Expanded Baseball Thoughts

It was a tough weekend for Texas baseball, dropping two games to Tennessee and Rice, and nearly blowing a third to Houston. Luckily the Horns pulled out an 8-7 victory in 10 innings. The last freshman to have a game-winning hit in Minute Maid Park turned out to be a good one (Kyle Russell in 2006).

As we said yesterday, the errors are by far the most distressing aspect of the weekend. Through eight games, Texas is on pace for a startling 116 errors. We have no doubt that number will go down, and we hope the 11 errors for the weekend were an exception rather than the rule.

Kyle Russell has been in some sort of funk of late, leading him to be nearly 40 points (.296) below his 2007 batting average. Worse yet is Jordan Danks who is 60 points (.276) below his 2007 average. Assuming those two will return to form, the team is an offensively sleeping giant.

Of most concern (other than the defense) has been Kyle Walker at closer. The junior has already given up 4 runs (3 earned) and walked 3 in just 3 innings of work. The stellar play of freshman Slayton Thomas (amongst other freshman fireballers) gives us hope that the closer will be settled by at least conference play. With Brandon Workman, Thomas, and Cole Green, Texas has the chance to really get stronger as the year goes on.

This weekend Texas gets a chance to prove itself, hosting a good Stanford club. Both teams are currently 6-2, with Stanford having victories over Nebraska (series win 2-1) and Cal State Fullerton (sweep). Stanford features Friday starter junior Jeremy Bleich, a friend to one of us from the olden days.

Texas' midweek opponent is Texas A&M Corpus Christi, who at 2-5 should present a great opportunity for the youngsters to get some experience and playing time.

The games should be available on TexasSports.tv, you can probably check back here for some postgame analysis.

Baseball's Back!

That's right, Texas baseball returned to the diamond this weekend. The last two seasons Texas has been a combined 1-5 after the first weekend of baseball. This opening weekend, however, was different, as Texas swept a pretty solid Virginia Commonwealth club (6-2, 17-4, 10-2). One of us was lucky enough to attend two of those games and had a few observations:

1) The biggest surprise of the weekend has to go to Kevin Keyes. This giant of a man started two games at DH and went 5-7 with 4 runs scored. The 6'4" 215 lbs freshman even stole two bases on the weekend.

2) UFCU Disch-Falk field. Wow. The newly redone stadium is awesome. Well done by the university in making the Disch into a nice, enjoyable park to watch baseball. There is a ton of open space along the right and left field lines, the concourse looks fantastic, and all the new seating makes for a beautiful setup. If only there was grass...

3) VCU was clearly overmatched, but Texas played some real nice baseball. Doing the little things right, stealing bases, playing solid defense, putting the ball in play, this is what makes Auggieball so dangerous.

4) If the starting pitching is this good, look out Omaha! We can't remember another time when so much of the pitching staff will be determined on the field. Austin Wood pitched six good innings on Friday, Kenn Kasparek did the same on Sunday in his first game in over two years, and Cole Green pitched nicely in his Longhorn debut. Throw in some nice relief work by Brandan Workman, Kyle Walker, and Chance Ruffin -- amongst others -- excites us to see how this pitching staff will develop.

5) We can't remember a year in which we a) had so many newbies in key positions, and b) felt so confident in their abilities. Michael Torres and David Hernandez are a great combination in the middle infield, Brandon Belt should do a nice job filling some big shoes at first, and Travis Tucker (new to 3b) played the position very nicely this weekend.

6) We're interested to see how the condensed schedule affects the team. Texas clearly has a quantitatively deep pitching staff, but we'll soon learn about the quality. The Horns play 8 games in the season's first 9 days, having a two-game series against always feisty UT Pan American before traveling to Houston to face Tennessee, Rice, and Houston in the Minute Maid Classic.

7) TexasSports.tv enables you to watch games live, on the internet, for free. That is awesome.

8) The next six weeks are the best of the offseason. College baseball is back, college basketball is still here. We suggest enjoying it while it lasts.

Russell to Return

Probably. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Kyle Russell is "pretty definite" that he will play his junior season on the 40 Acres. Russell joins a number of prominent Longhorn baseball players returning to join the 2008 squad that will seemingly have no excuses for not having a big year. The Horns get Russell back but lose starting pitchers James Russell and Adrian Alaniz as well as third baseman Bradley Suttle. Football starts in less than 3 weeks.

