.0 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K, 8 batters faced, 24 pitches
The pitcher known as “Nightmare” will keep Louisiana hitters up at night for some time. Morehouse allowed one earned run on a solo homer. The pitch wasn’t terrible, but it was driven out of the park to cut the Longhorn lead to 4-2. That would be all the noise the Ragin’ Cajuns could muster versus Morehouse, as he pitched a perfect ninth to advance Texas into the winner’s bracket.
Game 2 – Texas 4, Miami 1
Lebarron Johnson (W, 8-3): 9.0 IP, CG, 7 H, ER, 8 K, 3 BB, 36 batters faced, 129 pitches
Johnson stranded the bases loaded full of Canes in the first and second innings before settling in for a historic outing. He recorded the first complete game of the season for the Longhorns at a time when Texas needed it most. His night finished with a 4-6-3 double play. Johnson kept Miami out of scoring position from the third through seventh innings. A two-out triple in the eighth was stranded 90 feet away, and Miami was sent to the loser’s bracket on the 129th pitch of Johnson’s heroic start.
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Game 3 – Texas 10, Miami 6
Tanner Witt: 2.0 IP, H, 3 ER, BB, K, 2 HBP, 10 batters faced, 41 pitches
Witt surrendered a three-run homer to Dominic Pitelli to put the Longhorns behind early. He completed two innings, his second-longest outing of his 2023 campaign, before handing the baseball over to Charlie Hurley.
Charlie Hurley (W, 5-0): 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K, WP, HBP, 20 batters faced, 74 pitches.
Hurley offered one of his best outings of his Texas career, keeping Miami off the board until future early-round draft pick Yohandy Morales smacked a three-run homer to make it a 10-6 game. Hurley went through the Hurricane lineup several times and kept control of the game after the Longhorn bats gave him a lead thanks to a nine-run third.
Zane Morehouse: 2.2 IP, H, BB, 7 K, 10 batters faced, 42 pitches
Seven of Morehouse’s eight outs were via the strikeout. His outing was only disturbed by a two-out single in the eighth that registered no damage when the next batter laid down a poorly-timed bunt that quickly went back to Morehouse. A three-strikeout ninth put Texas into the super regional without any major taxation of the pitching staff that will affect next week’s super regional.
Texas has lofty expectations for Gordon and Johnson, and they delivered in Coral Gables. It was the performance from the bullpen, namely Morehouse and Hurley, which exceeded expectations. As a result, Texas is in the final 16 and awaits either the Cardinal or the Aggies.
