Defensive Woes Haunt Texas in 12-2 Vanderbilt Loss

The Longhorns leave Arlington winless, as they will return home a disappointing 0-3 following the loss to Vanderbilt.

ARLINGTON - The Texas Longhorns will be happy to pack up their bags and get the heck out of Arlington, as their 12-2 loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores marked their third straight loss to open the season. 

Travis Sthele got the ball for the Longhorns on Sunday, and he looked solid after the first inning as he retired the Commodores in order with relative ease. However, that would not be the case in the second inning. 

The wheels completely fell off for Texas in the top of the second, especially the defense. On paper the eight-run second inning looks bad for Sthele, but zero of those eight runs were earned. Texas' defense wilted in the inning, with four errors leading to the crooked number on the scoreboard. 

Second baseman Jayden Duplantier and shortstop Cade O'Hara were credited with two errors each, as both booted routine grounders that could have severely limited the damage. 

Sthele's final line was three innings of eight-run baseball, allowing five hits and striking out two.

From there, that was essentially all she wrote for Texas. 

The Longhorns plated a pair of runs on an RBI fielder's choice from Porter Brown in the third and a solo home run off the bat of Eric Kennedy in the fifth. Texas finished with more errors, five, than hits, three, in the 12-2 loss. 

What's next for Texas? 

The Longhorns will return to Austin for five straight home games and a chance to get back on track after a rough opening weekend. They host the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT in a midweek game. 

---

You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

Want to see the Horns in action? Get your Texas Longhorns game tickets from SI Tickets here!

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Longhorns? Click Here to Subscribe to the Longhorns Country Newsletter

Want even more Texas Longhorns? Check out the SI.com team page here

Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure to subscribe to the Longhorns Country Podcast today! Click here To Listen.