Pete Hansen Dominates as Texas Opens Big 12 Tournament With Win vs Oklahoma State
The Texas Longhorns knew that coming into the Big 12 Tournament that if they wanted any shot at hosting a regional when the NCAA Tournament started, they would need a strong showing and a string of wins. They got that started in dominant fashion on Wednesday as they came out and blanked Oklahoma State to start Big 12 Tournament play.
No. 4 Texas 4 No. 5 Oklahoma State 0
Pete Hansen just might like pitching at Globe Life Field against teams from Oklahoma, as he turned in yet another dominant outing in the home of the Texas Rangers. Hansen shut the Oklahoma State lineup down from the beginning, mixing his fastball and offspeed pitches with ease as he mowed down the Cowboy batters.
He would come out of the game after 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, only allowing three hits while racking up an impressive 12 strikeouts. While Hansen was unable to quite go the distance in this one, that was no issue for Tristan Stevens who came out of the bullpen to deliver 1 1/3 innings of relief work to secure the shutout victory.
When your starter is as dominant as Hansen was for the Longhorns today, your offense is not under as much pressure to manufacture runs. Not that it was an issue for this Texas lineup, who carried their mashing ways over from the regular season to the Big 12 Tournament.
The Longhorns would take a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning as Trey Faltine scored from first on a throwing error by the Baylor pitcher on a Hodo bunt single. They would go on to add three more runs on a Faltine RBI single in the seventh inning, as well as a pair of solo home runs from Austin Todd and Silas Ardoin to cruise to a 4-0 statement victory to start Big 12 Tournament play.
What's next for Texas?
The Longhorns got off to a strong start with their win over Oklahoma State to start tournament play, as they will continue to make a push to host a regional in June. They now wait to see who they will play next, as they take on the winner of TCU and Baylor on Thursday at 4 p.m. Central.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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