The Washington Huskies came into the Lone Star State for a non-conference showdown with the Texas Longhorns and ultimately ended up taking the series on a weekend where the Texas weather felt very Seattle-like at times. Here is a recap of everything that went down at UFCU Disch Falk field.
Game 1 (Friday): Huskies 9 Longhorns 3
Despite a stellar start by Lebarron Johnson Jr, the Huskies got the best of the Texas bullpen to take Friday’s opener 9-3 in large part to junior first baseman Jeter Ybarra’s big game at the plate.
The scoring opened up in the third inning when Ybarra recorded the first of his three doubles on the night to drive in junior shortstop Cam Clayton to give Washington a 1-0 lead. The Longhorns then returned the favor with a three-run fourth thanks to Kimble Schuessler’s two-run single and Jack O’Dowd’s double that drove in Schuessler to make it 3-1 Texas after four innings.
After six innings of being shut down by Johnson, the Husky offense came alive in the seventh after Johnson left the game. Ybarra started the scoring when he drove in two runs on a single to tie things up at three. On the next batter, junior outfielder AJ Guerrero doubled into right center, driving in Ybarra to give Washington a 4-3 lead. Sophomore outfielder Cooper Whitton then added on to the rally with a two-run single followed by a single by freshman outfielder Carson Ohland that scored Whitton after a Texas throwing error on the play, making it a 7-3 Husky lead.
Washington then added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to increase the lead to 9-3 by way of Ybarra’s third double of the game that drove in sophomore second baseman Avia Arquette and a single by senior designated hitter Michael Brown that scored Ybarra. Sophomore right hander Grant Cunningham then retired the Longhorn side in the bottom half to cement the win for the Huskies.
On the night, Ybarra had five hits, four RBIs, and three doubles for the Huskies while Ohland and Arquette each had multiple hits as well. Seven Longhorn hitters recorded a hit each with O’Dowd and Porter Brown’s hits being a double.
For the Longhorns, Johnson struck out ten batters while only giving up one run in his six-inning start. Senior right hander Jared Engman got the start for Washington and went 3.2 innings while Cunningham got the win in relief after throwing the remaining 5.1 innings for the Huskies.
Game 2 (Saturday): Huskies 5 Longhorns 3
On a cloudy Saturday afternoon, the Huskies rode a hot start at the plate to a 5-3 victory and clinch the series victory over the Longhorns.
Washington jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a sac fly by Ybarra that drove in Clayton and a two-run homer by Guerrero. The Huskies then added on to their lead in the third on a pair of groundouts by Guerrero (that scored Clayton) and Brown (which brought Arquette in) to extend the lead to 5-0, which led to an early exit for Texas starter Cody Howard.
From there, the Longhorns fought back with two solo home runs by Will Gasparino in the bottom of the third and Flores in the fourth. An RBI single by Brown in the sixth cut the Longhorn deficit to 5-3.
While Texas had opportunities to potentially tie the game up in the eighth and ninth innings, it was not enough as the Huskies’ Sam Boyle completed a three inning save without giving up a run to secure the win for Washington.
The Huskies had four hits on the day while the Longhorns had six, with Flores being the only hitter on either team with multiple hits with a double and the aforementioned home run.
Senior righty Calvin Kirchoff was the Huskies’ starter where he threw six innings of four hit baseball, striking out six batters and earning the win in the process. Howard threw two innings and took the loss in Texas, while Ace Whitehead threw seven shutout innings in relief.
Game 3 (Sunday): Longhorns 4 Huskies 3
In what ultimately became a very rain-soaked game, Texas ended the weekend on a high note with a 4-3 win in a shortened, eight-inning game.
The game started at 2:20 after an 80-minute lightning delay that began right before the original 1 PM first pitch. Once the game started, the Longhorn offense went straight to work with a two run first inning where Thomas scored on a fielder’s choice by Brown and Galvan drove in Powell on a groundout to make things 2-0 Texas.
The Longhorns would then add a run in the second on a Flores sac fly that brought in O’Dowd and a run in the third on a Thomas walk that would bring in Casey Borba to extend the lead to 4-0. Washington then responded in the fourth with a run of their own by way of an RBI double by freshman third baseman Blake Wilson to cut the deficit to 4-1.
After both teams exchanged shutouts in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, Washington would stage one last rally in the eighth, which ultimately became the last inning of the game due to the Huskies needing to make it to their postgame flight on time. During the eighth, Guerrero hit a two-run homer just over the right field wall to make it 4-3 Texas and got the tying run on base before Andre Duplantier II retired the last two batters to secure his first save of the season and more importantly, the win for the Longhorns.
Texas had four hits on the day with O’Dowd recording two and Thomas and Borba having one each. Washington recorded eight hits with Arquette and Whitton having two hits apiece on the day.
Max Grubbs got the start for the Longhorns and earned the win after throwing six innings and giving up only one run. With the win, Texas becomes 11-8 on the season while Washington sees their record drop to 6-8-1.
What’s Next?
Texas continues on their ten game homestand with a two-game set with the Air Force Falcons on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon before resuming Big 12 play on Friday as they host the Baylor Bears. Washington continues their road stand on Friday as they go up to Corvallis for a Pac 12 showdown with the Oregon State Beavers.
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