MLB Draft -- UPDATE 6/8

Texas baseball fans looking for some good news got some today as not a single Horn or Horn recruit (that we know of) was drafted in the first three rounds. Kyle Russell was the first Horn drafted in the fourth round by St. Louis. Bradley Suttle was the only other Horn drafted in the first four rounds, taken by the Yankees with the last pick of the fourth. Both Suttle and Russell are draft eligible sophomores who have extra leverage to come back for two more years. It wouldn't be inconceivable to see both back in burnt orange next season. Texas baseball could be salty next season, especially if the starting pitching returns. Then again, a tough bracket, tough luck and bad play can end a great season very quickly.

UPDATE 6/8:

Randy Boone -- drafted 235 to Blue Jays (7th round)

Adrian Alaniz -- drafted 250 to Nationals (8th round)

James Russell -- drafted 427 to Cubs (14th round)

Joseph Krebs -- drafted 439 to Reds (14th round)

Chance Wheeless -- drafted 523 to Diamondbacks (17th round)

Nick Peoples -- drafted 592 to Cardinals (19th round)

Preston Clark -- drafted 995 to Cubs (33rd round)

Kenn Kasparek -- drafted 1027 to Nationals (34th round)

Additionally, the following Texas recruits were drafted:

Brandon Workman -- drafted 107 to Phillies (3rd round)

Runey Davis -- drafted 338 to Pirates (11th round)
Kevin Keyes -- drafted 800 to Rangers (26th round)

Baseball Offseason News

The baseball offseason has begun as crappy as the postseason ended. Already the Statesman is reporting that freshmen Josh Prince and Michael Demperio will be leaving the Texas baseball team to transfer "closer to home." Prince was a clutch hitter in the lineup and Demperio added great speed to the base paths. The college baseball offseason is a time of transition and we can only hope that Augie will build a team capable of returning to the College World Series.

A Stroll Around The Internet

A few Longhorn related links for your afternoon reading today.

• First, from BON's Morning Coffee, Texas had a down year in '06-'07, Taylor Teagarden is lighting up the minors, J.P. Howell had a great season debut, and Kevin Durant didn't look so good last season.
• College Football News has posted its Texas preview which you can read here. Overall, a pretty fair assesment of Texas's chances in '07.
• Remember Curtis Thigpen? Well, he has now been called up to the Blue Jays to replace injured first baseman Lyle Overbay. Curtis is the third Longhorn from the 2004 team to play in the Majors...that was a good squad.
• Finally, the MLB Draft is less than 24 hours away, beginning at 2 PM EST on Thursday. As such, here's a mock draft having Kyle Russell going #24 to the Rangers.

Well...That Sucked

The Horns were doomed by a combination of bad luck, an unfortunate bracket, and bad play in the Round Rock regional. After reaching the College World Series for five straight seasons, Texas has now failed to reach the super regional round for the second straight year. Football, basketball and baseball had at least somewhat disappointing seasons in 2006-2007, which for Texas fans is the same as successful seasons for other fans. We are now just 89 days away from football season, is it too early to start questioning Greg Davis's second down play calling?

Your Guide to the Big XII Baseball Tournament

Big XII Player of the Year Kyle Russell, Big XII Pitcher of the Year Adrian Alaniz, and co-Big XII Coach of the Year Augie Garrido lead the Longhorns into the conference tournament starting today (Wednesday, May 23) as the number 1 seed. Texas takes on 8-seed K-State at 1 PM CDT. And friends, you can watch the entire tournament for free at the Big 12 website. But we figured that, since the tourney is such an odd bird, we should inform you as to what exactly is going on before you tune in.

Most postseason college baseball tournaments--e.g., many conference tourneys, NCAA sub-regionals, and the College World Series--are formatted as four-team, double-elimination affairs. In the case of conference tournaments and the CWS, there are 2 of these brackets and the winners play one another for the title in either a single championship game (conferences) or 3-game set (World Series). But the Big XII has just got to be different.

Our conference uses a "pool play" round-robin format instead. So, unlike in a double-elimination setup, we already know who will play whom and when. The official explanation for this system is that it guarantees that each team will play a minimum of three games. That's true, and it's legitimate because it means that fans of any of the eight schools involved will get to see their boys three times no matter what. However, the more important effect of this format is that it guarantees that any given squad plays a maximum of four games. That means that there's no dropping into the losers' bracket and desperately using up all your pitching the week before the NCAA Tournament begins. From a Longhorn perspective, that's a very good thing. Texas' schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday, 1 PM: vs. 8-seed Kansas State.


