Highlights from Opening Weekend of Texas Baseball
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Texas took care of business with a three-game sweep over UC Davis to begin the season at home.
The Longhorns have a Tuesday game against Lamar, then will get back to action with a three game home series against Michigan State.
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Took Care of Business
Wins are wins, make no mistake about that. Wins of 12–2 and 9–1 will highlight the weekend, but a tight 6–4 contest as well at least provided some pressure situations deep into contests for the Horns. Consider me a fan of what Texas was able to deploy from the back end of the bullpen.
Anthony Pack
Probably my favorite part of the weekend was the breakout debut of freshman OF Anthony Pack. The freshman led the Longhorns with six base knocks on the weekend in 11 trips to the plate, two of which being doubles. I am not to say Pack should be immediately vaulted into the top of the lineup, but with the comfort he displayed at the plate this weekend, I could certainly provide that second leadoff from the bottom end of the lineup for the likes of Mendoza, Rodriguez and the heart of the order.
Heart of the Lineup
It was fantastic to see Seton Hall transfer OF Aidan Robbins go deep on Friday night, then the fresh-out-of-the-gym Ethan Mendoza followed up with two of his own this weekend as well. Those were the only three home runs on the weekend, in perhaps a surprise.
Seven Longhorns drove in multiple runs on the weekend. Mendoza led the way with seven, then was followed by Robbins and Rodriguez with four each.
I wanted to share some words on C Carson Tinney as well. Only 1-6 at the plate, but the seven walks were very clearly a takeaway. Tinney added four strikeouts as well, so this takeaways is two-fold. First, Texas must make sure that Tinney is protected in the lineup. Whether it is Borba hitting fifth, or additional movement with Tinney, the idea that opposing teams can dance around Tinney in the order is at the very least something that has drawn my attention. Tinney also looked to be just a split-second behind on the offspeed this weekend, I am sure it is in large part because of new arms in a new location. But something to monitor.
Speaking of Casey Borba, if the foul line down the left field line was about five feet further left, he would have had multiple trips around the bases.
Volantis
How about seven innings of one hit ball in his first career start. I understand the opposition, but very little drop off was shown from the back end of last year. It is only a matter of time before Volantis is seen in the Friday night role, in my opinion. Volantis was efficient with his pitches and finds so many unique angles from the left side, he remains a nightmare for opposing hitters.