Bullpen woes strike once more because the Longhorns fall to Kansas State

Regardless of a stadium stuffed with pups of all sizes and styles, the Longhorns didn’t have that canine in them late within the recreation.

Texas fell to unranked Kansas State 6-5 on Saturday simply 20 hours after a comeback victory stuffed with clutch situational batting and fierce bullpen work. The Longhorns appeared like a totally totally different workforce on Saturday, failing to spark a lot batting previous the fourth-inning rally and giving up 4 runs via the bullpen.

Sophomore reliever Tyson Neighbors actually stole the present in Austin along with his “violent” off-speed and command.

“They did a great job getting the lead again and getting Neighbors within the recreation,” Texas head coach David Pierce mentioned. “He was the distinction maker at this time.”

Neighbors entered the sport within the seventh after an enormous inning that gave Kansas State the lead, and the Royse Metropolis product by no means appeared again. Throwing simply 48 pitches, the righty struck out eight of the 11 batters he confronted and gave up only one hit with two outs within the backside of the ninth to freshman first baseman Jared Thomas. Not even barely rattled, Neighbors struck out senior heart fielder Eric Kennedy with out throwing a single ball to finish the sport.

“He did a great job of filling up the zone,” redshirt junior Peyton Powell mentioned about Neighbors. “We should be higher (about) taking his pitches and hitting our pitches.”

On the alternative facet of the outfield, the Longhorns’ bullpen struggled to carry again Kansas State’s run-producing offense. Redshirt sophomore Lebarran Johnson Jr. labored 2.1 innings from the fifth to the seventh and was answerable for 4 of Kansas State’s six runs and all three of its walks. After wanting like a breakout candidate early within the 12 months with an excellent efficiency versus LSU, Johnson Jr. has struggled to search out his footing on the workforce.

Redshirt junior Zane Morehouse labored excellently as a better the evening earlier than, however he struggled in his first inning of labor on Saturday. Although the runs weren’t credited to him since Johnson Jr. exited halfway via the inning, Morehouse gave up two RBI singles and added a wild pitch within the seventh, permitting Kansas State to finish the three-run comeback and ultimately win the sport.

“I’m not involved that they’re overworking, I’m extra involved that they’re not throwing a breaking ball for a strike,” Pierce mentioned about Morehouse going two nights in a row.

Although some people flashed offensive life, the Longhorns’ bats appeared all however useless after the four-run fourth inning. After Powell’s fifth-inning solo shot, the Longhorns produced zero hits till Thomas poked a single into proper with two outs within the backside of the ninth.

“It’s not likely one thing you may management,” Powell mentioned concerning the workforce’s streaky hitting nature on Saturday. “Like I mentioned, take his pitches that they need us to swing at and hit those that we like.”

Texas falls to five–3 in convention play and can look to bounce again within the rubber match on Sunday to resolve the sequence. Relying on how the respective weekend sequence finales play out, the Longhorns have an opportunity to tie or take first place away from Oklahoma State in Large 12 play.