Game 1
May 29 — NCAA Regional
Green carries Texas with magic on mound and at plate
In the first game of the NCAA tournament, Texas’ offense suffered a huge setback when leading hitter Brandon Belt was beaned — leaving the game with a mild concussion and a gash in his ear.
Because Preston Clark, who started the game as the designated hitter, was moved to first base to replace Belt, Texas pitcher Cole Green was forced to bat.
With two strikes against him in his first career at-bat, Green smacked a single into left field, equaling the number of hits he had given up to the Army Black Knights on the mound at the time.
“If it hadn’t been for the magic of Cole Green, this game could have been very different,” Garrido said. “Practicing is very overrated to Cole. He just walks up with two strikes and gets a hit; there is nothing to it.”
Green combined a stellar pitching performance — one run, four hits and six strikeouts in seven innings — with masterful hitting and a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt to give Texas, the No. 1 overall seed, a 3-1 win in the NCAA regional at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
“I thought we might get the DH back, but when coach told me I had to hit, I was focused,” Green said. “I was prepared to put down a bunt with a runner on base or get to swing it if there was nobody on. Things went my way.”
— Austin Talbert
Texas 3 - Army 1
Game 2
May 30-31 — NCAA Regional
Wood dominates in 25-inning marathon, an NCAA record
In a performance that will be firmly ingrained in Longhorn lore and Cooperstown, senior closer Austin Wood carried Texas for 13 innings of what became the longest game in the history of college baseball, a 3-2, 25-inning win over Boston College.
After seven hours and three minutes of baseball, Texas finally had the historic win. Wood racked up 14 strikeouts in 13 shutout innings of relief, pitching 12 1/3 innings without giving up a hit.
“That is the best pitching performance by an individual pitcher in the 41 years that I’ve coached,” Garrido said.
Wood couldn’t explain how he did it.
“I can’t really believe I went 13 innings, but that’s what they asked me to do, and I tried to do my best,” Wood said.
His fourteenth strikeout is the highlight of the legendary performance, blowing the pitch past the Eagle hitter for his most dramatic strikeout out the night — ensuring his 169-pitch effort would not end in defeat.
Austin Wood simply wouldn’t let the Longhorns lose.
— Austin Talbert
Texas 3 - Boston College 2
Game 3
May 31 — NCAA Regional
Walk-off grand slam caps huge comeback in regional win
Down four runs in the bottom of the ninth, it looked like Army would force Texas into a do-or-die game for the regional championship.
But again, in the same day Texas captured the 25-inning game, the Longhorns’ magic struck.
First, Texas shortstop Brandon Loy missed a walk-off grand slam by inches — clearing the bases with a line drive off the wall to tie the game at 10.
Senior designated hitter Preston Clark finished the job three batters later, cranking a walk-off grand slam just inside the left-field foul pole, good enough for a 14-10 win sending Texas to the Super Regional.
“It was a dramatic win, after last night’s dramatic win. These are magical things that I talk about,” Garrido said. “There is something spiritual about baseball. Before you can believe, you have to experience it. And the last two days, this team has experienced some amazing stuff.”
— Austin Talbert
Texas 14 - Army 10
Game 4
June 6 — NCAA Super Regional
Record seven sacrifices push Texas past TCU in Game 1
TCU hit home runs. Texas bunted. But when it was all added up, small ball went further than a couple long balls.
In the end, Garrido won again. While the Horned Frogs scored on the long ball, racking up four runs on three homers, the Longhorns thrived off of Garrido’s classic style, obtaining an NCAA record seven sacrifice bunts in a 10-4 win in the first game of the Austin Super Regional.
“We got the leadoff guy on, of course,” Garrido said. “And then, we bunted them over. Over and over and over and over and over.”
— Austin Talbert
Texas 10 - TCU 4
Game 5
June 7 — NCAA Super Regional
Longhorn hitting shut down in loss to TCU
When it seemed like the wins would keep on coming, the Horned Frogs kept their season alive for another day by shutting down the Texas offense in a 3-2 win. TCU played long ball again, scoring all of its runs via its two homers against Cole Green. In the first six innings, the Longhorns did not get a runner past first base, and the Frogs’ pitching staff did not walk a batter. But Texas’ Preston Clark said it best after the loss.
“I think we’ll be fine,” Clark said.
