Dylan Campbell shares key to Texas' road success
Texas‘ current NCAA Tournament run has been fueled by an excellent resume on the road to end their season. The Longhorns closed out the regular season with three consecutive Big 12 series wins on the road, which propelled them into their impressive postseason sweep at the Coral Gables Regional in Miami last weekend.
Junior outfielder Dylan Campbell pulled back the curtain on Texas’ road success, explaining where their ability to thrive in enemy territory stems from.
“I honestly just think it’s because of the adversity we faced,” Campbell said. “We kind of ended the year on the road a lot at TCU and at Kansas, also losing a game, especially in Kansas that first game.”
The Longhorns’ regular season series versus Kansas did not start off ideally, as Texas blew an early lead thanks to a seven-run-scoring outburst in two innings by the Jayhawks that propelled them to a 10-4 victory over the Longhorns.
“Losing that one with Lucas (Gordon) on the mound really really taught us a lot about our team coming back, and it’s kind of built like a Super Regional with three games coming back and winning two. So I feel like we’ve been practicing for this for a little while now,” Campbell said.
Texas bounced back from that game strong, putting together back-to-back wins to secure a series victory and winning eight of their last nine games of the regular season.
Longhorns’ head coach David Pierce echoed Campbell’s message on Wednesday as well, saying that he implemented a Super Regional mindset to his team starting on May 1, as the Longhorns have now been playing win-or-go-home type baseball mentally for over a month.
Texas flipping the postseason switch early has clearly paid off, but Campbell himself has more than proven that he’s comfortable playing on the road or at home this season. He’s currently in the midst of a school record 38-game hitting streak and was consistent throughout the Coral Gables Regional.
Campbell batted .345 for the three games of regional play and has for the entire season, as his five hits, four RBIs, and home run have been crucial in the Longhorns’ postseason success so far.
Campbell and the Longhorns will have to continue their winning ways on the road if they want to keep pushing through the tournament, as they’re set to face Stanford in the Stanford Super Regional with Game 1 starting Saturday at 6 p.m. ET in Palo Alto.