The Texas baseball team allowed yet another lead to slip away in the series finale as the Longhorns dropped two out of three to No. 19 UCLA this weekend in Los Angeles.
UT started the series on a good note, defeating the Bruins, 7-5, in the first game Friday, which gave Texas its first victory in a series opener this season. The Bruins plated a run in the first inning off UT righty Kyle Johnston, but Texas responded with two in the third inning. Junior center fielder Zane Gurwitz stretched a long single to right center into a double, followed by a couple of walks to load the bases. Junior catcher Tres Barrera singled to center to drive in a pair of runs.
UCLA designated hitter Kort Peterson homered off Johnston in the bottom of the inning to trim the UT lead to 2-1, but the Longhorns broke the game open with a four-run fourth. A sacrifice bunt pushed a runner to second, and sophomore second baseman Jake McKenzie reached on a fielding error by the Bruins shortstop. Gurwitz plated a run with an RBI double, and sophomore left fielder Travis Jones added another with an RBI sac fly to give Texas a 4-2 lead. Sophomore shortstop Bret Boswell then launched a two-run home run over the right field fence to put UT ahead, 6-2. Junior first baseman Kacy Clemens added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI double. UCLA fought back with three runs in the ninth off Texas freshman right-handed relievers Chase Shugart and Nolan Kingham, but ran out of time to mount a comeback as Texas took the 7-5 win. Texas head coach Augie Garrido said he was pleased with the way the two young pitchers handled the late-game threat.
“They came through at the right time,” Garrido said. “First game on the road, young pitchers, different environment, good team … you put that all together and they had to fight their way out of a lot of situations, and they did that.”
Texas lost in walk-off fashion Saturday, falling 5-4 after Peterson’s second home run of the series in the bottom of the ninth. UT trailed, 4-3, in the top of the ninth when freshman second baseman Kody Clemens smacked a double to left field. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, and sophomore catcher Michael Cantu drew a walk. Freshman right fielder Brady Harlan hit a RBI double to left field to tie the game at 4. But Peterson’s walk-off homer off Texas freshman righty reliever Blake Wellmann sealed the 5-4 loss for UT. Texas senior left-handed starter Ty Culbreth remained a bright spot, pitching 7.1 innings with seven strikeouts, no walks and four runs on seven hits. The players continue to be supportive of their young bullpen as the pitching staff works through its kinks.
“It’s growing pains, man,” Barrera said. “We’ve got a young (pitching) staff — talented, but very young. (The pitchers need) just to keep learning and building, because we want to be peaking at the right time. I told the guys, pick out the good things you did and keep building on that and know what you did wrong also and you can learn from those mistakes.”
Sunday was the same song and dance as last week for Texas. A 2-0 UT lead vanished after a UCLA five-spot in the sixth inning off junior lefty reliever Jon Malmin and freshman Beau Ridgeway gave the Bruins a 5-2 advantage. UCLA added another run in the seventh and three consecutive singles gave UT an extra run in the eighth. It wasn’t quite enough for a comeback win as Texas fell, 6-3, but Garrido said he still feels his team competed throughout the game.
“We got up to the moment of truth and had some difficulties crossing that bridge to be ourselves in the batters’ box, but it wasn’t any one thing,” Garrido said. “(The Bruins) are a very good team and we did compete and we did learn a lot from the weekend, and (we) just hope that we can get the winning going as well.”
With consecutive series losses behind them, the Longhorns hope to reverse the trend this week. Texas rolls into College Station on Tuesday to face rival Texas A&M at 6:35 p.m. before returning home for a three-game set against Tulane.
“Our boys will get a real opportunity to deal with the environment around them (in College Station) that’s hostile,” Garrido said, “so it’ll be good for them.”
Texas baseball drops two of three to No. 19 UCLA, prepares for rival Texas A&M
Blanche Schaefer 