• Thursday, 4:30 PM: vs. 5-seed texas a and m


• Saturday, 1 PM: vs. 4-seed Nebraska


• Sunday, 1 PM (hopefully): Championship Game vs. other bracket winner (2. Missouri, 3. OK State, 6. Baylor, 7. oklahoma)
  

For a more complete explanation of the tournament, its format, and its free video (!), visit the Big 12 Baseball Championship Homepage.

The Week Ahead...

A few notes from the upcoming week in sports:

• NBA Draft Lottery tonight 7 PM CST. We'll post the winning KD Mock Draft later tonight to remind you why it's a good thing. If the Celtics get the third pick, the ensuing Bill Simmons column should be golden.
• Big XII baseball tournament starts Wednesday. Texas plays its first game at 1 PM tomorrow. Expect a breakdown of the tourney later on.
• The baseball postseason begins in force on Monday with the NCAA selection show. Texas should have a national seed locked up regardless of the Big XII tourney outcome.
• Finally, starting Thursday we'll be guest blogging over at Burnt Orange Nation, check us out over there for a few days. We hope to bring the 'A' game while we're over there. It would be a good idea to look at today's countdown. We plan to be there, hopefully the Horns will too.

Kyle Russell -- Superman

A great article today in USA Today about Kyle Russell's bounce back from a horrible 2006 summer season. Leading the nation in homers is a nice way to bounce back. Not so bad for a guy who's so skinny he's nicknamed 'Stick'. The article also refers to Kyle's second career AB, a 2-run game winning home run against Rice which you can see below.

Baseball Round Up -- Texas v. Texas A&M

The picture says it all. Texas sweeps 6-4, 3-2, 9-1

Baseball Semi-Round Up -- Light the Tower Orange!

Through six innings last night, Texas had not played Texas baseball. There were numerous examplese of missed opportunities and poor execution:
Nick Peoples failed to get a sacrifice bunt down in the 6th then grounded into a double play. Kyle Russell was caught stealing second in 5th hurting the chance for a big inning. Josh Prince failed to execute a suicide squeeze in the 4th that would have tied the game. Moreover, Adrian Alaniz just didn't have it. He couldn't find the strike zone, and when he did the Aggies took full advantage.

Listening to this game, however, we got the feeling that the Aggies could not turn to their bullpen, and that is the difference between Texas and Texas A&M baseball. Joseph Krebs was amazing in relief, throwing 4 1/3 innings of shutout baseball. Krebs did not walk a batter and struck out four. Randy Boone came in and did his best Huston Street impersonation, striking out the side on 13 pitches.

It was only a matter of time before Texas would breakthrough after getting past Aggie starter David Newmann. Texas got their chance in the eighth. An Aggie error on a double play ball left Chais Fuller (who is having a fantastic series) on second with two outs. Josh Prince came through in the clutch, scoring Fuller on an RBI single.

It was a huge team win for the Horns. Every Longhorn hitter got a base hit, the bullpen was lights out, they get the chance to go for a sweep against a top ten opponent, Texas clinched the Lone Star Showdown, not to mention clinching the regular season conference title. To honor the Longhorns big win, Texas decided to light the tower orange last night with an 07, which we assume can only signify Texas having won seven straight versus the Ags.

The Horns will try for their 21st conference win and the sweep today at 2 PM CST. No Big XII team has won more than 20 games since Iowa State left the conference in 2002.

Weekend Notes

Texas had a huge victory last night against Texas A&M. The Horns trailed 4-1 through 3 innings but scored a run in the 6th and 2 more in both the 7th and 9th innings. James Russell had a solid outing, going 6 2/3 innings (8 hits, 4 ER) and Joseph Krebs and Randy Boone completed the game keeping the Aggies scoreless.

Kyle Russell hit home run #27 in the top of the first, extending his lead in the NCAA home run chase. Nick Peoples came up huge for the Horns, going 3-4, scoring 2 runs including the eventual game winner.

