SUPER! Texas sweeps through Coral Gables regional in NCAA tournament to advance to super regionals

For the 13th time in the super regional era, and for the third consecutive season, the Texas Longhorns are regional champions in the NCAA tournament.

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A 10-6 victory over the No. 9 national seed Miami Hurricanes clinched the Coral Gables regional championship for David Pierce’s team.

This is the fourth super regional appearance for the Longhorns since Pierce took over in 2017, and the first time Texas has advanced to the round of 16 with a regional title away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field in his tenure. The Longhorns await the champion of the Stanford regional for their super regional opponent. Depending on the winner, either No. 8 national seed Stanford or rival Texas A&M, the best-of-three series could be in Austin, College Station, or Palo Alto, Calif.

A potential 39th College World Series appearance is on the line for the Longhorns in the super regional round.

Texas swept through the regional in three games. Standout performances on the mound from Lucas Gordon and Lebarron Johnson powered the Longhorns past No. 3 seed Louisiana and Miami in games one and two, respectively. Tanner Witt started Sunday’s regional final, struggling in his two innings of work. A relief effort from Charlie Hurley stabilized things, but the Longhorn bats had work to do after Witt’s exit.

A nine-run third broke things open for the Longhorns in the deciding game after Miami jumped to an early lead via a Dominic Pitelli three-run shot. UT first baseman Jared Thomas drove in one with a one-out double to put the Horns on the board. Then, Peyton Powell recorded his first hit of the regional with a single to right that scored two and tied the game at 3-3.

Texas has been unafraid to put runners in motion throughout the year, and those aggressive efforts paid off and allowed the Horns to take the lead in the third. With runners on first and second in motion, Garret Guillemette pulled a ball to the left side. Hurricane third baseman Yohandy Morales vacated his normal position to cover the bag, and Guillemette’s liner snuck through the infield past the future MLB draft pick. Two runners scored to give Texas a 5-3 lead, but the Longhorns weren’t done yet.

With the bases loaded, freshman designated hitter Jalin Flores came to the plate. He smacked the first pitch of his at bat over the centerfield fence for a grand slam to give the Longhorns a 9-3 lead. Texas sent 13 batters to the plate in the pivotal third.

Dylan Campbell, who extended his record hitting streak to 38 games with a third inning single, was influential across the entire weekend with his bat and glove. During the first two games, he had four hits, four RBI and a home run. Campbell also made an incredible diving play versus the Ragin’ Cajuns in Game 1. He followed those performances up with a 1-for-4 performance in Game 3, scoring one run.

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Texas added one run in the sixth via a Porter Brown RBI, a needed addition prior to Morales’ three-run shot off of Hurley in the seventh. Zane Morehouse relieved Hurley, who pitched 4.1 innings and allowed three earned runs while striking out two, walking one, and surrendering only four hits.

Morehouse pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless ball to close things out.

Every Longhorn starter scored a run.

Texas, who began the season unranked in D1Baseball’s preseason poll, overcame a slow start versus SEC teams in Arlington by eventually embarking on a 16-game winning streak that included a sweep of Texas Tech and a win over Texas A&M. The Longhorns battled through their conference schedule to earn a share of the Big 12 title and the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. It was Pierce’s third regular season title as head coach of the Longhorns.

Even after a two-and-out appearance in the Big 12 Tournament, the Longhorns played strong baseball in Coral Gables and have advanced into the final 16 for the 13th time since the super regional format began in 1999.

Texas played its best baseball of the year at the right time. As a result, it continues playing baseball in the final 16 for the fourth time under Pierce.