Longhorns Notebook: No. 16 Texas Takes Opening Series Over San Diego
Baseball season is officially back, folks. The first series of the year was certainly an eventful one for the Texas Longhorns (2-1) as they welcomed a tough San Diego Toreros (1-2) to Austin.
It will undoubtedly be a long season, as is the case when you play over 50 games, and there will be plenty more ups and downs for the Longhorns to come in the coming months. Takeaways can be made from these first three games but there is still plenty of time for the team to gel as the season unfolds.
There was a lot to like in each game, from the top of the lineup mashing to bullpen arms showing they have the stuff to be really good. Then, there was the bad, which included an inconsistent showing from the bottom half of the lineup to mistakes on the bases.
For now, though, here are three key takeaways from Texas' series win over San Diego.
Shaky Saturday and Sunday starts
After Lebarron Johnson Jr. gave the Longhorns five solid innings of two-run baseball in the season opener, hopes were high the rest of the staff would follow suit in the two games to follow. Unfortunately, though, that would be far from the case for Texas.
Saturday saw Hurley only able to give the Longhorns 3 2/3 innings before the game was turned over to the bullpen. Tanner Witt's leash was even shorter on Sunday. He turned in an efficient 1-2-3, 10-pitch first inning before falling apart in the second. Two walks and an error cost him.
Moving forward, the Longhorns know what they have in Johnson. Panicking after one series would not be wise but locking down two more weekend starters will be important for Texas in non-conference play.
Lineup needs slight tweaking
As we stressed early on in this piece, judging too early in the season can be detrimental. That being said, a lineup change could benefit the Longhorns. After the duo of Jared Thomas and Peyton Powell in the top two spots, the rest of the lineup has shown flashes but ultimately been inconsistent.
The combination of Jalin Flores and Jack O'Dowd were slow to start at the plate outside of a grand slam, while elsewhere in the lineup Porter Brown is off to a slow start through three games. Thankfully for the Longhorns they have plenty of non-conference games to adjust their lineup as needed.
Ultimately, patience is key
Even with the two points mentioned above from this series, it has only been three games. It would be impossible to project over 50 games into the future to see what the future holds for this Longhorns' season.
Most importantly, Texas knows the potential is there. Once the bats get firing on all cylinders and the rotation takes shape, watch out. The adjustments will come and with them this team has a potential to win a lot of games and do some serious damage this season.
What's next for Texas?
The Longhorns remain home through the end of February, with their next game coming on Tuesday Feb. 20 against Houston Christian at 6:30 p.m. CT.