The win puts Texas one win away from clinching a complete victory in the Lone Star Showdown. Moreover, the Horns have a magic number of 1 to clinch sole ownership of the Big XII regular season championship. A Texas win or a Missouri loss would clinch it. Texas returns to action tonight at 6 PM CST.

Finally, for your weekend viewing pleasure, enjoy the following video. If this doesn't inspire you, you must not have gone to Texas.

Weekend Roundup

Baseball
Texas fairly easily took care of UAPB 10-4 on Saturday. The Horns were up 8-0 through 3 innings and cruised after that. Russell Moldenhauer went 3-3 from the plate to lead the Texas offense. James Russell, Adrian Alaniz, Austin Wood, Joseph Krebs and Randy Boone combined to pitch 8 1/3 scoreless innings. The only problem for the Horns was former shortstop Josh Prince giving up 4 earned runs over only 2/3 of an inning. Randy Boone was given the win for pitching a scoreless 9th. Allegedly, Augie decided before the game to give the win to the pitcher who gave up the fewest runs despite Russell making a declared start. Since four pitchers did not give up a run, the Horns drew cards after the game and Boone drew the highest card, giving him the win for the day.

Texas returns to action next weekend against Texas A&M in a series which may have implications far beyond baseball (more on that below). Oklahoma and Missouri split the first two games of their series, giving Texas a magic number of two to clinch the conference outright. Oklahoma State has reentered the picture as well by taking the first two games from Texas Tech. Texas either needs to take 2 of 3 from Texas A&M, have OSU and Mizzou drop 2 of their final 4 games, or a combination of Texas wins and Mizzou/OSU losses. To clinch a share of the title, the magic number is only 1.

Track and Field
Both the women's and men's track and field teams lead Texas A&M through two days. The men are in second place and the women in seventh with many of the running events on the docket for today. As we said earlier, one victory over the Ags would clinch a share of the Lone Star Showdown, two wins would clinch the title outright. We'd really prefer it not all boil down to baseball. Good luck to both teams today.

Football
Finally, a hearty congrats go out to Limas Sweed and Dallas Griffin for being named to the Playboy All-America Team. Limas joins a bevy of former Texas greats, including former offensive stars Roy Williams, Cedric Benson and Ricky Williams. Dallas was named as the Anson Mount Scholar/Athlete, an award which honors "the nation's premier student-athlete in football." Hook 'em and congrats.

We'll be back later today to update the baseball and track and field standings.

Weekend Preview

Baseball takes on UAPB Saturday at 2:00 in Austin. Both Men's and Women's Track and Field have the Big XII Championship in Lincoln. Either team finishing higher than Texas A&M would clinch at least a share of the Lone Star Showdown, and both teams beating the Aggies would give Texas the title outright. We're also big fans of the tower being lit orange, so both squads winning the Big XII title would be cool too. Finally, Men's Tennis began its run today in the NCAA Tournament with a win over Navy. They return to action Sunday against a Boise State squad looking for its second major upset in the last 6 months.

Enjoy the weekend and Hook 'em Horns.

TBA=UAPB

The "TBA" team that Texas baseball was scheduled to play on Saturday night has been revealed as The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. As TexasSports has it, the Horns will be using the game as a warmup for the big A&M series the following week while UAPB will be preparing for the SWAC Tournament, to take place in Jacktown (that's Jackson, MS for you non-locals).

Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson will host the SWAC Tournament. We grew up watching the Jackson Mets and Jackson Generals in Double-A ball in this ballpark. We never caught a single foul ball.

Here's hoping that Augie uses the opportunity to give each weekend starter 3 innings of work. UAPB will probably throw their ace and go all out to get the win against a top-10 team, so don't be too surprised if the game is closer than your sensibilities say it should be.

This, by the way, is another reason to love college baseball. Texas didn't even have a team to play against on Saturday until 6 days in advance! It's a kind of laid-back, very local-sports feel that makes the game unique and a lot of fun.

Baseball Round Up -- Texas v. Missouri

Well...crap. Texas dropped its first conference series of the year this weekend. The Horns also missed a terrific chance to clinch a share of the Big XII title. Finally, and most importantly, Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell sustained injuries which forced them to miss action. It appears that neither injury is serious, but you never know. Texas has now lost its first series in May in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Offensively, Nick Peoples struggled from the leadoff spot, going a combined 1-11 over the weekend. Both Russell and Danks had nice weekends until they got hurt. Texas pounded out 35 hits but were only able to score 15 runs.

