No. 22 Texas Ends Regular Season With Series Sweep of Kansas
With the conclusion of the game on Saturday, the Longhorns' regular season has officially come to a close. They ended on a strong note, sweeping the series against Kansas. They will now enter the Big 12 Tournament later this week riding a five-game win streak, hoping to get back into the top 16 and host a regional.
Game 1: No. 22 Texas 12 Kansas 4
After a week off for the bye week, the Longhorns would trot Pete Hansen out to the mound hoping for a solid outing, which he would readily deliver. Hansen would give up a run in the top of the third but he would settle in immediately after, only allowing three more runs in his outing. Ultimately, Hansen would give the Longhorns six innings of four-run baseball, scattering seven hits and racking up five strikeouts. He would pick up his ninth win of the season, as the bullpen came in and delivered three scoreless innings to lock down the victory.
However, the true star of Friday's game for the Longhorns was their offense, as they delivered plenty of run support for Hansen. Trailing 1-0 heading into the fourth, the Longhorn offense would hang a four spot on the board that was capped off by a Mitchell Daly RBI single to make it 4-1. From there, it was all Longhorns as the next eight runs would come on home runs: an Ivan Melendez two-run home run in the fourth, a Daly grand slam in the fourth and a Doug Hodo solo home run in the seventh to make it 12-4.
Game 2: No. 22 Texas 8 Kansas 1
Saturday saw another dominant outing from Lucas Gordon, as he continues to deliver exactly what he's asked to do when he's handed the ball. Gordon had little to no issue shutting down the Kansas lineup, only allowing one run over six innings while only allowing five hits and striking out six to pick up sixth win of the season. Once again, the Longhorn bullpen would deliver three shutout innings, only allowing two hits in the process.
Offensively, the Longhorns were once again all over the Jayhawks' starter from the jump, as Eric Kennedy and Ivan Melendez would launch back-to-back home runs, which tied Melendez with Kyle Russell for the most in a season in Texas history at 28. Skyler Messinger would add an RBI single of his own in the first, giving Texas a 3-0 lead. Again, it would be all Texas from there as the Longhorns would add five more runs by the end of the game, including another solo home run from Eric Kennedy in the fourth, as they powered Texas to a victory in game two and the series-clinching win.
Game 3: No. 22 Texas 11 Kansas 6
While the Longhorns were given two solid outings from their starters to start the series, the series finale pitching woes once again popped up on Saturday. Zane Morehouse, who has been converted to Texas' third starter, would only last 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs to score. He would be followed by Tristan Stevens, who would only last 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs to put the Longhorns down 5-0.
While the bats started off games one and two on fire, they were ice cold for most of the series finale, unable to score until Texas scratched across two runs in the fifth to make it 5-2 Kansas. However, that would all change in the seventh inning as the Texas bats suddenly roared to life. An RBI single from Murphy Stehly would cut the Kansas lead to 5-3. Austin Todd would follow with a hard-fought walk, loading the bases for former Jayhawk Skyler Messinger.
What followed could not have been scripted any better, as Messinger would launch a go-ahead grand slam to put Texas ahead for the first time, 7-5. Aaron Nixon would come on in the eighth inning and find himself with a bases loaded jam, which he would get out of only allowing one run and maintaining a 7-6 Texas lead. The Longhorns would add four crucial insurance runs in the eighth to go up 11-6, and secure a come from behind win and series sweep of the Jayhawks.
What's next for Texas?
After the thrilling come-from-behind win over the Jayhawks to complete the series sweep, the Longhorns will have two days off before kicking off their Big 12 Tournament run against Oklahoma State on Wednesday at 9 a.m. Central. If they want to host a regional, the Longhorns will need to reel off multiple wins in the Big 12 Tournament to do so.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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