May 16, 2025 • 42 mins
Craig Way previews the opening matchup for the Longhorns in the SEC Softball Tournament, as well as the second matchup for Longhorns baseball against Oklahoma. It's all right here on The Craig Way Show!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
He's a Texas legend, a Hall of Fame broadcaster, the
voice of the Texas Longhorns, and your host of the
Craigway Show.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Here he is now Craigway.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Gruman Keneldale Mitchell Ballpark in Norman, Oklahoma. It's game one
of the final regular season series of the twenty twenty
five season, the Texas Longhorns against the Oklahoma Sooners. So
two down runners on the corners and those are really
hopping way away from the back. Witherspoon pays in no mind,
Ethan is off. They'll throw down the second. And now
(00:51):
they've got Mendoze in a rundown, and they got a
hurry if they're gonna try to steal to run. The
ball got away and the run will score. It went
off the glow of Jackson Willets. They had Ethan Mendoza
dead to rights, but the ball skipped off the glove
for an error in the score from third as Farmer.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And the game is tied at one.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Nothing in won the count Sonya ready, Grayson's pitch swing
and a mess runners go on. Here's the throwdown. The
second and out at second base is Easton Carmichael. This
inning's over Rylan Galbon fired one in and that'll retire
the Sooners in the third. So Bowden ready to work
to Farmer and he swings to the first pitch and
(01:32):
drives it into the left field of base head one
run scores. Coming to the plate and scoring the tying
run for Texas is Borpa Tommy Farmer of the fourth
not wasting any time, he drives the first pitch in
the left field and we start all over again, tied
at three.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Burn set at the belt.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Here's the one ball, one strike pitch to Mason Hamlin
and he swings a line shot caught. What a catch
made by Kimball Schusler for out number two, a great
diving grab. Shooesler back in the box. Two balls and
two strikes the count. The right hander Jason Bowden with
a pitch swung on to the ground, ball hit.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
On the right side. It's through, rounding third.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Galvan coming in to score the go ahead run. Over
the third bases, Rodriguez, Kimball's shooster fights through with an
opposite field dribbler through the hole and the log Horns
have their first lead of the night.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
They're up four to three.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Here's the stretch, the one ball, one strike pitch to
Scott Muntler.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
He swings here in a fly ball, sinking line of the.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Right, coming on Gasparino, a sliding catch to in the inning,
Will Gasparino, excellent sliding catch to keep this a tide game.
First pitch, Blue swings and hits the ball well, this
one out to deep center, back to the warning track.
You cant say goodnight to it. Welcome back, Max Balue.
(02:57):
A thumb off the wall, the better dead center, and
the Loghorns now lead at seven to four. The long
Horns one strike away, no balls, two strikes, two outs.
Dylan Blandis the stretch, the two pitch swing and a miss.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
He struck him out.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
In their first season as a member of the Southeastern Conference,
the Texas log Hoorns are SEC champions, and with that,
the first big goal of this twenty twenty five college
baseball season is in the books, the Texas long Horns
(03:37):
winning the SEC regular season championship last night. Their win
gave them at the very least to share, and then
shortly after that Tennessee finished beating Arkansas in Fayetteville ten
to six. Of the log Warns outright. SEC champions in
their first season in the conference. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome
(03:57):
to the program here on thirteen hundred Zone. My name
is Craig Way. Glad to have you with us. Thanks
to Cameron Parker put together the highlight montage and Ronald
Savage Junior is our producer this afternoon. Coming up here
in just about a minute, we're going to visit with
Andrew Haynes, the voice of Texas Softball, and we'll talk
some softball with Andrew because the regional gets underway at
(04:22):
three point thirty this afternoon. Texas the number six over
all national seed and obviously the top seed in their
region at Macombs Field hosting Eastern Illinois in a first
round game, and you'll be able to hear that right
here on this station on AM thirteen hundred zone. So
it's a big matchup there, Regional game number one, and
(04:42):
the pregame will start at three point fifteen, so this
program will go a little over an hour, and then
at three point fifteen we'll bring you Long Wron Softball
from the NCAA Regional at macombs Field and joining us
live right now from Red and Charlie McCombs field, the
voice of Long Worn softball.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Andrew Haynes is with us and.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
We visited up with Andrew, but prior to the SEC tournament.
And Andrew, I'm interested to get your thoughts on the
kind of mixed bag that the SEC tournament was and
what it's been like for the team coming off that
second game against Texas A and M. In their preparation
and obviously their excitement to be the number six overall
(05:21):
scene and to get to play at home.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, you know, that was certainly not expected. I think
they they were surprised by that. They might have been
you know, smashing the face and a couple of times
early and really wasn't weren't able to bounce back from it.
So I think it's probably just been a week of hey,
(05:44):
forget that. You know, that game honestly didn't matter. You know,
they secured a top eight seed. Mike White before the
Old Miss game a week ago yesterday said that they,
you know, were they were focusing on just winning one game,
and he thinks they he thought they had a top
eight seed secured, and so hey, they got the top
(06:06):
eight seed. I think that's what they're they were gunning
for at that point, and so they they've probably just been,
you know, looking forward and trying to put that out
of their minds.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Well, that's a great assessment of it. And I'm I
and I'm gonna be paraphrasing here so you can clean
up and fill in whatever I'm lacking or incorrect on.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Greg, if you're hearing me, I am having a really
tough time here in you right now to be honest.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Wow, Okay, I'll hopefully I'll just yell and I'll yell
it out real loud here. Let me let me get
your thoughts. Okay, all right, let me let me get
your thoughts on correct me if I'm if if if
I'm leaving something out or incorrect on something. But did
Mike White say something at the media availability yesterday about
(06:54):
how coming off off the Texas A and M game.
To paraphrase, he said, he kind of pair phrase the
famous rant from Mickey Gurrito from two thousand and six,
and and everybody kind of got the message and understood it,
and and then there had to be kind of an
airing of grievances and the clearing of the year, and
then everybody was able to go.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Back to work.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, I think that's that's about right. They probably had
some issuon to work out, and definitely we'll see what
the result of that is.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Let me get your thoughts on how much you know
about the Eastern Illinois in the in this first matchup,
and how important obviously it is to to get out
of the gate properly.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Yeah, you know, Eastern Illinois has both the Ohio Valley
Conference co Player of the Year and the pitcher of
the year. They have their co player of the year
hit over four hundred with double digit in doubles and
home runs, and their pitcher of the year actually had
a little worse season than she did a year the
year before, but still put up a very good era.
(08:01):
Her strikeout numbers were a little down, she walked a
little more batters, but it looks like a team that
has some good bats up and down the lineup. They
actually have two different pitchers who were both first team
All Ohio Valley Conference, and so it might be a
you know, unsure which one we'll face and have to
adjust to get going if they're throwing a different picture
(08:23):
than you expect. Okay, it's going to be important to
shut them down in the first inning at the very
least get your bats going in the bottom of the
first because you know recently, this team, this Texas team,
has allowed a lot of runs early on, and you
know they've they've fought back in some of the games,
obviously last week and they didn't. But if they're playing
(08:43):
from behind, they're not as good.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Andrew with regard to teaking, come on, you you are
really laid it out pretty well going into the tournament,
how she'd kind of wobbled a little bit down the stretch,
and you mentioned something about how it needed that she
needed to have the reassurance in her own mind that
she was going to be fine because she obviously has
the skins on the wall and she has the tools
and the gifts to do that. Do you think that's
(09:08):
still in play here for Tigan going into the circle.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, she absolutely has what you need to go all
the way win a championship. But I do think that
coming off that last appearance course she pitched against Ole Miss,
had four very good innings and then struggled in the
fifth inning, hit the lead off batter, the number nine hitter,
and I ended up allowing five runs, three of them
(09:33):
were inherited runners that the first reliever allowed. But I
think certainly for Tigan. Getting a solid start and getting
back on the right track is going to be hugely
important for her and for this team to move forward.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
All Right, Hey, Andrew, I know you got to get
going and get busy a little over an hour away
from airtime. Appreciate the opportunity, have a great call today
and we'll all obviously root for an I hope for
the best for Texas Softball this weekend in the region.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
On McCombs. Thanks so much for taking a few minutes
with us.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
All right, thanks Greg.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
All Right, you bet that's Andrew Haynes, the voice of
Texas Softball, and again you'll be able to hear that
game right here on thirteen under the zone and it
will come your way. An hour and five minutes from now.