— Dan Hurwitz
Texas 2 - TCU 3
Game 6
June 8 — NCAA Super Regional
Horns’ power pushes them past Horned Frogs
After dropping a game to hard-hitting TCU, which bested Texas pitchers by way of the home run, the Longhorns’ much-maligned power-hitting showed up to secure their ticket to Omaha.
After a leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt, Texas had a surprising power outburst of their own.
First, Brandon Belt tripled off the wall in dead center to drive in a run. Then, after a fielder’s choice scored Belt, Kevin Keyes turned on an inside pitch and blasted a laser over the TCU bullpen in left field.
“This game is a bitch,” Garrido said. “Any time you don’t think you have something, that is exactly what wins you the game.”
Texas would lead 3-0 after the first and never looked back, dropping TCU 5-2.
— Austin Talbert
Texas 5 - TCU 2
Game 7
June 14 — CWS
Texas walks past Southern Miss in thrilling 7-6 victory
After blowing three leads with uncharacteristically bad pitching and defensive mistakes, Texas was able to come up with a win in its first College World Series game.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, freshman Brandon Loy drew a walk-off walk to give Texas a 7-6 win over Southern Miss. It was the second bases-loaded walk Loy drew in two innings, the third for Texas.
Before Loy could swing his way into history, Texas coach Augie Garrido walked out to talk to Loy. He told him he was going to take a pitch.
And keep taking.
— Austin Talbert
Texas 7 - Southern Miss 6
Game 8
June 16 — CWS
Horns hammer Sun Devils in stunning comeback
With Texas down 6-0 and the Sun Devils’ ace, Mike Leake — who was 16-1 with a 1.36 ERA heading into Tuesday’s game — on the mound, the Longhorns were on a collision course with the losers’ bracket.
Then, the magic struck again. Cameron Rupp hit a three-run home run, and Texas didn’t stop there, rallying to tie the game at six in the fourth inning. Another Rupp homer and a few more insurance runs combined with amazing pitching from freshman Taylor Jungmann secured Texas’ 10-6 win.
— Austin Talbert
Texas 10 - Arizona ST. 6
Game 9
June 19 — CWS
Walk-off homer puts Texas in championship series
Down one run going into the bottom of the ninth, the Longhorns decided to take the game into their own hands and send the Sun Devils back to the desert. Cameron Rupp hit a monstrous 440-foot home run followed two batters later by Connor Rowe, who took the first pitch he saw and hammered it five rows into the stands.
While the Longhorns were just squeaking by their opponents, the dramatic win allowed Texas to advance to the championship series against LSU, which was crushing everything in its path.
— Dan Hurwitz
Texas 4 - Arizona ST. 3
Game 10
June 22 — CWS Finals
LSU comes from behind to win in extra innings
The opener of the championship series was what everyone expected, and then some. The red-hot Tigers needed a miracle this time after getting into a 6-4 hole entering the ninth. A two-run double by LSU’s DJ LeMahieu sent the game into extra innings.
The Longhorns, who slugged five solo home runs in the first seven innings, were unable to get the final run as Mikie Mahtook came through with a single up the middle, scoring the winning run.
— Dan Hurwitz
Texas 6 - LSU 7
Game 11
June 23 — CWS Finals
Jungmann shuts down LSU to force third game
After an hour-and-a-half rain delay, Texas’ Taylor Jungmann pitched all nine innings, enabling the Longhorns to force a third and final game in Omaha. All the scoring took place in the first three innings and it was enough for Jungmann to continuously get by each batter. Jungmann gave up five hits, had no earned runs and struck out nine.
— Dan Hurwitz
Texas 5 - LSU 1
Game 12
June 24 — CWS Finals
Relief pitching falters as LSU claims championship
The Longhorns were in an early 4-0 hole, but climbed back to tie it in the fifth inning after outfielder Kevin Keyes hit a two-run home run. But LSU (56-17) jumped on Longhorn relievers Brandon Workman, Austin Dicharry and Austin Wood to score five runs in the sixth inning.
The Tigers never looked back from and the Longhorns (50-16-1) ran out of steam.
LSU’s Jared Mitchell, who hit a three-run home run in the game, was a thorn in Texas’ side throughout the series, winning the CWS Most Outstanding Player award.
The Longhorns walked off the field with their heads down, but the Tigers, who came into the CWS ranked No. 1 in the major polls, were the favorite to win.
— Dan Hurwitz
Texas 4 - LSU 11
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