With series win over TCU, Texas keeps pace in the Big 12

Texas starter Pete Hansen was stellar on Friday night in his two-hit complete game shutout victory over TCU. The Longhorns and fellow starter Tristan Stevens couldn’t follow it up with a win on Saturday in a 7-5 loss, setting up a Sunday contest important in more ways than one.

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Aside from the micro goal of winning the individual game, the Longhorns needed the series win to keep macro hopes of repeating as Big 12 regular season champion alive. Thanks to three-hit games from Austin Todd and Silas Ardoin, Ivan Melendez’ 14th home run of the year, and solid pitching that limited the TCU offense, Texas topped the Horned Frogs 7-3 to improve to 5-4 in conference.

“Any time you can win a series in the Big 12, that’s a good thing,” Todd said. “We got popped a little yesterday, we got popped early today. It’s a pretty good team win just to be able to handle that, and just keep growing.”

Melendez slugged a two-run, go-ahead homer in the third to give Texas a 2-1 lead. TCU battled back in the fourth when a wild pitch from starter Lucas Gordon allowed the Frogs to tie the contest.

Todd gave Texas a lead it would not relinquish in the sixth with a RBI single. Run-scoring base hits from Douglas Hodo III and Melendez in the seventh extended the Longhorn lead to 5-2. After Justin Eckhardt surrendered a solo homer in the eighth, Skyler Messinger drove in a run with a single, and was followed by a RBI from Trey Faltine to put the game at its final 7-3 margin.

Coy Cobb finished the game to complete the series win and give Travis Sthele the win. Gordon received the no decision after 5.2 innings with five hits, two earned runs, a walk, and four strikeouts. When Cobb put strike three past TCU’s Elijah Nunez, it put Texas above .500 in conference play and kept them in the race after three conference series.

“I just think our league, top to bottom, you don’t come to play, you’re going to get beat,” Texas head coach David Pierce said. “Us being 5-4, not exactly where we want to be, but we’re still in a good spot as far as staying in the hunt and staying in the mix. That’s how you have to look at it. It’s just these sprints within this marathon. Don’t panic, just keep putting the work in and try to get better every day. We’re still trying to get a lot better right now.”

In 2021, Texas and TCU shared the regular season crown with conference records if 17-7. Texas Tech took home the title in 2019 with a 16-8 record, and the Longhorns won their first conference title under Pierce in 2018 with a 17-7 record, one game ahead of Oklahoma State.

A fifth conference loss would have made the already very thin margin for error even thinner. The win keeps Texas at least somewhat in the mix.

“Every win is important to us, I’m sure y’all know that,” Ardoin said. “But coming out and beating TCU on a Sunday to take the series, that’s huge for us. They’re a good team. That was a big win for us. We’re going to build off of that.”

However, task will be difficult after dropping a series to Texas Tech to open conference play. Plus, at time of publication, Texas sits fifth in the conference with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma still in progress.

West Virginia leads the conference with a 5-1 record, just ahead of the 7-2 Texas Tech. Oklahoma State at 6-2 sits ahead of 7-5 TCU, while Texas is a half-game ahead of Oklahoma, who is 4-4.

The Longhorns’ schedule softens up over the next few weeks. Texas heads to Manhattan, Kan. on Easter weekend to face Kansas State, who are last in the league with just one Big 12 win.

Then arrives Baylor, who is 2-7 on the year. A challenge follows the Bears in No. 6 Oklahoma State, who will travel to Austin at the end of April. Texas closes out the conference schedule with a trip to West Virginia followed by hosting Kansas, who is 1-5 in conference.

Going to the five-loss plateau in league play would have complicated the goal of repeating as conference champion, which would be a positive step toward hosting a regional and being selected as a national seed.

Luckily for Pierce, players like Todd, Melendez, and Ardoin had days to help the Longhorns to victory and stay in the Big 12 race three series into the year.