Will be the pregame start time three fifteen, the pregame
start time from Red and Charlie McCombs field, and the
first pitch at three point thirty. Schedule there is Texas,
(10:29):
the number one seed in the region, getting ready to
be in action, and we'll update you on the other
game that's going on there. We're in Norman, Oklahoma, obviously,
where we weren't last night when the Longhorns won the
baseball game, and like we said, you know, you've got
a chance to hear the highlight montage that Cameron Parker
put together for the show, and we'll have some more
(10:50):
on that game and the Longhorns position. Right now, we
know they've clinched the outright SEC championship, So I know
there's probably a few you going what now, what next?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
How do they approach these next two games?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
How do they gear up to get ready for the
SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama there on the south side
of Birmingham next week. What does it mean in terms
of the grand scheme and getting ready for NCAA Regionals,
which get underway two weeks from today. Is when Regions
will play Texas. Clearly the will be a regional host.
(11:27):
Clearly there'll be a top eight national seed. They may
well have locked in being the number one overall national seed.
Maybe these next couple of days might have something to
do with it. Maybe a little bit in Hoover might
have something to do with it. But also the tournament's
selection givity realizes and knows the long Words have wrapped
(11:50):
up the SEC title. So what does that mean going
forward for the next couple of ballgames. We're going to
talk a little bit about that. You're also going to
hear the postgame conversations that Keith Moreland had on the
field on our broadcast last night with head coach Jim Slastnigle,
and also with Max Blue, who his first game since
March twenty eighth back in the lineup in right field
(12:11):
and one to night. It was on the tail end
of it anyway for Max and for this long wornantine
coming from a hind against one of the best right
handers in the nation and certainly one of the best
pitchers in all the sec Kyson Witherspoon, who wound up
getting no decision out of it, but they had to
fight back from a deficit with Witherspoon holding the lead working.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
We'll break down all of that. We'll talk about that also.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
You know, we're getting closer to the NBA Conference Finals,
but they've got another basketball game here in this market
on Sunday. Oklahoma City has been pushed to a decisive
seventh game in the NBA Western Conference Semifinals series against
the Denver Nuggets, who won last night in Denver. They've
got to play one more game on Sunday here Meanwhile,
in Minnesota, Timberwolves, who dispatched Golden State of five games,
(12:56):
sit back going eh, righty when you guys are also
critical Game six in Madison Square Garden tonight in New York,
can the New York Knicks finish off the Boston Celtics
as they get ready? Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers sitting back
going h. We're ready whenever you guys are ready to go.
So we'll talk about all that and a lot more.
We have inconceivable here on a Friday afternoon, and you
know what that means.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
We have another edition of Florida Man. We'll get to
all of that and more.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
We're at Eldale Mitchell Park here in Norman, Oklahoma, Texas
and OU on the baseball field six fifteen airtime, six thirty,
first pitch, and you can hear that on one O
three point one FM. But we will continue on this
program here on thirteen hundred the Zone. I b TOV
with you on a Friday afternoon from Eldale Mitchell Park
in Norman, where Texas will play OU and it's the
(13:44):
second game. Obviously, the long words you heard in the
if you were listening and heard the highlight Montage. You
heard Texas win the series opener last night, and it
was not an easy time for them to come back
and win this game. Oklahoma jumped a one nothing lead
in the bottom of the first. First of all, there
was the change made in the starting rotation, and we
(14:05):
kind of thought there would be a change made for
one primary reason. There might have been a couple other
supplementary reasons, but the primary reason was because James Slasnega
wanted to get Ruger y Ojas back on full week's rest.
Last time he tried this going on a day's short
(14:25):
rest was going in Arkansas two weeks ago. Now, give
Arkansas credit for being an outstanding offensive club, but Ruger
curly clearly wasn't himself and they roughed him up and
he gave up nine earned runs, and that he'd only
given up a total of six earned runs in his
prior eight sec he starts. He gave up nine in
(14:46):
that outing. Then came back last week and still wasn't right.
Only got one out against Florida and got knocked out
of the box and took the loss in that So
we lost to in a row.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But it's about more than just that.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
The losses. It was about getting him his full complement
of rest. Story also from Luke for Luke Harrison, who
normally is used to working on Saturday. Luke pitched very
well last Saturday. He didn't get the decision, but he
pitched very well last Saturday in the win over the
Florida Gators. And it was about keeping those guys on
(15:17):
Friday and Saturday. And let's be honest, Texas was one
win away from clinching at least to share of the
SEC title, and they were two wins or one win
and one Arkansas loss from winning the title outright. So
Jim Slastnegele and Max Wiener's pitching coach obviously felt like
this was a risk they could and really should afford
(15:40):
to take because it's also about setting up your pitching
for the following weekend at the SEC tournament and even
more importantly two weeks from the day when the regional starts.
So all of that gets folded into the thought process
of who he was going to start. So we decided
to start kay Bing now, being of course, went into
(16:00):
it having not thrown one pitch in an SEC game.
He'd been the mid week guy. Non conference story had
had really good numbers. But if we're being completely honest,
some of the non conference uponders they faced, certainly we're
not going to be up to the par of an
SEC team. Some of them are good that they played
in midweek. Look at U t Rio Grand Valley. They
(16:22):
won to share of the regular season title in the
Southland and they're already playing their Southland tournament. They've got
a leg up there. That's a good ball club, and
the same thing also with Lamar, a good ball club.
But not all of those Tuesday games we're going to
have the caliber of opposition he would face in an
SEC game. But they were hoping to get three four
(16:45):
in a perfect world, five innings, but maybe three or
four innings out of being he gave them two and
two thirds. Last night started off, however, on the wrong foot,
when he hit the leadoff guy, Trey Gamble. He then
retired the next two got batters, Easton Carmichael and Sam Christiansen,
but during the process uncorked the wild pitch, and that
(17:05):
was after Jackson Willets had singled to put runners on
the corners and the wild pitch allowed Gamble to score
and Oklahoma led one nothing. The log Oorns came back
in the top half of the third inning. Tommy Farmer,
who had himself a good night. He went three for
four at the plate, batting in the nine hole, reached
on an infield single. Ethan Mendoza followed with an infield single,
(17:26):
put runners on the corners with nobody out. Now Kison Witherspoon,
the right handed for Oklahoma, one of the best in
the country, certainly one of the tops in the SEC,
was able to strike out Max Blue. Blue in his
first game back since March twenty eighth, had struck out
swinging against Witherspoon in the first inning. He struck out
looking against Witherspoon in the third inning, and then with
(17:49):
two outs, the log Orangs tried to do what so
many teams try to do when they have runners on
the corners and two outs, and that's steal a run.
Put the man on first base in motion. Mendoza good
speed was off the catcher. Carmichael threw down to second,
and Mendoza did the right thing, stopping waiting for Farmer
(18:09):
to break for the play. Well, Tommy didn't break that
far from the plate, and so they already had Mendoza
in a rundown. Farmer wasn't that far from the third
base bag. If Oklahoma had properly executed the rundown, he
would have been out in the inning would have been over. However,
the throw from the first basem and Mason Hamlin went
off the glove of the shortstop.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Jackson Willitts.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Hamlin was charged of the era that allowed Mendoza to
reach base safely and Farmer to score from third, and
that tie the score at one. And that lasted all
of about ten minutes because the next batter, Galvan, lined
out the left the inning was over. Trey Gamble came
up leading off the next inning and hit a home
run off of Kate Bing that put Oklahoma back in front.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Logwards came up with some big defensive.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Plays, Galvan throwing out Easton Carmichael trying to steal. In
that inning, hilland All, Texas was down two to one,
and it became three to one in the fifth inning,
and it started with and Keith Moreland harps on this
the free pass to open the inning, whether it's a
walk or hit batter, Folks who followed this Texas baseball
program this year know that that has been a supreme
(19:18):
challenge for the Longhorns.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I'm talking about avoiding hitting batters.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
And the second hit batter of the ball game to
open the inning was Mason Hamlin. That was the eighty
fourth hit batter of the season for Texas. Even as
Dawson Willis then forced Hamlin on the fielders choice at
second base for the first out, Willis was able to
get himself in scoring position by stealing second, and then
after that, with two outs, Easton Carmichael doubled.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Oklahoma led three to one.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Normally, normally that's enough, more than enough for Kyson Witherspoon,
That's normally all he needs. He had a two four
to five ERA coming into the ball game, and he
still carried a three to one lead in the seventh
when the Logorns were finally able to put pressure on him.
