TAKEAWAYS: No. 1 Texas baseball takes care of business in opening weekend sweep of Rice

The much-anticipated start to the Texas Longhorns’ 2022 season saw the No. 1 team in the country flat out dominate the Rice Owls, outscoring the one-time power program 36-3 over the course of the weekend. David Pierce’s club completed the sweep on Sunday afternoon thanks to six RBI from first baseman Ivan Melendez on two home runs that traveled an estimated 451 and 447 feet. Tanner Witt took home the win over former Longhorn Thomas Burbank, allowing one earned run over 5.0 innings in a 14-2 win.

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21,580 fans passed through the gates of UFCU Disch-Falk Field over the weekend to see Texas win 7-0, 15-1, and 14-2, the most in an opening weekend in program history. What they saw were results that will likely have them coming back for more. Besides the two mammoth shots from Melendez, there were other bombs from Silas Ardoin and Trey Faltine. They saw great pitching from Pete Hansen on Friday, Tristan Stevens on Saturday, and Witt on Sunday, plus a good number of arms who will make the march from right field to the mound at the Disch this year.

“I just thought we played really, really well,” Pierce said. “I’m proud of our coaching and our players in their preparation. They did a great job of coming out and playing great defense. I really liked the way we attacked the strike zone with some one-inning guys the last couple of days. Just really pleased with our patience, discipline, and approach at home plate all weekend.”

Texas heads to Corpus Christi for a midweek tilt with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Before the Longhorns head south on IH-35 and IH-37, here are a few takeaways from the 3-0 start to the season.

Melendez gets it going, paces a strong offensive start

After starting the season 0-for-6 with four strikeouts, Melendez reminded Rice pitching why he should still be feared at the plate. Melendez crushed a ball 451 feet in the first inning over the batter’s eye in center field, something a select few players in Longhorn history have also done.

He followed it up later in the game with a 447-foot bomb near the scoreboard in left field. Though the first two days of the weekend were rough for Melendez, he had plenty of help from his teammates before he got it going. Ardoin opened the year 3-for-4 with a homer and a double on Friday, and finished the weekend 4-for-8. Eric Kennedy went 5-for-12 with three walks in the first series and touched home seven times. Faltine went 3-for-5 in Saturday’s contest and kept his solid offensive start up with a solo home run on Sunday.

Even the bottom of the order, occupied by Murphy Stehly on Sunday, produced and helped every Texas starter reach base safely during the sweep-clinching win.

Though it’s important to have a lineup that has hitters up and down, Melendez’s importance for this Texas team’s fortunes cannot be overstated. He’ll be relied upon as the three-hole hitter to bring in players like Kennedy and Douglas Hodo ahead of him in the lineup. It’s more important this year compared to last year without Zach Zubia in front of him and Cam Williams behind him.

After a rough first two games, the nearly 900 feet of home run on Sunday showed what he’s capable of. It wasn’t just his power, though. He had a keen eye in the series finale, walking twice in his six plate appearances.

Every pitching staff on the Longhorn schedule will devote extra attention to Melendez, but if they make mistakes similar to the ones Rice pitchers made on Sunday, that preparation will matter little. Plus, even if Melendez has a poor day, the first two results should indicate how deep the Texas lineup there to back him up is.

An efficient look at a host of arms

Pete Hansen pitched like a No. 1 starter on Friday. Tristan Stevens pitched like a first-team All-Big 12 pitcher on Saturday. Tanner Witt earned the victory in his first career start at Texas.

Witt wasn’t dominant, as he surrendered an early lead with a home run, gave up five hits and two walks in five innings, and found himself having to work out of trouble a decent amount over the course of his 87 pitches.

However, he was effective. He worked out of jams and limited Owl hitters to that one earned run against him.

It’s a good beginning for a pitching staff with magazine cover levels of preseason hype, but some of the other hurlers who made their way to the bump performed well.

Pierce’s first two choices for relief pitching on Friday were Travis Sthele and Jared Southard. His first two choices for relief pitching on Saturday were Lucas Gordon and Andre Duplantier. They combined for five shutout innings and allowed two hits.

The work done by the Longhorn offense allowed for Pierce to go deeper into the bullpen’s ranks on Sunday, save for a 1.0 inning appearance from closer Aaron Nixon to get him some work. Luke Harrison and Daniel Blair fared well in their Texas debuts, while Lebarron Johnson had to overcome control issues to get through his one inning of work.

The arms did well against a Rice team that is in the midst of a transition under new head coach Jose Cruz Jr. Previous head coach Matt Bragga did little to quash some of the concerns that crept into the program in the final years of Wayne Graham’s tenure. Houston, Sam Houston, and Texas A&M fielding solid teams in the area also didn’t help the private school much in its recruiting efforts.

All that is to say there isn’t a lot known about this Rice team, though Texas was probably pretty familiar with former Longhorn Thomas Burbank when they saw his name on the scouting report. What this win will look like in a month is to be determined. Alabama’s trip to Austin next week will be much more informative about this team.

Fun at the Disch

As mentioned, the three-day crowd of 21,580 was the most ever for a season-opening series. It was even one of the most attended regular season series in program history. Plus, honoring Tommy Harmon and hosting kids run the bases is good at getting people to the ballpark.

Still, people want to see a winner. Pierce’s club drawing enough people to set a program record against a Rice team that is not of the caliber of their 2000s glory says a lot about the anticipation for this quality team.

There’s a buzz around this team both locally and nationally that should have Texas in the national conversation all the way until June.

It’s up to Pierce and company to keep that buzz going, but starting their efforts with three dominant victories is a good way make it happen.