Coral Gables, Fla. — Jared Thomas is new to this subject.
A freshman at the University of Texas, Thomas had never celebrated the end of a district NCAA baseball tournament before. Fellow freshman Jarin Flores said a veteran of the team told newcomers earlier this year that the Longhorns wouldn’t dogpile until Omaha.
However, Thomas did not remember receiving the instruction.
So how did he handle the closing stages of Sunday night’s 10-6 victory over Miami to clinch the Coral Gables division title?
“I kind of went with the flow,” said Thomas, who starts at first base. “I saw Peyton[Powell]running in after the game and he was doing what he always does, so I followed suit. I didn’t know if we were doing Inuyama. .”
Texas (41-20), who led the way with nine points in the third inning, closed out the district championship at Mark Wright Field. With a 3-0 victory over the weekend, Texas will advance to the Super Regionals this weekend for the third straight season and fourth in seven years under Texas manager David Pierce.
The Longhorns next face either Stanford or Texas A&M, who are still in the division.
After Miami struck in the top of the third on Sunday, Texas found itself trailing 3–0. The Longhorns were also still looking for a first runner to face Miami’s Ronaldo Gallo.
Gallo started the inning with a Flores strikeout, but then the Longhorns got to work. Texas’ next nine hitters came on base against Gallo and reliever Carlos Lecurica after Dylan Campbell extended his school-record and Big 12-record hitting streak to 38 games.
Campbell didn’t just have a noticeable swing during the inning. Both Thomas and Powell hit runs. Texas executed a hit-and-run play on Garrett Guillemett’s double, which homered Powell and allowed Campbell to score first. And will Flores strike out to start the inning? He made up for it with a Grand Slam.
“[Three times]my mind was just handing the bat to the next player. Just let the next player stand there and do his thing,” Flores said.
By the end of the inning, Texas had a 9-3 lead. “It went by very quickly,” said Miami manager Gino DiMare.
It was the 10th time this season that Texas broke a batting lineup in a first inning. The Longhorns have previously achieved that feat against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Manhattan, New Orleans, Incarnate Ward, Abilene Christian and Texas Southern, and did so three times in last month’s series against San Jose State. achieved. Of all these teams, only San Jose State qualified for the NCAA postseason.
Sunday’s three runs came against a Miami team playing at home as the No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament overall, finishing the season 42-21.
“We always say we don’t want any game handed to us, we don’t want it to be an easy one. The fact that they put down three slots is what sets us on fire. It’s like,” Thomas said. “I think it all goes back to the work we’ve been working on behind closed doors. We trust the whole team to get up and do their job, and that’s what we did.”
After taking a 9-3 lead, Texas didn’t let Miami come closer than four points. Led to the goal line by pitchers Charlie Hurley and Zane Morehouse, Texas ended the game with Morehouse’s seventh strikeout in a 2/3 inning out. Morehouse also pitched his final two innings Friday in the district opener win over Louisiana.
“It’s been great for us to see him do what he’s done in this tournament,” Pierce said of Morehouse.
Texas is currently 12-0 in its last four NCAA divisional games with Pierce. When asked what the secret to his success was, he speculated, “I prepared well and tried to be consistent.”
“We’ve been pretty lucky with our health, and we’ve been really lucky with the good players, and they’re very motivated,” Pierce added. “I don’t know, but I’m not complaining.”
Flores picks the best possible time to go long
Key play: Jaylin Flores slam: On the first pitch of the second at-bat in the third inning, Flores cut the biggest swing of a first-year student and connected it to the pitch of Recurica, who struck deep into the center field. It was UT’s fifth Grand Slam of the season.
“Honestly, my job is to get the runners going, to drive them in, to go for something and throw the ball early,” Flores said. “I went there with that feeling and just getting the job done for my teammates gives us the best chance of winning.”
Flores has started nine games in a row. He’s been a shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter since the Kansas Series ended last month, and it was his second home run since early April.
Tanner Witt pitched two innings
Notable Numbers: 41. Texas starter Tanner Witt threw 41 pitches in two innings. It was Witt’s fifth appearance of the season after missing most of last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Witt took Miami out of order in the first round, but ran into trouble in the second. He struck out two Miami hitters in the first inning. Dominic Pitelli, who hit a home run in Saturday’s 4-1 loss and had three of Miami’s seven hits, hit the ball over the right field fence.
Witt finished second, but his day was over soon after. The 41 pitches was his second-highest this year, but Pierce has previously hinted Witt could rise to 65 this weekend.
On Deck in Texas: Super Regional
Next Texas A&M — or Stanford: Texas will face either Stanford or Texas A&M in the superregional. Eighth-seeded Stanford was trying to avoid elimination Sunday night against Texas A&M. If Stanford beats Texas A&M, there will be a winner-take-all game between the two teams on Monday.
If Stanford wins the division, Texas will head to California next weekend. If A&M wins, the NCAA will choose between the venue bids submitted by the schools before the start of the NCAA tournament and announce the superregional location by Tuesday.