Longhorns Notebook: Early Season Struggles Continue in Series Loss to Titans
Coming into this season you would be hard pressed not to expect some growing pains for the Texas Longhorns. After all, replacing seven out of nine starters and a staff ace from a College World Series appearance is hard for anyone.
Well, we're 11 games into those seasons and those growing pains were on full display over the weekend in a series loss to the Cal State Fullerton Titans. All three phases of the games struggled at different points in the series as Texas has only put together a few games this season where they all clicked at once.
Of course, the season is young and the Longhorns could still turn things around well before conference play starts. For now, though, here are three key takeaways from their series loss to the Titans.
Adjust the lineup
As a team the Longhorns are struggling at the plate, with a team batting average of .235. There have been flashes of what this offense can be, but it appears time to make some adjustments to the lineup to turn those flashes into a consistent offense that puts up runs.
First and foremost, Eric Kennedy and Porter Brown are perfect where they are. Kennedy is the prototypical leadoff hitter while Brown slots in perfectly at third in the order. After that, though, some changes could be made.
If a lineup change does happen, here is an ideal lineup that the Longhorns could put together:
CF Eric Kennedy
SS Mitchell Daly
LF Porter Brown
1B Peyton Powell
C Garret Guillemette
2B Jack O’Dowd
RF Dylan Campbell
3B Tanner Carlson
DH Jayden Duplantier
With the early season struggles of freshmen Jared Thomas and Jalin Flores, they're swapped out in favor of Tanner Carlson and Peyton Powell. This early in the season is the time to experiment with the lineup, especially before conference play.
Pitching still solid
No pitching staff will be lights out all the time, and rough spots are expected. In those rough spots is when the offense is expected to step up and make life easier for their pitchers. Well, unfortunately for the Longhorns pitching staff that has not come to fruition as of yet.
The starting rotation of Lucas Gordon, Zane Morehouse and Travis Sthele all struggled against a strong Titans lineup, but the bullpen was there to put out the fires as best they could. As a team, the Longhorns sport a 3.36 ERA through the first 11 games.
If the offense gets rolling at any point, this is a pitching staff that has shown they can shut down even the most potent opposing offenses.
Don't hit the panic button yet
No, a 4-7 start to the season with a series loss to the Titans and the disappointing showing in Arlington is not ideal. However, there is still a lot of baseball left to play and plenty of time for the Longhorns to get back on track ahead of conference play.
The team has shown flashes of what it can be, from a blowout win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi to shutting down No. 1 LSU through eight innings. All it takes is stringing together three or four games together of consistent performance to get some momentum rolling once again.
What's next for Texas?
The Longhorns return home to the friendly confines of Disch-Falk Field for a pair of midweek games, with Sam Houston coming to town on Tuesday and Mercer on Wednesday. These two games kick off a 14-game home stand that runs throughout most of March.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @C onnorjz98
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