Texas takes series from San Jose State, will now shift focus to Big 12 title race

(Photo: Texas Baseball)

It was another weekend filled with mixed emotions for Texas baseball. The Longhorns took 2 of 3 from San Jose State at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, but another bullpen meltdown in game 1 on Friday prevented a sweep and cost Texas dearly from an RPI standpoint. Nursing a 4-2 lead in the 8th inning of game 1, Texas asked Zane Morehouse to complete a third full inning of work out of the bullpen. Morehouse walked and hit two of the first 3 batters he faced in the inning. The junior almost worked out of trouble, but a 2-out double chased him from the game and cut the lead to one. The runners then came around to score on a wild pitch by Andre Duplantier coupled with an error on Garret Guillemette on a throw back to Duplantier covering the plate. The Spartans would go on to win 6-4. The Longhorns ended up cruising in the final two games, 24-3 and 18-6, respectively.

Texas will now turn their attention back to conference play as they prepare to welcome West Virginia to Austin for the final Big 12 series of the season. The Mountaineers currently sit in first place in the conference, 2 games up on Oklahoma State and 3 games up on the Longhorns.

As for the postseason, the Longhorns’ hosting dreams took a massive hit with the loss on Friday. Texas finished the weekend with an RPI ranked 31st, down 6 spots from where they began the week. Typically, a top 20 RPI is required to host a regional. The Longhorns could make up some ground quickly this week against a highly ranked West Virginia squad, but the margin for error is razor thin.