Longhorns Notebook: Texas Escapes Kansas With Crucial Series Win
The Texas Longhorns (32-17, 12-9) entered their final road series of the year against the Kansas Jayhawks (22-26, 7-14) knowing that a series win or sweep was absolutely necessary to keep alive even the slimmest of hopes for bringing home a conference championship.
However, the series started off in ugly fashion for the Longhorns as they dropped the series opener in a 10-4 defeat. Usually reliable staff ace Lucas Gordon put together his worst start of the season, only lasting 4.2 innings and giving up six runs on nine hits and three walks.
From there, though, the final two games were won on the backs of dominant pitching performances from Lebarron Johnson Jr. and Travis Sthele paired with crooked number innings that gave Texas big leads and a crucial series win.
While a sweep would have been the preferred outcome, especially when it comes to staying in the Big 12 title race, leaving Lawrence with a series win is still nothing to scoff at.
Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns' road series win over the Jayhawks.
History for Dylan Campbell
When a program has such a long and storied history like the Longhorns do in college baseball, breaking any school record can be hard to do. Of course, last season saw Ivan Melendez not only break the Texas single season home run record but the NCAA record as well. However, a new Longhorn joined the record this weekend against Kansas - right fielder Dylan Campbell.
Just like last season, Campbell got off to a slow start and was scuffling through the early part of the season. Then, a switch flipped and he has gone on an absolute tear. In the top of the first against Kansas in the series finale smoked a one out double into the left field gap to extend his hitting streak to 26 games, a new Texas record.
Campbell has raised his season slash line to .321/.425/.554, all of which are good for third on the Longhorns, with nine home runs and 32 RBIs. He has also been deadly on the bases with an astounding 21-of-22 on steal attempts. With the postseason fast approaching, Campbell has once again got hot at the right time.
Lebarron Johnson Jr. and Travis Sthele shove
After an uninspiring outing from Gordon on Friday night it was reasonable to be concerned about the prospects for the series for the Longhorns in the final two games. Rather than feed into that concern Johnson went out in game two on Saturday and twirled a gem. He gave the Longhorns a career-high seven innings and twelve strikeouts while holding Kansas to one run in what would be a 6-2 Texas win.
Then on Sunday in the series finale it was Sthele's turn as he followed starter Tanner Witt who only lasted one inning in his return from Tommy John surgery. Sthele would come on in the second and give the Longhorns 5.1 innings, holding Kansas to three runs with nine strikeouts - keeping a strong offense at bay enough to allow the Longhorns to put up seven runs in what would be a 7-6 series clinching win.
No more road games
With the conclusion of the series on Sunday against the Jayhawks the Longhorns have officially played their final road game, at least in the regular season that is. Now, they return home for a seven-game home stand to close out the season as they look to improve on an already dominant 22-7 record at Disch-Falk Field.
Four of those games are non-conference games with a midweek against University of Texas at Arlington and a three-game weekend series against San Jose State. The most important series, though, is the season finale against West Virginia - a series which could potentially end up being for the conference title if things break right for Texas.
What's next for Texas?
The Longhorns return home to kick off a seven-game home stand to end their regular season on Tuesday against the University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks at 6:30 p.m. CT.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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