Notebook: Texas Longhorns Take Crucial Houston Series

The Longhorns stay alive in the Big 12 race with a massive series win over the Cougars.

Texas infielder Jalin Flores (1) throws the ball in game two of the Big 12 baseball series, / Chase Seabolt/For the Avalanche-Journal

There is not a more random and fickle sport than baseball, especially at the college level. Just ask the Texas Longhorns (22-15, 9-6), who looked dead in the water following a disappointing loss in their series opener against the Houston Cougars (17-18, 5-13).

Then suddenly it's two games later and they are right back where they want to be, well close to it. After rallying from a tough loss in Game 1, wins in the final two games of the series keep the Longhorns in the thick of the Big 12 race as well as offer a spark of momentum as they enter the final stretch of conference play.

Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns' conference series win over the Cougars.

Texas infielder Jalin Flores (1) throws the ball in game two of the Big 12 baseball series, / Chase Seabolt/For the Avalanche-Journal

Conference title hopes still alive

Texas entered its weekend series against Houston still in contention to vie for a conference crown, but with diminishing hope due to a rough series loss against the BYU Cougars the weekend prior. Anything short of a series win likely would have spelled doom for not only the Longhorns' hopes at a conference crown, but potentially their postseason hopes as well.

And following an ugly showing in Friday night's series opener, which saw them held to one run on two hits with a staggering 16 strikeouts, those hopes looked even dimmer. Then came Saturday and Sunday's showings.

Saturday saw the Longhorns overcome a two-run eighth inning from Houston, which the Cougars produced to tie the game, with Dee Kennedy hitting the go-ahead home run in the ninth to even the series with a 6-5 victory. The finale was the cherry on top, however, with eight runs in the last three innings capped off by an eight-run ninth inning to take the series from Houston -- and keep Texas' conference title hopes alive.

No more LBJ weekend starts

There is no denying the pure, raw talent that Lebarron Johnson Jr. possesses. Just last year the pitcher posted an 8-4 record with a 2.91 ERA and 98 strikeouts. His season was punctuated with a stellar performance in the Coral Gables Regional, where he threw a complete game against the host Miami Hurricanes.

So it was only natural that expectations were high entering the 2024 campaign. However, those expectations have far from been met. After Sunday's short outing against Houston, in which he lasted only 2.2 innings and gave up five runs, his season stats ERA ballooned to 5.57. Moving forward, it would likely serve the Longhorns best to have him as a midweek starter and bullpen piece on the weekends.

Texas, fight

When the Longhorns entered the seventh inning of the series finale trailing 7-2, it wasn't too far-fetched to feel like their season was on the brink. Rather than rolling over and giving up, though, they got off the mat and began delivering punches back to a Houston team that had popped them in the mouth.

First, Kennedy roped an RBI double into the gap to make it 7-3. Then in the eighth two more runs came in on a WIll Gasparino RBI double and Cougars' throwing error, making it 7-5. A solo home run for Houston made it 8-5 entering the ninth, and then the Longhorns' offense came roaring to life finally.

They sent 13 men to the plate, scored eight runs, and rallied from trailing 8-5 to leading 13-8 entering the home half of the ninth. Three outs by Gage Boehm later and they stunned the Cougars, cementing their hardest-fought victory of the season to date to boot.

What's next for Texas?

The Longhorns are back in action on Tuesday night as they return home for a midweek contest against the UTRGV Vaqueros at 6:30 p.m. CT.