No. 10 Texas Splits Midweek Series With Air Force

Coming off a tough series loss to Kansas State, Texas was looking to sweep Air Force and get their momentum back on track to finish the series. That would not be the case however as Air Force came out swinging, with Texas leaving their midweek series with only a split.

Game 1: Texas 2 Air Force 14

There is no sugarcoating it, this was a brutal loss for the Longhorns. It showed once again that if you want to beat Texas, just rattle their starting pitcher early and get to their bullpen, which is exactly what Air Force did in this one.

Longhorn starter Justin Eckhardt, who had been inconsistent in his outings, struggled mightily on Tuesday. He would only last one inning, allowing five earned runs on four hits and two walks. From there, it just got even uglier, as the Texas pitching staff would allow 14 runs on 11 hits. The only offense on the day for Texas game came from an Ivan Melendez solo home run, his 17th of the season, and a Mitchell Daly RBI groundout.

Game 2: Texas 12 Air Force 10

Well, if you wanted the excitement that game one lacked, then this was the game for you. Air Force jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first, as Sam Kulasingam took Travis Sthele deep to lead things off for the Falcons. Texas would respond almost immediately, however, as in the bottom half of the first Murphy Stehly hit a two-run home run, his 11th of the season, giving Texas the 2-1 lead. From there, Texas would score six in the bottom of the second to jump out to an 8-1 lead.

However, much like they have all season, the Texas pitching staff struggled, allowing Air Force to put up six runs in the third inning to cut the lead back to 8-6. Texas would take a 10-8 lead into the top of the ninth, which was blown by Aaron Nixon who allowed the tying runs to score. The game came to a crescendo, however, as Trey Faltine stepped to the plate with one out and launched a no doubt, two-run walk-off home run to win the game and split the series.

Coy Cobb

Trey Faltine

Texas celebrates Faltine's walk-off home run.

What's next for Texas?

After an overall disappointing series against Air Force, the Longhorns will remain home once again this weekend. Texas will host Baylor for a three game conference series, a series that is arguably a must win if the Longhorns want to remain in the Big 12 title race as well as maintaining a shot at hosting a regional come June.

Ivan Melendez

Murphy Stehly

Pete Hansen

You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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