Texas sweeps West Virginia to claim share of Big 12 title

(Photo: Texas Baseball)

A sweep was required for the Longhorns to have any chance at sharing the Big 12 title, and a sweep is exactly what Texas delivered in front of a packed house at Disch-Falk Field over the course of 3 days. The Longhorns polished off the Mountaineers 7-3 on Saturday afternoon, completing the sweep and giving Texas a share of the conference title and the #1 seed in the Big 12 tournament. 

Texas struck early in game 3, scoring 6 runs in the first 3 innings and knocking out West Virginia ace Ben Hampton with 1 out in the first inning. The Longhorns got 3 scoreless innings from Tanner Witt before turning things over the bullpen. David Shaw allowed 1 run in 2 innings of work and was followed by Travis Sthele, who allowed a 2-run homer in the 7th to cut the Texas lead to 6-3. Zane Morehouse kept things at bay for 1.2 innings and the Longhorns tacked on an insurance run in the 9th to make it 7-3. David Pierce called on Kobe Minchey to close things out, but quickly pivoted to Charlie Hurley following a 4-pitch walk to open the frame. Hurley hit the first batter he faced, but quickly responded with back to back groundballs to end the game, the last of which was a 5-4-3 double play.

The Longhorns will open the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday against 8-seed Kansas. The Longhorns won the season series in Lawrence earlier this month. In 2022, Texas advanced to the Big 12 tournament championship game before falling to Oklahoma.