The starting pitching was very solid for Texas, but Joseph Krebs had a miserable weekend. Krebs pitched only 1 1/3 innings but gave up 6 runs (5 earned) on 6 hits. The three starters combined for 21 1/3 innings and gave up only 5 runs.

We might question some of Augie's moves this weekend, but we've learned through experience that it is unwise to question college baseball's all-time win leader. After the game, Augie told the media "We're going to win the championship. We're the best team, and we're going to win it." Augie rocks.

Texas returns to action this Saturday night versus TBA. We expect to see Tobias Fünke on the mound for the Horns.

There Are Baseball Gods And They Are All-Powerful

Clearly the deities which oversee all of baseball read our weekend preview and decided to flex a little muscle last night. We wrote that Texas has only given up 7 runs or more 9 times all season, so of course Texas gives up 7 runs. We suggested that A&M may have a pitching problem, so they throw a shut out. We said "Joseph Krebs has put together a string of solid starts", so of course he comes in and gives up 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning of work. We said both Chais Fuller and Russell Moldenhauer had contributed nicely last week, so the two go a combined 0-5 from the plate. Finally, and most impressively, we said that "Texas will need Jordan Danks to bust out of his slump and it has been a little too long since Kyle Russell's last home run." Danks went 3 for 5 and Russell hit two long bombs.

Texas fell to Missouri 7-6 in 11 innings. Clay Van Hook was thrown out trying to score on a Jordan Danks single in the 11th, ending the game. We did not see the game but it seems to be a general rule that one should not end a game like that. We won't try to predict how the remainder of the series will go, let's just hope the baseball gods ease up on us the rest of the weekend. It is interesting to note, however, that Adrian Alaniz hasn't thrown a no-hitter in over two years.

Baseball Preview v. Missouri

The #5 Texas Longhorns return to action Friday night for a weekend series against Missouri. The Tigers come to Austin 31-12 overall (12-6 Big XII) and in second place in the Big XII. Texas has a 3.5 game lead over Missouri in the standings. With just one win this weekend, Texas would need to win one of three games next weekend in order to take the Big XII regular season title.

How good is this Texas team? Since losing its first two series, Texas has taken eleven straight. Offensively, Texas is batting .317 as a team, good for the fifth best all-time team record. Texas needs only 13 more home runs in order to set a new team record in that category. Whether this regular season success will translate into Omaha success remains to be seen.

As for this weekend's pitching, James Russell has not picked up a win the last two weekends. Adrian Alaniz has been fantastic the last three starts, and Joseph Krebs has put together a string of solid starts to go along with several innings of strong relief last weekend. On Sunday, Texas will either start Krebs or Austin Wood (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER last Sunday) hoping to give the Horns their fifth straight Sunday victory.

Last weekend, the Horns picked up increasing contributions with the bat from freshman Russell Moldenhauer (2 HR, 5 RBI) and senior Chais Fuller (5-9, 2 BB). Texas will need Jordan Danks to bust out of his slump and it has been a little too long since Kyle Russell's last home run.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

May 4, 2007
Texas: LHP James Russell (8-3, 3.65 ERA)
Missouri: RHP Aaron Crow (4-2, 2.55 ERA

May 5, 2007
Texas: RHP Adrian Alaniz (10-2, 2.54 ERA)
Missouri: LHP Rick Zagone (6-0, 3.92 ERA)

May 6, 2007
Texas: LHP Joseph Krebs (6-0, 2.45 ERA) or LHP Austin Wood (6-1, 3.39 ERA)
Missouri: RHP Ian Berger (3-1, 3.77 ERA)

Texas A&M Might Have A Pitching Problem

For a team with allegedly the second best pitching rotation in the Big XII, Texas A&M has allowed runs in bunches. Since March 17th, Texas A&M has played 26 games and given up 7 or more runs in 13 of them. The Aggies are not suprisingly 5-8 in those 13 games. The Aggies only gave up 7 runs once in their first 21 games, suggesting that early weekend series versus UTPA and Jacksonville State weren't great barometers of future performance. For comparison sake, the best pitching sqaud in the Big XII has given up 7 runs only 9 times all season (49 games). There's really only one thing we can say to that...
Given these revalations, expect to see dominant pitching performances from the Aggies when they face the Horns in two weeks.