The Shriner’s Children’s College Classic returned to Houston and Minute Maid Park for its 22nd year and this year matched two top five teams from the Big 12 and SEC. The Texas Longhorns and LSU Tigers squared off on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park with so much riding on the line, and it’s only March.
The Texas Longhorns have been the dominant team in this young college baseball season. The number one team in the country entered into a top-five matchup with number three LSU Tigers Saturday night at Minute Maid Park. The Longhorns would send out weekend starter, redshirt senior Tristan Stevens to face a Tigers lineup that has been known to score runs very quickly. The Tigers would counter with Ty Floyd (2-0, 1.80 ERA).
A preseason First Team All-American, Stevens was entirely in control from the game’s first pitch. By the third inning, Stevens was at 15 pitches for the game, which tells you how good he was feeling. Stevens kept the Tigers hitters off balance by mixing up his pitches. Going seven strong innings, Stevens had seven strikeouts, five hits, and did not allow a run.
For Floyd, it was a rough outing for the sophomore. The Longhorns got to Floyd early in the game, scoring four runs; three of those runs came via the home run in the top of the second inning. Floyd would settle down, going four innings, giving up five hits, four walks, striking out four, and allowing just the four runs in the second inning.
The Longhorns got on the board in the top of the second. A throwing error allows the Longhorns to score quickly, putting them up 1-0. Later in the second inning, Longhorns left-fielder Douglas Hodo III sends a three-run home run into the Crawford Boxes, putting the Longhorns up 4-0.
The Longhorns would tack on a couple more runs in the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh inning, the Longhorns added a run on a muffed throw by the Tigers second baseman Cade Doughty. In the eighth inning, Longhorns designated hitter Murphy Stehly would hit a solo home run into the Crawford Boxes, extending the lead to 6-0.
The Tigers would get a run in the bottom half of the eighth, but that would be all as the Longhorns would win the game with a final score of 6-1. The Longhorns improved to 11-0 on the season and will most certainly remain the number one team when the new rankings come out on Monday.
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