 "Photo: Paul Chouy/The Daily Texan")
OMAHA, Neb. — Taylor Jungmann stares back at the cameras and press corps surrounding him with a look that approaches disdain, when he cares to look at all.
His answers, as always, are short and terse. To this 19-year-old, the scale of his performance, for better or worse, doesn’t seem to matter. Yesterday doesn’t seem to matter.
Because of that, his confidence is unshaken. Because of that, his team is still alive in the College World Series.
The lanky freshman with electric stuff hurled Texas into a deciding game 3 Tuesday night with a performance that will linger among the greatest Rosenblatt Stadium has ever seen. With a depleted bullpen and a Monday night collapse that he played a brief, but critical, part in still hovering over the Longhorns, Jungmann threw his first career complete game, allowing only one unearned run and five hits.
It was the longest outing of his collegiate career, and it started less than 24 hours after the shortest. With the Longhorns clinging to a two-run lead Monday night, Jungmann entered in the ninth inning looking to nail the door shut on an LSU rally. Six pitches later, he was back in the dugout, unable to find the strike zone or an explanation.
“It was a little embarrassing,” he said about game one. “I couldn’t find the feel of the ball.”
He had no such problems Tuesday, throwing 126 pitches of a would-be shutout had shortstop Brandon Loy’s second-inning error not given the Tigers their lone run of the day.
It started with a little help from the heavens. After threatening a second day of the searing heat that drained both starters Monday, Omaha saw two hours of rain, wind and lightning. What emerged was a much later start time and cooler conditions. Jungmann took full advantage, able to work through a Louisiana State lineup that had smashed 105 home runs on the season with ease, allowing only one extra base hit.
“First there was the rain,” Texas head coach Augie Garrido said. “It played an important part in this, it took the temperature way down, humidity way down. It helped Taylor … finish the game.”
The Texas offense played a part, too. With five runs in the first three innings, the Longhorns established a comfortable four-run cushion for Jungmann, allowing him to rear back and go after LSU’s hitters.
“Jungmann was brilliant in his performance,” Garrido said. “His teammates got him an early lead, and in my opinion, nothing helps a pitcher’s curveball like a four-run lead.”
With the stage set, Jungmann took over. He bullied the Tigers with every pitch in his repertoire, beating them with fastballs, fooling them with sliders and curveballs at will.
“I threw all of [my pitches] for strikes whenever I wanted to,” he said. “Just pounding the zone, throwing strikes.”
What few jams he did get into, he somehow solved. DJ LeMahieu’s leadoff triple in the third inning seemed destined to start the Tiger rally. The heart of the order was coming up, and the four-run lead already seemed in danger. LeMahieu never advanced. The tying run would get no closer than the on-deck circle.
With the help of his defense, busy atoning for the three errors it would commit Tuesday, Jungmann would face the minimum of 12 batters through the next four innings, turning two double plays as he swept through the LSU lineup like the lightning bolts that peppered Omaha’s skies hours earlier.
The rally everyone knew was coming never materialized. Only two base-runners reached base over the last two innings, neither hitting the ball out of the infield.
And finally, after nine innings and three hours, it was over. One last rising fastball. One last overmatched hitter. One last game to decide the national champion.
Be the first to comment on this article!