Notebook: No. 25 Texas Longhorns End Regular Season Hot, Sweep Kansas

The Longhorns head into postseason play riding high off a sweep of the Jayhawks.

Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

The No. 25 Texas Longhorns (35-20, 20-10) entered the final series of the regular season feeling pretty good about themselves. They were coming off a series win over the UCF Knights, which was their fifth conference series win in a row, that vaulted them back into the top 25 rankings for the first time since mid-March.

It was far from an easy final series, however, with the Kansas Jayhawks (29-21, 15-15) coming to town and giving the Longhorns absolutely everything they could handle over the three games. Both the opener and Game 2 were won via a walkoff, with Jalin Flores playing the role of hero in both instances.

They appeared to be cruising in the finale, with an 8-1 lead after six innings. That lead evaporated quickly, though. Heading into the eighth it was cut down to 8-7, but a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jared Thomas plated Will Gasparino and gave Texas the 9-7 lead - a lead that it held onto for the sweep.

Now here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns' sweep of the Jayhawks.

Texas Longhorns infielder Casey Borba (31) slides in for a score during the game against Kansas. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

Hurley/LBJ bounce back

Instead of their usual rotation of Max Grubbs, Ace Whitehead and Lebarron Johnson Jr., the Longhorns switched things up against Kansas. They threw Charlie Hurley on Thursday in the series opener, shifted Grubbs down to Game 2 and kept Johnson in the finale on Saturday in order to preserve arms ahead of the Big 12 Tournament.

While Grubbs was his usual self, the bigger takeaway is the performances from Hurley and Johnson. Hurley set the tone in the opener in dominant fashion, tossing six innings of shutout baseball with a career-high nine strikeouts. Giving a similarly stellar outing in the finale, Johnson looked like the ace he was billed to be prior to the season, going six innings of one-run baseball and striking out seven.

Grubbs and Whitehead have proven themselves as reliable starters. If Johnson and Hurley can round into form heading into postseason play, this Texas squad will be a tough out.

Bullpen dicey in the finale

It should be noted that this specific point applies to only the finale of the series. Across the first two games the bullpen was absolutely lights out, shutting down the Jayhawks' lineup. Sunday, though, was an entirely different story in all the worst ways. After Johnson exited to start the seventh, the Longhorns held an 8-1 lead.

Two innings later and the Jayhawks had cut that down to an 8-7 lead on six unanswered runs, prior to Thomas' sacrifice fly in the eighth. The trio of Heston Tole, David Shaw and Gage Boehm gave up those six runs, with two of them unearned. Boehm, fortunately, managed to get the save. However, a performance like that in postseason play could mean the end of Texas' season.

Momentum building

Despite the shaky outing from the bullpen in the series finale, the Longhorns held off the rally from Kansas and got their first sweep of a conference series this season. Ending the regular season on a high note, they were winners of six straight series in conference play and a 9-1 record overall in Big 12 series.

Now, they turn their attention to the Big 12 Tournament. As it currently stands they should have done more than enough to be in the NCAA Tournament. What matters now is a good showing in Arlington to continue boosting their résumé to earn a No. 2 seed in a favorable regional and set themselves up for a deep run.

What's next for Texas?

The regular season is over for the Longhorns, and next on the agenda is the Big 12 Tournament. As for when and who they will be playing, that depends on the second half of Oklahoma State's double header against the Houston. Should Houston win, Texas will be the No. 2 seed and get a bye until Wednesday. An Oklahoma State win locks them into the No. 3 seed and into a matchup on Tuesday against the No. 10 seed Texas Tech.