Adrian Rodriguez, who had earlier doubled in the ballgame to
(20:07):
extend his hitting streak to twelve games and his on
base streak to eighteen games.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Let off with the double.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Kimball Schusler lined out the first, but then a pass
ball allowed Rodriguez to reach third base.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Casey Borber then drew a walk.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Will Gasprino, who had not started the ball game with
Blue back in the lineup. Farmer was moved to center field,
but then Blue came up to bat for Jonah Williams
and he was able to work a really hard nosed walk.
It loaded the bases and Farmer came up with a
two run single the left.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
That tied the score at three. That was it for.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Kyson Witherspoon done after six and a third inning, so
they were able to get Oklahoma's ace out of the
ball game, and then against the bullpen, they were able
to take the lead in the eighth and RBI single
from Kimball Schuschler scoring Ryland Galvine.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
It was four to three Texas going to the.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Bottom of the eighth, even though Thomas Burns had worked
a really quick one two three bottom of the seventh.
The plan all season long is you go to Dylan Valancis,
your closer. Really struggled in the eighth inning. With one out,
he walked Easton Carmichael. He hit Sam Christensen with the
pitch that's eighty five hit batters now this season, and
Jackson Willitts followed with an RBI single. Valanis was able
(21:15):
to get out of the inning with a fielders choice
ground ball and then a sinking line at the center.
You might have heard the highlight there in the montage.
Will Gasparina got a great jump on the ball and
that kept two runs from scoring a sliding catch, and
it kept it a four to four ball game. And
then it goes to the ninth and Farmer opened it
up with a story hit, a double Ethan Mendoza reaching
on an error by the second basement branch who couldn't
(21:36):
get a handle on the ball. That put runners on
the corners with nobody out. And then Max Blue crushes
one off the batter's high and dead center to put
Texas up seven to four. Valanis comes out in the
night and closes the door. Did walk one batter, but
worked around it to end the ball game and Texas
getting the win. A few minutes after the game was over,
then it was Tennessee beating Arkansas him to six, and
(22:00):
so it man it was an outright conference championship for
the long Horns. After the game, Keith visiting on the
field with the head coach, Jim Slasnigle.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Well, first of all, congratul license. That's the start with that.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
But one of the things I want to talk about
is this team and the resilience of these teams. They're
placing coach that's one of the best pitchers in America,
without a doubt, and they found a way to be
a resilient and then win it late.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, I thought we battled him.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
You know, we had some balls fall in, but that's
some really good at bats and and I felt like,
you know, being did okay and Sonia kept us close,
and that's all you can ask for is to try
and keep it close and then maybe try and beat
one of the guys at the end of the game.
And sure, I'm glad that the loos back. That's that's
makes a big difference in our offense.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Well, it does. I mean that's where I was going
to go from that.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
I mean, you're trying to get him in. You're doing
everything he can to protect him but also help the team.
And you said this week that he got a few
simulated at bats, and then today he looked a little
bit rusty but then.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Came up big when it needed. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Yeah, I mean, he he's a competitor. We saw what
at the beginning of the year, he missed two weeks.
I mean, he missed two or three weeks leading up
to the season and and then stepped it right in
there in the first game of the year and ended awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
So he's kind of like you.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Man. He can roll out on Christmas morning and hit
and uh yeah, he faced some great pitchers tonight, but
he came came up when we needed him.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Last thing is you and your staff. It's happening. It's
a crazy thing to think about. This is what you
look for when you went to work here is to
win one of these. But you have clinched at least
a share of the Southeast Conference championship.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
That's unbelie It's unbelieva.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
What a credit to our players and coaches.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Man.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
I mean, I know we have loftier goals, but as
I've said before, it's this. It's tougher to win an
SEC regular season title than it is to win a
national title.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
And we want to win a national title.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
But you know, to do to do that over the
course of ten weeks and and be the best team
or at least one of the best teams is a
great is a great deal and I'm super proud of
our guys.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Congratulates with you and your players. And your staff. Thanks brother.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
All right, So there was there, and then Keith was
quick to run over and grab Max Blue to talk
not only about the home run but his roadback. Remember,
it was his first game since March twenty eighth, when
he broke the thumb sliding to catch a ball in Columbia,
Missouri against the Missouri Tigers, and he'd been working his
(24:18):
way back and going through conditioning and then trying to
get the thumb healed enum and be able to grip,
be able to swing the bat. He started oh for
four in the ballgame. He struck out us first three times,
hit it into an inding ending feels his choice.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
In the seventh.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
He was over for four and he went to the
plate in the ninth to hit that three run homer,
And obviously everybody was excited, including Max as he visited
with Keith.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
We've known each other for a while. You've been working
at this. It was a unbelievable injury that cost you.
Just walk us through getting back tonight.
Speaker 6 (24:50):
Yeah, as soon as I woke up this morning, I
just felt just extremely blessed because I knew I was
going to play today and it was just a great
feeling and I just thank God that he was able
to help.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Me through this recovery.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Really, it means a lot to me to come out
here and compete with these guys for a last uh,
just try to win the sec and yeah, just that
swing just felt really good.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Now the other part of that, you're one of the
leaders of this punch and I've watched you, You've been involved,
you know what's going on, you know what's happening, and
then now you're back making contributions.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Just walk us through that again. Yeah, I just when
I was hurt, I just make sure it's still locked in.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Be a leader, you know, I can still lead from
a bench, And it's just a blessing to be able
to come out out here and just compete and just
help the team.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
It's awesome, all right.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
One last thing, how do you keep your legs going
and that kind of thing during that time repairing your thumb.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Yeah, it's just about discipline, you know, if you want it.
I knew I was gonna come back at the end
of the year, and I was just like, I'm going
to come back and really help the team out. So
at that point, it's about just discipline and hard work
and just not being selfish because we got the whole
team is count on me when I come back.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
What does SEC champions sound like? It has a nice
ring to do it, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Congratulations nineties back you all right, And they were all
very very excited about that, about winning the SEC champion.
It was only just a few minutes right after that
conversation on the field that Tennessee finished off its winner
for Arkansas. So the Long Wrn's up three games on
the Razorbacks with two to play in the regular season,
and so they've clinched the Southeastern Conference regular season title.
(26:23):
That might have seemed rather inconceivable to folks before the
season began.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's real now.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Well, normally this is when I say we begin our
number two of the program. Here on thirteen hundred the zone,
I say, normally, this is where we usually say that
we're beginning hour number two. We're not going to be
going a second hour, and we're definitely not going to
be going a third hour because we're just a few
minutes away from the pregame show for Texas Softball. As
(26:57):
the Long Worn Softball team will be opening play in
the NCAA Austin Regional and Texas will be in action
against Eastern Illinois in the first game of that softball regional.
So that is coming up in a few minutes. Andrew Haynes,
we'll have the call of that. Texas the number six
national seed there. So that's coming up in just a
(27:20):
few minutes. In a few minutes, we've got remaining. I
wanted to delve back into what this means other than
winning the SEC championship. And you say, well, that's a
pretty big deal, and it is, and you may have
heard it from Jim slostn Egle last night as they
(27:44):
pull up the updated Southeastern Conference standings, And here's what's.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Meant by that.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
My virtue of the win in Texas is now twenty
one and seven in the SEC, and they are forty
one and ten overall. As we look at the updated standings,
aren't saw is in second place at eighteen and ten.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
And we know.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
That Texas has clinched they are right title now. The
Razorbacks have not yet clinched second place in the league.
And the reason for that is they're only up one
game on both Georgia and LSU, and both of those teams,
Georgia and LSU hold the head to have tiebreaker on
(28:27):
the Razorbacks both won the series against Arkansas, so they
hold the head to have tie break both one two
out of three, and so it'll be interesting to see
how the rest of this weekend goes. And Vanderbilt is
also in the mix there they are also seventeen and eleven,
so they could wind up mathematically finishing as high as
(28:50):
second place. What does this have to do with the
log orange, he ask, Well, you know, first and foremost,
he could have something to do with, you know, who
winds up on their side of the bracket a tournament.
