Longhorns go two-and-out at Big 12 Tournament after recording two hits in loss to Kansas State
Texas likely needed a few wins in Arlington at the Big 12 Tournament to solidify a position as one of 16 hosts of a regional in the NCAA tournament. Instead, they left Arlington without a victory.
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The Longhorns, the Big 12 regular season champions and the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament, lost 6-0 on Thursday to Kansas State and were eliminated from the tournament.
In a game filled with low lows, there was but one up: Dylan Campbell tied a Big 12 conference record by extending his hit streak to 35 games with an eighth-inning single.
Aside that, there wasn’t much to write home about for David Pierce’s team.
Texas only two base hits were singles. The first was a hard-hit leadoff single by Mitchell Daly in the fifth off the K-State third baseman’s glove, with the second Campbell’s knock to right field. Texas didn’t lack for baserunners, but the Longhorn bats were a woeful 0-13 with runners on base.
K-State starter Ty Ruhl, who had only one other start this year for the Wildcats, battled through between-inning vomiting spells to limit Texas to one hit over 5.0 frames. Ruhl struck out four and walked three over 92 pitches.
Texas needed to put runs on the board before KSU called in first-team All-Big 12 pitcher Tyson Neighbors. In Austin on April 8, Neighbors pitched 3.0 innings of one-hit ball, walking one and striking out eight to seal K-State’s only win of that series. Texas failed to do so on Thursday, and faced Neighbors while trailing.
Neighbors domination of Texas continued in Arlington. He pitched 4.0 innings of one-hit ball this time, once again striking out eight and walking three over 71 pitches.
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Lebarron Johnson Jr. was issued the loss for the Longhorns. He pitched 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits and striking out two. He was assessed two earned runs, one in the top of the first and another in the seventh that came around to score after Johnson had been removed.
He was replaced by David Shaw, who allowed a walk and a single to load the bases. With the count at 3-0, Shaw was pulled from the game following his 2-0 pitch after he was seen grabbing his elbow. Charlie Hurley replaced Shaw and issued a one-pitch walk to score the game’s second run. Then the floodgates opened.
Hurley allowed a single then another bases-loaded walk to score two more. Hurley was replaced by Zane Morehouse, who could not put away the next batter even with a 2-2 count. K-State added runs five and six via a RBI double that put the game at its final tally.
Peyton Powell was placed in the DH spot on Thursday as opposed to his typical third base to alleviate pressure on a sore back. Jalin Flores started in his stead at third. Jared Thomas also is dealing with a ginger back but played first and was not subbed out.
Those two injuries are in addition to Shaw’s elbow issue and Tanner Carlson’s broken arm, which could sideline him for the rest of the year.
The Longhorns fall to 5-11 at Globe Life Field.
Texas likely saw its chances at hosting a regional evaporate with the loss. The Longhorns fell to No. 28 in RPI after the defeat and could fall further based on other results at conference tournaments around the country.
Major prognosticators had taken Texas out of the top 16 after Wednesday’s loss to Kansas. The Horns were a projected two-seed in the Stanford regional according to D1Baseball, while Baseball America sent a two-seed Texas team to the Auburn regional in projections posted early Thursday morning.
The Longhorns now await their NCAA tournament destination. The seeding and location will be announced in the selection show, which will air on ESPN2 on Monday at 11 a.m.
