Texas welcomes WVU needing a sweep and a little help to win the Big 12 title
Texas currently sits at 12-9 in the Big 12, three games back of first-place West Virginia and a game behind Oklahoma State. The Longhorns’ chances at the Big 12 title have not been completely extinguished, but they need to take all three games from the Mountaineers and need one win from the Oklahoma Sooners versus the Cowboys to take home a share of the conference regular season title.
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“You have two really good teams, I feel like, going at each other with a lot at stake,” Texas head coach David Pierce said Wednesday. “It’s hard to sweep in the Big 12, but you can’t sweep unless you win Game 1. That’s all we can really be concerned with, and then let the series play out from there.”
While the chance at a third Big 12 title in Pierce’s tenure is important, Texas is cognizant of how crucial even just winning the series would be if it was over the conference champion.
“It’s not just about the league share,” Pierce said. “It’s also just about so many implications of RPI, positioning in the tournament, just finishing strong but really playing good baseball. If we can do that, that’s all we can expect from our team. I don’t want them to go in worrying about what they have to do. We haven’t done that all year. We need to go in there and play with a little bit of and edge, don’t drop their guard.”
Texas was recently projected to be a No. 2 seed in the Fayetteville regional by D1Baseball.com, along with No. 2 overall seed Arkansas, No. 3 seed Oral Roberts, and No. 4 seed Little Rock. Baseball America placed the Longhorns in Dallas regional, hosted by projected No. 15 overall seed Dallas Baptist. UT was joined by No. 3 seed Texas A&M and No. 4 seed Sam Houston State in that foursome.
It’s been an up-and-down year for the Longhorns, who sit outside most of the major top 25s and currently rank No. 30 in RPI, according to WarrenNolan.com. There have been plenty of downticks along with the upticks, including a lengthy winning streak in the middle portion of the year.
Pierce has seen improvement from his team, and wants them to continue to make positive adjustments even as the 2023 campaign comes to a close.
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“I feel like we’ve been a little inconsistent,” Pierce said. “But at the same time, I’ve seen a lot of improvement from individuals. So we’ve just got to keep improving.”
Texas has been in a postseason mentality for the past 18 days. Pierce said on Thursday that his personal calendar has called the current month “postseason baseball” since it began. That’s helped a young team that replaced many staples from the 2022 squad to a 5-3 month, including two series wins over Kansas and San Jose State.
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The final series with the Mountaineers is important in multiple senses. With an eye to the events in Norman, the Big 12 champion could be decided this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Longhorns wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s great going into the last week knowing that we have an opportunity to win a championship,” Pierce said. “It’s not going to be easy, but it’s what you strive for.”