But beyond that, beyond that, what Texas is trying to
do is get its team best equipped and as healthy
(29:10):
as possible for the postseason. And when I say as
healthy as possible, that goes into many layers because the
way this works right now is once you already have
the conference championship clinched, unless you're playing for a higher
seed than an NCAY regional, say, for example, a team
(29:33):
like Dallas Baptist, they've already clinched the Conference USA regular
season title with two games to go in the regular season. However,
the Patriots know that as they stand like as a
fringe bubble team, to host a regional you know, they
want to keep their foot on the gas to try
(29:53):
to win as much as possible, to try to be
able to be a regional host, to be in the
top sixteen, and they have a shot at that depending
on what they do the rest of this weekend in
their series against Liberty and then in the Conference USA tournament. Well,
Texas doesn't have that worry. A They like DBU have
clinched the conference championship. B like as the Loggorns have,
(30:19):
they as Dallas Baptist has, they're going to be the
one seed in the tournament. But beyond that for Texas,
as we mentioned, they're going to be a top eight
national seed. They're going to be in the top five,
they're going to be in the top three. I'm virtually
certain they're in the top two. And there's a really
strong feeling that they wrapped up the number one overall
national seed by winning the SEC regular season title. One
(30:41):
thing Keith Mortland has talked about and others as well,
is that the winner of the Southeastern Conference regular season
is going to be, in all likelihood the number one
overall national seed. Now that might have wobbled a little
bit of late between Texas and LSU and Arkansas each
wabbling a little bit down the stretch, and as Florida
(31:01):
State caught fire late in the regular season, but it
was still And we had Kendall Rodgers on the program
on Monday talking about that, and I asked him it
was actually three days ago, was on Tuesday, and I
asked Kendall if it was a situation, if he could
(31:24):
see it being a situation where someone other than an
SEC team could wind up being the number one overall seed,
and he said highly unlikely, that there was a slight
chance that maybe Florida State could get there, because Florida
State's up to number two this week in the D
(31:45):
one pole, but they had a big series against North
Carolina this weekend, and he said they probably had to
win that series at the very least, if not sweep it,
but certainly win it and then do well and maybe
win the a SEC Tournament. Well, it didn't get off
to a good start to the Seminoles last night. They
lost at home to Care a line of eight to three.
So that was a big, big loss there for Florida
(32:07):
State in terms of trying to perhaps achieve a top
eight national seed. Well, they're a game and a half
out of first place now in the ACC Georgia Tech
actually leads to conference standings or eighteen and ten, and
truth being known, Florida State is actually in fourth place
in the conference standings. So it's pretty unlikely that they
(32:27):
would wind up the number one overall national seat. Certainly
a top eight you would think, but probably not the
number one overall seed. So Texas is in grand position
to wind up being the overall number one seed regardless
of what they do the rest of this tournament or
(32:47):
the rest of this regular season.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
This weekend and then the SEC.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Tournament next week in Hoover, Alabama, They're probably going to
be in the number one seed, or they have a
really good chance depending on some things that are happening
in other places, of being the number one seed. So
if that's the case and you're Jim Slastnakel, how does
it affect how you handle the proper amount of rest
(33:14):
plus trying to keep guys sharp. Well, let's take a
look at it pragmatically, first and foremost, with a guy
like Max Blue. Max just came back from injury.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
He was zero for four prior to that monstrous home
run he hit.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
They gave taxes to margin a victory. It would be
to make all logical sense unless he tweaked something or
got hurt. But he didn't look like that. He looked fine,
and he went running down a sinking liner down the
line late in the.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Ballgame last night.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
So, barring any kind of injury knowledge that we don't
have at the moment, and I don't think there's any
to be shared with regard to Blue, I would think
they would want to keep Max in the lineup because
they would want him to get more at bats, get
his swing back and full forth. I know we saw
the big home run, but we also saw three rikeouts
and a ground ball out prior to that. He actually
(34:03):
wound up being just won for five in the game.
The one was gigantic, clearly the home run, but only
that one hit. Now, I would say they probably would
really like to keep him in the lineup, get him
loosen up, get him more comfortable. Back in the lineup,
and Max is sat a long time. He's out twenty
(34:24):
sixth day, twenty six games. He wanted to be back,
So now he's back, and I think they want to
keep him in there. As for the rest of the regulars. Well,
if you go around at Tommy Farmer, they moved him
in the center field to start the ballgame. When Will
Gasparino pinch hit for Jena Williams in the seventh inning,
Will stayed in the ballgame. Afterwards in his natural center
(34:48):
field position. Farmer moved from center to left. Remember Blue
was back and right, So they had basically their regular
starting outfield all in their regular places from the seventh
inning on last night, with Farmer and left, Gasparino and center,
and Blue and right. And I think they would like
(35:10):
to get Will Gasparino's hitting back in a groove. Tommy
Farmer seems to be getting into a groove, had a
couple of big hits last weekend, and he went three
for four last night. So you stayed with the hot
hand there. Now we moved to the infield casey Borba.
They'd love to get him consistent again. He's played well
defensively at third, but would like to get his bat
(35:30):
in gear. Jalen Flores the same thing at shortstop, went
hitless last night in the ballgame for Texas As. Flores
went zero for five in the game. They'd like to
get him, you know, cranked up again and get him going.
He's been played great in the field, but they would
like to get his back going. Ethan Mendoza, it's a
(35:50):
different issue. Ethan Remember, has been swinging a good bat
all season long, continues to do so, and he got
a big hit last night, or reached on it. He
got one single and then he reached on an error
and scored ahead of Blue on the three run homer. Mendoza, Remember,
injured a shoulder diving for a ball back behind second
in the Sunday game at Kentucky. Took him out in
(36:13):
a lineup for a few games. He came back, but
he's only been daching as a result of that. We
should tell you that Mendoza has been taking ground balls lately,
even here in the workout on Wednesday, and was trying
to turn the double plane things like that. They've got
to be very careful with him and make sure that
he's all right, that the shoulder is sounded up, because
he is not wanting to have any kind of surgery
(36:35):
or procedure done on it until the season is over.
But he's not in a position where he can dive
for a ball, so he's got to be careful there.
Adrian Rodriguez, and we talked about it in linked last night.
Adrian of course had that injury when he was hit
by a pitch same series on the road at Missouri
(36:55):
when Blue got injured and it hit right on top
of the hand on the handmap bone. He did not
break the bone, but it caused an edema and a
big bone bruise. It has taken him a long while
to try to get back in a groove, so much
so that Rodriguez, a switch hitter, is only able to
back from the left side of the plate right now,
cannot take right handed swings. He is able to play
(37:17):
the field, and he was at second base last night.
But also you should know, and we talked about this,
that in taking swings it's been painful, especially as he's
fouled off some pitches and reaching across the plate and
you could tell he was getting it was really hurting
him last night. And then he got hit by a
pitch in the eighth inning last night, and so that
(37:42):
didn't help. Actually, in the ninth inning, got hit, stayed
in the ball game, finished at the ball game. So
he's banged up. So it would be logical to think
that maybe they might give him a rest. Kimball Schusler
has been so solid at first and a clutch hitter,
and came and what so again? Last night Shoes had
an RBI sing on the eighth, but Texas in front.
(38:03):
He just keeps rolling on. I think he stays where
he is. Then you get to Ryland Galvon. This is
my twenty fourth year being the main play by play
voice on Long Worn Baseball. I worked in the you
call it the number two chair with Bill Schooning on
selected games when Keith Morland was unavailable as a fill in,
(38:24):
doing somewhere between twenty and thirty games a season between
nineteen ninety eight and two thousand and one. Two thousand
and two was the first year that I moved into
the league play by play voice. The reason why I
bring this up is that in the now twenty four
years of calling play by play in Texas Long Worn Baseball,
I have never ever seen a catcher take as much
(38:45):
punishment as Ryland Galvon has taken this season.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
It has been painful to watch.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
I know it has to be painful for him with
all the foul tips he's taken in the wild pitches,
and not to mention, you know, every player goes through
this filing balls off your shoe and your ankle and
your knee. And then last night we saw him hobbling.
