Longhorn bullpen's efforts versus Air Force places Texas in super regional

The only thing standing between the Texas Longhorns and a spot in the super regional round of the NCAA tournament was the Air Force Academy’s baseball team. The Falcons had to top Texas twice in order to advance to the round of 16, while the Longhorns needed only one win.

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With a 10-1 victory on Sunday, Texas advanced to the super regionals for the 12th time in program history. Dylan Campbell paced the offense with two solo home runs, while Trey Faltine added three RBI. Texas’ bullpen overpowered the bats of the only remaining four-seed in the field, limiting Air Force to six hits over nine innings.

“Regional champs is something pretty special,” Texas head coach David Pierce said. “We don’t take that for granted. To be able to come in, play well, play in front of our crowd, and finish it like today was pretty special.”

Prior to Sunday’s game, Pierce had a decision to make; would he throw a conventional starter like Zane Morehouse or ask multiple members of his erratic bullpen to overcome the Falcons?

He went with the bullpen approach and had a plan in mind. He’d start Travis Sthele, bring in Jared Southard after, and then use Andre Duplantier. No pitcher would go for more than about 50 pitches. The strategy worked to perfection as that trio pitched 8.0 innings of shutout ball, allowing five hits, walking three, and striking out 10. Air Force scored its only run of the game off Lebarron Johnson in the ninth inning, when Brayden Altorfer smacked a homer over the fence in left-center.

Southard took home the win with this 3.0-inning outing and struck out six of the 12 batters he faced, including a fourth inning where he struck out the side.

A sophomore from nearby Rouse High School in Leander, Southard is part of a bullpen that was anything but a strength during most of the 2022 season. He contributed to the struggles of the entire group with a few rough outings, even one in the Big 12 tournament.

On Sunday, his contributions were wholly positive, as were nearly all of the contributions from the Longhorn bullpen during the regional.

“We’ve been through a lot as a bullpen,” Southard said. “A lot of things fall on us, but we just got all together and were like ‘we’re not done.’ We know if we’re going to keep going in the postseason, we’re going to have to step up. That’s what we’ve done so far.”

Pierce’s search for reliable bullpen arms has been a season-long process. He noted following the game they’re still trying to build guys up to be usable in games, which he noted sounds “crazy” considering Sunday’s contest was the 64th for the Longhorns.

He has seen things over the past few weeks, and especially during the regional, that gives him a bit more confidence in the staff. Even with his offense providing ten runs, he was quick to say the win over Air Force was via his pitching staff’s performance.

“They’ve been beat up a little bit,” Pierce said. “I like where they are. I like where they’re coming, and being in a spot where maybe we can get some dependency from them. Proud of them, I really am, because they haven’t stopped working.”

Offensively, Campbell wasn’t the only Horn to leave the park, as Ivan Melendez hit his 30th homer of the season as part of a five-run Texas first. Silas Ardoin and Mitchell Daly also added a RBI apiece in Texas’ clinching win.

This is the third time Texas has advanced to the super regional round under Pierce, joining appearances in 2018 and 2021 where the Disch served as host. High expectations are the norm around the Longhorn baseball program. While other programs may dogpile prior to Omaha, Texas saves that particular celebration for when they win a national championship. The clinching win was celebrated with a typical handshake line.

Nonetheless, Pierce made sure to appreciate the efforts from his team to make the super regionals for the third time in his tenure as head coach of the Longhorns.

“The success is not taken for granted,” Pierce said. “These guys have worked their tails off to get to the point where we could host, and we did. That’s an accomplishment. To play so well and to do it here at home, it means a lot.”

Texas will await the winner of Game 7 of the Greenville regional between East Carolina and Coastal Carolina. Should the Pirates prevail, the Longhorns will travel to Clark-LeClair Field for a three-game set with a spot in Omaha on the line. If Coastal wins, then Texas will host the Chanticleers at the Disch.

“We’ll sit back and watch games tomorrow and root for Coastal,” Pierce said.