Persistence Sends Texas Baseball Back To College World Series
Persistence Wins
Words by Taylor Dutch Photo by Texas Sports
A decisive NCAA Super Regional has victory sent Texas baseball back to the College World Series, ending a three-year series drought and marking the 36th championship appearance for the program.
It wasn’t always pretty, but they never stopped playing. This sentiment from Texas baseball head coach David Pierce was the key to the team’s success on the road to the NCAA College World Series.
The monumental performance took place on Monday afternoon when the Longhorns defeated Tennessee Tech with a 5-2 final score in a winner-take-all game three of the NCAA Super Regional at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. For the first time since 2014, the Longhorns secured their place in Omaha, Nebraska, effectively ending a three-year drought for the storied program. The victory marks Texas baseball’s 36th championship appearance, the most all-time.
“It feels awesome, it really does,” Pierce told 247Sports after the win. “It’s never been about me and it never will be, but the thing that I loved is I told these guys back in the fall I want this for you guys, but I also want it for those three coaches who have been with me for seven years. To watch all that happen was really, really special and I’m just so proud of our team. The things that we’ve had to do. I’ve said it before, we’re not always pretty a lot of times we’re ugly, but we just figure out how to keep playing and that’s what’s so special about this group.”
Welcome back to Omaha, Horns!
For the 3️⃣6️⃣th time in program history and first since 2014, @TexasBaseball is headed to the College World Series! The most all-time trips to the #CWS. pic.twitter.com/OgVUKhLMWK
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 11, 2018
The Longhorns made a statement in the second inning with a two-run RBI double from Ryan Reynolds. Kody Clemens followed with a home run in the third, his 24th of the season, and D.J. Petrinsky popped another homer to give Texas a 4-0 lead over the Golden Eagles.
Solid pitching from Matteo Bocchi carried the Longhorns through five innings with just four hits and one run. In the fourth inning, Tennessee Tech began to climb back with a base hit RBI and later a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Texas responded with another run on the board when Tate Shaw scored on an error in the sixth frame, giving Texas a 5-2 lead.
After two and two-thirds scoreless innings, Andy McGuire came into a tough spot in the ninth with two on and only one out. From the bullpen, Pierce sent in Nolan Kingham who put the Golden Eagles away with the final two outs, securing the Longhorns’ first College World Series berth in three years.
The victory not only sent Texas back to the championship series but also marked a win in honor of Augie Garrido, a legendary UT baseball coach who passed away at the age of 79 in March. He finished his career in 2016 as college baseball’s all-time wins leader.
The Longhorns’ season will continue when the team takes on Arkansas in the first round at 1 pm CT on Sunday.