I think he's playing through a sore, not pulled, but
a sore hamstring. So it would not surprise me at
(39:15):
all if Tim Schlasnigga wanted to give him a breather
at least for a day or maybe even two days
or whatever, and then bring him back for the SEC tournament. Remember,
these two games probably probably don't matter in the grand
scheme of being the number one overall seed, and they've
already clinched the conference title. So wouldn't shock me if
(39:36):
that was the case where he was concerned. Where Riling
Galvan was considered, then you get to the mound. So
he obviously Schloss and Max Wiener, in their consultations about this,
had to make a decision to flip the rotation to
get the maximum of matter arrests for rugar Riojas who
(39:58):
will get the start tonight, and Luke Harrison, who will
get the start tomorrow in their normal Friday and Saturday slots.
When they got moved up two weeks ago in Arkansas,
that's when some of the problems started, not saying it
was just on that, but it didn't help. So now
Ruger's back, we'll see if it makes a difference for him.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Tonight we will also see.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
And here's the other side of this, we'll also see
how long he goes even if he's effective. I think
Schlass is wanting to say, pitching, if you will keep
guys healthy for the conference tournament and then certainly and
most importantly NCAA tournament play. So not sure if we'll
see Ruger for an extended amount, if there's a pitch count,
(40:42):
if he's only two innings or three innings or forty
pitches or whatever, or if it's just a regular turn
in the rotation. I'll find out in about an hour
when I visit with Schloss down on the field for
a pregame. Same story for Luke Harrison as the Saturday starter.
So those are some two things to keep in mind.
And then you say, well, what do you do with
the third star, because you're really going to need that
in the regional probably also in the SEC tournament. In
(41:05):
order to win it, you have to win three games.
It's single elimination, so you don't have to worry about
elimination games and a loser's bracket, But you have to
get that figured out. They might have gotten their answer
last night with a combination of k being starting Grayson
Sonier out of the Penn Thomas Burns, they have arms.
The question is how do they want to go with
(41:26):
the rotation. So those are the questions that are facing
Jim Slasnegle and Max Wiener and Nolan Kane and the
rest of the coaching staff about the field players, the
position players, and the pitchers as well heading in to
what will be the postseason. But prior to the postseason,
they have two more games here in Norman, Oklahoma, and
(41:49):
the first one is tonight, and the final game of
the regular season is tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock. All right,
so we're getting ready here toward the end of this
I'm thirteen under this zone.
He's a Texas legend, a Hall of Fame broadcaster, the
voice of the Texas Longhorns, and your host of the
Craigway Show.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Here he is now Craigway.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Gruman Keneldale Mitchell Ballpark in Norman, Oklahoma. It's game one
of the final regular season series of the twenty twenty
five season, the Texas Longhorns against the Oklahoma Sooners. So
two down runners on the corners and those are really
hopping way away from the back. Witherspoon pays in no mind,
Ethan is off. They'll throw down the second. And now
(00:51):
they've got Mendoze in a rundown, and they got a
hurry if they're gonna try to steal to run. The
ball got away and the run will score. It went
off the glow of Jackson Willets. They had Ethan Mendoza
dead to rights, but the ball skipped off the glove
for an error in the score from third as Farmer.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And the game is tied at one.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Nothing in won the count Sonya ready, Grayson's pitch swing
and a mess runners go on. Here's the throwdown. The
second and out at second base is Easton Carmichael. This
inning's over Rylan Galbon fired one in and that'll retire
the Sooners in the third. So Bowden ready to work
to Farmer and he swings to the first pitch and
(01:32):
drives it into the left field of base head one
run scores. Coming to the plate and scoring the tying
run for Texas is Borpa Tommy Farmer of the fourth
not wasting any time, he drives the first pitch in
the left field and we start all over again, tied
at three.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Burn set at the belt.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Here's the one ball, one strike pitch to Mason Hamlin
and he swings a line shot caught. What a catch
made by Kimball Schusler for out number two, a great
diving grab. Shooesler back in the box. Two balls and
two strikes the count. The right hander Jason Bowden with
a pitch swung on to the ground, ball hit.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
On the right side. It's through, rounding third.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Galvan coming in to score the go ahead run. Over
the third bases, Rodriguez, Kimball's shooster fights through with an
opposite field dribbler through the hole and the log Horns
have their first lead of the night.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
They're up four to three.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Here's the stretch, the one ball, one strike pitch to
Scott Muntler.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
He swings here in a fly ball, sinking line of the.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Right, coming on Gasparino, a sliding catch to in the inning,
Will Gasparino, excellent sliding catch to keep this a tide game.
First pitch, Blue swings and hits the ball well, this
one out to deep center, back to the warning track.
You cant say goodnight to it. Welcome back, Max Balue.
(02:57):
A thumb off the wall, the better dead center, and
the Loghorns now lead at seven to four. The long
Horns one strike away, no balls, two strikes, two outs.
Dylan Blandis the stretch, the two pitch swing and a miss.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
He struck him out.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
In their first season as a member of the Southeastern Conference,
the Texas log Hoorns are SEC champions, and with that,
the first big goal of this twenty twenty five college
baseball season is in the books, the Texas long Horns
(03:37):
winning the SEC regular season championship last night. Their win
gave them at the very least to share, and then
shortly after that Tennessee finished beating Arkansas in Fayetteville ten
to six. Of the log Warns outright. SEC champions in
their first season in the conference. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome
(03:57):
to the program here on thirteen hundred Zone. My name
is Craig Way. Glad to have you with us. Thanks
to Cameron Parker put together the highlight montage and Ronald
Savage Junior is our producer this afternoon. Coming up here
in just about a minute, we're going to visit with
Andrew Haynes, the voice of Texas Softball, and we'll talk
some softball with Andrew because the regional gets underway at
(04:22):
three point thirty this afternoon. Texas the number six over
all national seed and obviously the top seed in their
region at Macombs Field hosting Eastern Illinois in a first
round game, and you'll be able to hear that right
here on this station on AM thirteen hundred zone. So
it's a big matchup there, Regional game number one, and
(04:42):
the pregame will start at three point fifteen, so this
program will go a little over an hour, and then
at three point fifteen we'll bring you Long Wron Softball
from the NCAA Regional at macombs Field and joining us
live right now from Red and Charlie McCombs field, the
voice of Long Worn softball.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Andrew Haynes is with us and.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
We visited up with Andrew, but prior to the SEC tournament.
And Andrew, I'm interested to get your thoughts on the
kind of mixed bag that the SEC tournament was and
what it's been like for the team coming off that
second game against Texas A and M. In their preparation
and obviously their excitement to be the number six overall
(05:21):
scene and to get to play at home.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, you know, that was certainly not expected. I think
they they were surprised by that. They might have been
you know, smashing the face and a couple of times
early and really wasn't weren't able to bounce back from it.
So I think it's probably just been a week of hey,
(05:44):
forget that. You know, that game honestly didn't matter. You know,
they secured a top eight seed. Mike White before the
Old Miss game a week ago yesterday said that they,
you know, were they were focusing on just winning one game,
and he thinks they he thought they had a top
eight seed secured, and so hey, they got the top
(06:06):
eight seed. I think that's what they're they were gunning
for at that point, and so they they've probably just been,
you know, looking forward and trying to put that out
of their minds.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Well, that's a great assessment of it. And I'm I
and I'm gonna be paraphrasing here so you can clean
up and fill in whatever I'm lacking or incorrect on.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Greg, if you're hearing me, I am having a really
tough time here in you right now to be honest.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Wow, Okay, I'll hopefully I'll just yell and I'll yell
it out real loud here. Let me let me get
your thoughts. Okay, all right, let me let me get
your thoughts on correct me if I'm if if if
I'm leaving something out or incorrect on something. But did
Mike White say something at the media availability yesterday about
(06:54):
how coming off off the Texas A and M game.
To paraphrase, he said, he kind of pair phrase the
famous rant from Mickey Gurrito from two thousand and six,
and and everybody kind of got the message and understood it,
and and then there had to be kind of an
airing of grievances and the clearing of the year, and
then everybody was able to go.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Back to work.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, I think that's that's about right. They probably had
some issuon to work out, and definitely we'll see what
the result of that is.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Let me get your thoughts on how much you know
about the Eastern Illinois in the in this first matchup,
and how important obviously it is to to get out
of the gate properly.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Yeah, you know, Eastern Illinois has both the Ohio Valley
Conference co Player of the Year and the pitcher of
the year. They have their co player of the year
hit over four hundred with double digit in doubles and
home runs, and their pitcher of the year actually had
a little worse season than she did a year the
year before, but still put up a very good era.
