Friday, May 25, 2007

Kansas State gets the last laugh

Going into their second game of pool play against the #17 ranked Texas A&M Aggies, the Longhorns lost 7-3, apparently using all of their runs yesterday in their 19 run outburst against the Wildcats. Texas dropped to 1-1 in group play and will take on Nebraska on Saturday.

The Longhorns couldn't get anything going for most of the day as a man named Kirkland, held the Horns to 3 runs over 6 2/3 innings. After Texas took a 2-1 lead into the bottom third inning, the Aggies scored 5 runs off of starter James Russell, and that was all they needed as the Longhorns couldn't only manage one more run the rest of the game.

A day after pounding out 17 hits, the Longhorns only managed 7 hits, and one extra base hit. After everyone contributed on Wednesday, the Longhorns struggled to get contributions from the bottom of their lineup as the 5 thru 9 hitters went a combined 1-14. The Longhorns just couldn't get it going all day, as the Aggies had to be due after getting swept last week by the Horns.

It looks like the Longhorns will continue their streak of being a favorite to win the Big XII tournament and not winning the Big XII tournament. Kansas State, still upset from their 19-10 beating they received Wednesday, figured out how they could get back at Texas the most. They then did the improbable beating Nebraska 5-1 last night. This locked everyone in Group A in a tie at 1-1. However, the tiebreaker is head-to-head match ups, meaning for Texas to advance to the championship, they will need Kansas State to beat A&M and they will need to defeat Nebraska on Saturday. Texas should be able to bounce back and beat Nebraska, but don't look for lightning to strike twice for Kansas State. I suppose Kansas State got the last laugh.

Texas will use the extra rest on Sunday and prepare themselves to host their regional in a week at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, as they should be one of the top 8 seeds for the NCAA tournament.

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