(08:01):
Her strikeout numbers were a little down, she walked a
little more batters, but it looks like a team that
has some good bats up and down the lineup. They
actually have two different pitchers who were both first team
All Ohio Valley Conference, and so it might be a
you know, unsure which one we'll face and have to
adjust to get going if they're throwing a different picture
(08:23):
than you expect. Okay, it's going to be important to
shut them down in the first inning at the very
least get your bats going in the bottom of the
first because you know recently, this team, this Texas team,
has allowed a lot of runs early on, and you
know they've they've fought back in some of the games,
obviously last week and they didn't. But if they're playing
(08:43):
from behind, they're not as good.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Andrew with regard to teaking, come on, you you are
really laid it out pretty well going into the tournament,
how she'd kind of wobbled a little bit down the stretch,
and you mentioned something about how it needed that she
needed to have the reassurance in her own mind that
she was going to be fine because she obviously has
the skins on the wall and she has the tools
and the gifts to do that. Do you think that's
(09:08):
still in play here for Tigan going into the circle.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, she absolutely has what you need to go all
the way win a championship. But I do think that
coming off that last appearance course she pitched against Ole Miss,
had four very good innings and then struggled in the
fifth inning, hit the lead off batter, the number nine hitter,
and I ended up allowing five runs, three of them
(09:33):
were inherited runners that the first reliever allowed. But I
think certainly for Tigan. Getting a solid start and getting
back on the right track is going to be hugely
important for her and for this team to move forward.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
All Right, Hey, Andrew, I know you got to get
going and get busy a little over an hour away
from airtime. Appreciate the opportunity, have a great call today
and we'll all obviously root for an I hope for
the best for Texas Softball this weekend in the region.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
On McCombs. Thanks so much for taking a few minutes
with us.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
All right, thanks Greg.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
All Right, you bet that's Andrew Haynes, the voice of
Texas Softball, and again you'll be able to hear that
game right here on thirteen under the zone and it
will come your way. An hour and five minutes from now.
Will be the pregame start time three fifteen, the pregame
start time from Red and Charlie McCombs field, and the
first pitch at three point thirty. Schedule there is Texas,
(10:29):
the number one seed in the region, getting ready to
be in action, and we'll update you on the other
game that's going on there. We're in Norman, Oklahoma, obviously,
where we weren't last night when the Longhorns won the
baseball game, and like we said, you know, you've got
a chance to hear the highlight montage that Cameron Parker
put together for the show, and we'll have some more
(10:50):
on that game and the Longhorns position. Right now, we
know they've clinched the outright SEC championship, So I know
there's probably a few you going what now, what next?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
How do they approach these next two games?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
How do they gear up to get ready for the
SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama there on the south side
of Birmingham next week. What does it mean in terms
of the grand scheme and getting ready for NCAA Regionals,
which get underway two weeks from today. Is when Regions
will play Texas. Clearly the will be a regional host.
(11:27):
Clearly there'll be a top eight national seed. They may
well have locked in being the number one overall national seed.
Maybe these next couple of days might have something to
do with it. Maybe a little bit in Hoover might
have something to do with it. But also the tournament's
selection givity realizes and knows the long Words have wrapped
(11:50):
up the SEC title. So what does that mean going
forward for the next couple of ballgames. We're going to
talk a little bit about that. You're also going to
hear the postgame conversations that Keith Moreland had on the
field on our broadcast last night with head coach Jim Slastnigle,
and also with Max Blue, who his first game since
March twenty eighth back in the lineup in right field
(12:11):
and one to night. It was on the tail end
of it anyway for Max and for this long wornantine
coming from a hind against one of the best right
handers in the nation and certainly one of the best
pitchers in all the sec Kyson Witherspoon, who wound up
getting no decision out of it, but they had to
fight back from a deficit with Witherspoon holding the lead working.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
We'll break down all of that. We'll talk about that also.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
You know, we're getting closer to the NBA Conference Finals,
but they've got another basketball game here in this market
on Sunday. Oklahoma City has been pushed to a decisive
seventh game in the NBA Western Conference Semifinals series against
the Denver Nuggets, who won last night in Denver. They've
got to play one more game on Sunday here Meanwhile,
in Minnesota, Timberwolves, who dispatched Golden State of five games,
(12:56):
sit back going eh, righty when you guys are also
critical Game six in Madison Square Garden tonight in New York,
can the New York Knicks finish off the Boston Celtics
as they get ready? Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers sitting back
going h. We're ready whenever you guys are ready to go.
So we'll talk about all that and a lot more.
We have inconceivable here on a Friday afternoon, and you
know what that means.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
We have another edition of Florida Man. We'll get to
all of that and more.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
We're at Eldale Mitchell Park here in Norman, Oklahoma, Texas
and OU on the baseball field six fifteen airtime, six thirty,
first pitch, and you can hear that on one O
three point one FM. But we will continue on this
program here on thirteen hundred the Zone. I b TOV
with you on a Friday afternoon from Eldale Mitchell Park
in Norman, where Texas will play OU and it's the
(13:44):
second game. Obviously, the long words you heard in the
if you were listening and heard the highlight Montage. You
heard Texas win the series opener last night, and it
was not an easy time for them to come back
and win this game. Oklahoma jumped a one nothing lead
in the bottom of the first. First of all, there
was the change made in the starting rotation, and we
(14:05):
kind of thought there would be a change made for
one primary reason. There might have been a couple other
supplementary reasons, but the primary reason was because James Slasnega
wanted to get Ruger y Ojas back on full week's rest.
Last time he tried this going on a day's short
(14:25):
rest was going in Arkansas two weeks ago. Now, give
Arkansas credit for being an outstanding offensive club, but Ruger
curly clearly wasn't himself and they roughed him up and
he gave up nine earned runs, and that he'd only
given up a total of six earned runs in his
prior eight sec he starts. He gave up nine in
(14:46):
that outing. Then came back last week and still wasn't right.
Only got one out against Florida and got knocked out
of the box and took the loss in that So
we lost to in a row.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But it's about more than just that.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
The losses. It was about getting him his full complement
of rest. Story also from Luke for Luke Harrison, who
normally is used to working on Saturday. Luke pitched very
well last Saturday. He didn't get the decision, but he
pitched very well last Saturday in the win over the
Florida Gators. And it was about keeping those guys on
(15:17):
Friday and Saturday. And let's be honest, Texas was one
win away from clinching at least to share of the
SEC title, and they were two wins or one win
and one Arkansas loss from winning the title outright. So
Jim Slastnegele and Max Wiener's pitching coach obviously felt like
this was a risk they could and really should afford
(15:40):
to take because it's also about setting up your pitching
for the following weekend at the SEC tournament and even
more importantly two weeks from the day when the regional starts.
So all of that gets folded into the thought process
of who he was going to start. So we decided
to start kay Bing now, being of course, went into
(16:00):
it having not thrown one pitch in an SEC game.
He'd been the mid week guy. Non conference story had
had really good numbers. But if we're being completely honest,
some of the non conference uponders they faced, certainly we're
not going to be up to the par of an
SEC team. Some of them are good that they played
in midweek. Look at U t Rio Grand Valley. They
(16:22):
won to share of the regular season title in the
Southland and they're already playing their Southland tournament. They've got
a leg up there. That's a good ball club, and
the same thing also with Lamar, a good ball club.
But not all of those Tuesday games we're going to
have the caliber of opposition he would face in an
SEC game. But they were hoping to get three four
(16:45):
in a perfect world, five innings, but maybe three or
four innings out of being he gave them two and
two thirds. Last night started off, however, on the wrong foot,
when he hit the leadoff guy, Trey Gamble. He then
retired the next two got batters, Easton Carmichael and Sam Christiansen,
but during the process uncorked the wild pitch, and that
(17:05):
was after Jackson Willets had singled to put runners on
the corners and the wild pitch allowed Gamble to score
and Oklahoma led one nothing. The log Oorns came back
in the top half of the third inning. Tommy Farmer,
who had himself a good night. He went three for
four at the plate, batting in the nine hole, reached
on an infield single. Ethan Mendoza followed with an infield single,
(17:26):
put runners on the corners with nobody out. Now Kison Witherspoon,
the right handed for Oklahoma, one of the best in
the country, certainly one of the tops in the SEC,
was able to strike out Max Blue. Blue in his
first game back since March twenty eighth, had struck out
swinging against Witherspoon in the first inning. He struck out
looking against Witherspoon in the third inning, and then with
(17:49):
two outs, the log Orangs tried to do what so
many teams try to do when they have runners on
the corners and two outs, and that's steal a run.
Put the man on first base in motion. Mendoza good
speed was off the catcher. Carmichael threw down to second,
and Mendoza did the right thing, stopping waiting for Farmer
(18:09):
to break for the play. Well, Tommy didn't break that
far from the plate, and so they already had Mendoza
in a rundown. Farmer wasn't that far from the third
base bag. If Oklahoma had properly executed the rundown, he
would have been out in the inning would have been over. However,
the throw from the first basem and Mason Hamlin went
off the glove of the shortstop.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Jackson Willitts.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Hamlin was charged of the era that allowed Mendoza to
reach base safely and Farmer to score from third, and
that tie the score at one. And that lasted all
of about ten minutes because the next batter, Galvan, lined
out the left the inning was over. Trey Gamble came
up leading off the next inning and hit a home
run off of Kate Bing that put Oklahoma back in front.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Logwards came up with some big defensive.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Plays, Galvan throwing out Easton Carmichael trying to steal. In
that inning, hilland All, Texas was down two to one,
and it became three to one in the fifth inning,
and it started with and Keith Moreland harps on this
the free pass to open the inning, whether it's a
walk or hit batter, Folks who followed this Texas baseball
program this year know that that has been a supreme
(19:18):
challenge for the Longhorns.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I'm talking about avoiding hitting batters.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
And the second hit batter of the ball game to
open the inning was Mason Hamlin. That was the eighty
fourth hit batter of the season for Texas. Even as
Dawson Willis then forced Hamlin on the fielders choice at
second base for the first out, Willis was able to
get himself in scoring position by stealing second, and then
after that, with two outs, Easton Carmichael doubled.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Oklahoma led three to one.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Normally, normally that's enough, more than enough for Kyson Witherspoon,
That's normally all he needs. He had a two four
to five ERA coming into the ball game, and he
still carried a three to one lead in the seventh
when the Logorns were finally able to put pressure on him.
Adrian Rodriguez, who had earlier doubled in the ballgame to
(20:07):
extend his hitting streak to twelve games and his on
base streak to eighteen games.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Let off with the double.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Kimball Schusler lined out the first, but then a pass
ball allowed Rodriguez to reach third base.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Casey Borber then drew a walk.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Will Gasprino, who had not started the ball game with
Blue back in the lineup. Farmer was moved to center field,
but then Blue came up to bat for Jonah Williams
and he was able to work a really hard nosed walk.
It loaded the bases and Farmer came up with a
two run single the left.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
That tied the score at three. That was it for.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Kyson Witherspoon done after six and a third inning, so
they were able to get Oklahoma's ace out of the
ball game, and then against the bullpen, they were able
to take the lead in the eighth and RBI single
from Kimball Schuschler scoring Ryland Galvine.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
It was four to three Texas going to the.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Bottom of the eighth, even though Thomas Burns had worked
a really quick one two three bottom of the seventh.
The plan all season long is you go to Dylan Valancis,
your closer. Really struggled in the eighth inning. With one out,
he walked Easton Carmichael. He hit Sam Christensen with the
pitch that's eighty five hit batters now this season, and
Jackson Willitts followed with an RBI single. Valanis was able
(21:15):
to get out of the inning with a fielders choice
ground ball and then a sinking line at the center.
You might have heard the highlight there in the montage.
Will Gasparina got a great jump on the ball and
that kept two runs from scoring a sliding catch, and
it kept it a four to four ball game. And
then it goes to the ninth and Farmer opened it
up with a story hit, a double Ethan Mendoza reaching
on an error by the second basement branch who couldn't
(21:36):
get a handle on the ball. That put runners on
the corners with nobody out. And then Max Blue crushes
one off the batter's high and dead center to put
Texas up seven to four. Valanis comes out in the
night and closes the door. Did walk one batter, but
worked around it to end the ball game and Texas
getting the win. A few minutes after the game was over,
then it was Tennessee beating Arkansas him to six, and
(22:00):
so it man it was an outright conference championship for
the long Horns. After the game, Keith visiting on the
field with the head coach, Jim Slasnigle.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Well, first of all, congratul license. That's the start with that.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
But one of the things I want to talk about
is this team and the resilience of these teams. They're
placing coach that's one of the best pitchers in America,
without a doubt, and they found a way to be
a resilient and then win it late.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, I thought we battled him.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
You know, we had some balls fall in, but that's
some really good at bats and and I felt like,
you know, being did okay and Sonia kept us close,
and that's all you can ask for is to try
and keep it close and then maybe try and beat
one of the guys at the end of the game.
And sure, I'm glad that the loos back. That's that's
makes a big difference in our offense.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Well, it does. I mean that's where I was going
to go from that.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
I mean, you're trying to get him in. You're doing
everything he can to protect him but also help the team.
And you said this week that he got a few
simulated at bats, and then today he looked a little
bit rusty but then.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Came up big when it needed. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Yeah, I mean, he he's a competitor. We saw what
at the beginning of the year, he missed two weeks.
I mean, he missed two or three weeks leading up
to the season and and then stepped it right in
there in the first game of the year and ended awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
So he's kind of like you.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Man. He can roll out on Christmas morning and hit
and uh yeah, he faced some great pitchers tonight, but
he came came up when we needed him.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Last thing is you and your staff. It's happening. It's
a crazy thing to think about. This is what you
look for when you went to work here is to
win one of these. But you have clinched at least
a share of the Southeast Conference championship.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
That's unbelie It's unbelieva.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
What a credit to our players and coaches.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Man.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
I mean, I know we have loftier goals, but as
I've said before, it's this. It's tougher to win an
SEC regular season title than it is to win a
national title.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
And we want to win a national title.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
But you know, to do to do that over the
course of ten weeks and and be the best team
or at least one of the best teams is a
great is a great deal and I'm super proud of
our guys.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Congratulates with you and your players. And your staff. Thanks brother.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
All right, So there was there, and then Keith was
quick to run over and grab Max Blue to talk
not only about the home run but his roadback. Remember,
it was his first game since March twenty eighth, when
he broke the thumb sliding to catch a ball in Columbia,
Missouri against the Missouri Tigers, and he'd been working his
(24:18):
way back and going through conditioning and then trying to
get the thumb healed enum and be able to grip,
be able to swing the bat. He started oh for
four in the ballgame. He struck out us first three times,
hit it into an inding ending feels his choice.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
In the seventh.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
He was over for four and he went to the
plate in the ninth to hit that three run homer,
And obviously everybody was excited, including Max as he visited
with Keith.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
We've known each other for a while. You've been working
at this. It was a unbelievable injury that cost you.
Just walk us through getting back tonight.
Speaker 6 (24:50):
Yeah, as soon as I woke up this morning, I
just felt just extremely blessed because I knew I was
going to play today and it was just a great
feeling and I just thank God that he was able
to help.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Me through this recovery.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Really, it means a lot to me to come out
here and compete with these guys for a last uh,
just try to win the sec and yeah, just that
swing just felt really good.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Now the other part of that, you're one of the
leaders of this punch and I've watched you, You've been involved,
you know what's going on, you know what's happening, and
then now you're back making contributions.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Just walk us through that again. Yeah, I just when
I was hurt, I just make sure it's still locked in.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Be a leader, you know, I can still lead from
a bench, And it's just a blessing to be able
to come out out here and just compete and just
help the team.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
It's awesome, all right.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
One last thing, how do you keep your legs going
and that kind of thing during that time repairing your thumb.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Yeah, it's just about discipline, you know, if you want it.
I knew I was gonna come back at the end
of the year, and I was just like, I'm going
to come back and really help the team out. So
at that point, it's about just discipline and hard work
and just not being selfish because we got the whole
team is count on me when I come back.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
What does SEC champions sound like? It has a nice
ring to do it, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Congratulations nineties back you all right, And they were all
very very excited about that, about winning the SEC champion.
It was only just a few minutes right after that
conversation on the field that Tennessee finished off its winner
for Arkansas. So the Long Wrn's up three games on
the Razorbacks with two to play in the regular season,
and so they've clinched the Southeastern Conference regular season title.
(26:23):
That might have seemed rather inconceivable to folks before the
season began.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's real now.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Well, normally this is when I say we begin our
number two of the program. Here on thirteen hundred the zone,
I say, normally, this is where we usually say that
we're beginning hour number two. We're not going to be
going a second hour, and we're definitely not going to
be going a third hour because we're just a few
minutes away from the pregame show for Texas Softball. As
(26:57):
the Long Worn Softball team will be opening play in
the NCAA Austin Regional and Texas will be in action
against Eastern Illinois in the first game of that softball regional.
So that is coming up in a few minutes. Andrew Haynes,
we'll have the call of that. Texas the number six
national seed there. So that's coming up in just a
(27:20):
few minutes. In a few minutes, we've got remaining. I
wanted to delve back into what this means other than
winning the SEC championship. And you say, well, that's a
pretty big deal, and it is, and you may have
heard it from Jim slostn Egle last night as they
(27:44):
pull up the updated Southeastern Conference standings, And here's what's.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Meant by that.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
My virtue of the win in Texas is now twenty
one and seven in the SEC, and they are forty
one and ten overall. As we look at the updated standings,
aren't saw is in second place at eighteen and ten.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
And we know.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
That Texas has clinched they are right title now. The
Razorbacks have not yet clinched second place in the league.
And the reason for that is they're only up one
game on both Georgia and LSU, and both of those teams,
Georgia and LSU hold the head to have tiebreaker on
(28:27):
the Razorbacks both won the series against Arkansas, so they
hold the head to have tie break both one two
out of three, and so it'll be interesting to see
how the rest of this weekend goes. And Vanderbilt is
also in the mix there they are also seventeen and eleven,
so they could wind up mathematically finishing as high as
(28:50):
second place. What does this have to do with the
log orange, he ask, Well, you know, first and foremost,
he could have something to do with, you know, who
winds up on their side of the bracket a tournament.
But beyond that, beyond that, what Texas is trying to
do is get its team best equipped and as healthy
(29:10):
as possible for the postseason. And when I say as
healthy as possible, that goes into many layers because the
way this works right now is once you already have
the conference championship clinched, unless you're playing for a higher
seed than an NCAY regional, say, for example, a team
(29:33):
like Dallas Baptist, they've already clinched the Conference USA regular
season title with two games to go in the regular season. However,
the Patriots know that as they stand like as a
fringe bubble team, to host a regional you know, they
want to keep their foot on the gas to try
(29:53):
to win as much as possible, to try to be
able to be a regional host, to be in the
top sixteen, and they have a shot at that depending
on what they do the rest of this weekend in
their series against Liberty and then in the Conference USA tournament. Well,
Texas doesn't have that worry. A They like DBU have
clinched the conference championship. B like as the Loggorns have,
(30:19):
they as Dallas Baptist has, they're going to be the
one seed in the tournament. But beyond that for Texas,
as we mentioned, they're going to be a top eight
national seed. They're going to be in the top five,
they're going to be in the top three. I'm virtually
certain they're in the top two. And there's a really
strong feeling that they wrapped up the number one overall
national seed by winning the SEC regular season title. One
(30:41):
thing Keith Mortland has talked about and others as well,
is that the winner of the Southeastern Conference regular season
is going to be, in all likelihood the number one
overall national seed. Now that might have wobbled a little
bit of late between Texas and LSU and Arkansas each
wabbling a little bit down the stretch, and as Florida
(31:01):
State caught fire late in the regular season, but it
was still And we had Kendall Rodgers on the program
on Monday talking about that, and I asked him it
was actually three days ago, was on Tuesday, and I
asked Kendall if it was a situation, if he could
(31:24):
see it being a situation where someone other than an
SEC team could wind up being the number one overall seed,
and he said highly unlikely, that there was a slight
chance that maybe Florida State could get there, because Florida
State's up to number two this week in the D
(31:45):
one pole, but they had a big series against North
Carolina this weekend, and he said they probably had to
win that series at the very least, if not sweep it,
but certainly win it and then do well and maybe
win the a SEC Tournament. Well, it didn't get off
to a good start to the Seminoles last night. They
lost at home to Care a line of eight to three.
So that was a big, big loss there for Florida
(32:07):
State in terms of trying to perhaps achieve a top
eight national seed. Well, they're a game and a half
out of first place now in the ACC Georgia Tech
actually leads to conference standings or eighteen and ten, and
truth being known, Florida State is actually in fourth place
in the conference standings. So it's pretty unlikely that they
(32:27):
would wind up the number one overall national seat. Certainly
a top eight you would think, but probably not the
number one overall seed. So Texas is in grand position
to wind up being the overall number one seed regardless
of what they do the rest of this tournament or
(32:47):
the rest of this regular season.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
This weekend and then the SEC.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Tournament next week in Hoover, Alabama, They're probably going to
be in the number one seed, or they have a
really good chance depending on some things that are happening
in other places, of being the number one seed. So
if that's the case and you're Jim Slastnakel, how does
it affect how you handle the proper amount of rest
(33:14):
plus trying to keep guys sharp. Well, let's take a
look at it pragmatically, first and foremost, with a guy
like Max Blue. Max just came back from injury.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
He was zero for four prior to that monstrous home
run he hit.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
They gave taxes to margin a victory. It would be
to make all logical sense unless he tweaked something or
got hurt. But he didn't look like that. He looked fine,
and he went running down a sinking liner down the
line late in the.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Ballgame last night.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
So, barring any kind of injury knowledge that we don't
have at the moment, and I don't think there's any
to be shared with regard to Blue, I would think
they would want to keep Max in the lineup because
they would want him to get more at bats, get
his swing back and full forth. I know we saw
the big home run, but we also saw three rikeouts
and a ground ball out prior to that. He actually
(34:03):
wound up being just won for five in the game.
The one was gigantic, clearly the home run, but only
that one hit. Now, I would say they probably would
really like to keep him in the lineup, get him
loosen up, get him more comfortable. Back in the lineup,
and Max is sat a long time. He's out twenty
(34:24):
sixth day, twenty six games. He wanted to be back,
So now he's back, and I think they want to
keep him in there. As for the rest of the regulars. Well,
if you go around at Tommy Farmer, they moved him
in the center field to start the ballgame. When Will
Gasparino pinch hit for Jena Williams in the seventh inning,
Will stayed in the ballgame. Afterwards in his natural center
(34:48):
field position. Farmer moved from center to left. Remember Blue
was back and right, So they had basically their regular
starting outfield all in their regular places from the seventh
inning on last night, with Farmer and left, Gasparino and center,
and Blue and right. And I think they would like
(35:10):
to get Will Gasparino's hitting back in a groove. Tommy
Farmer seems to be getting into a groove, had a
couple of big hits last weekend, and he went three
for four last night. So you stayed with the hot
hand there. Now we moved to the infield casey Borba.
They'd love to get him consistent again. He's played well
defensively at third, but would like to get his bat
(35:30):
in gear. Jalen Flores the same thing at shortstop, went
hitless last night in the ballgame for Texas As. Flores
went zero for five in the game. They'd like to
get him, you know, cranked up again and get him going.
He's been played great in the field, but they would
like to get his back going. Ethan Mendoza, it's a
(35:50):
different issue. Ethan Remember, has been swinging a good bat
all season long, continues to do so, and he got
a big hit last night, or reached on it. He
got one single and then he reached on an error
and scored ahead of Blue on the three run homer. Mendoza, Remember,
injured a shoulder diving for a ball back behind second
in the Sunday game at Kentucky. Took him out in
(36:13):
a lineup for a few games. He came back, but
he's only been daching as a result of that. We
should tell you that Mendoza has been taking ground balls lately,
even here in the workout on Wednesday, and was trying
to turn the double plane things like that. They've got
to be very careful with him and make sure that
he's all right, that the shoulder is sounded up, because
he is not wanting to have any kind of surgery
(36:35):
or procedure done on it until the season is over.
But he's not in a position where he can dive
for a ball, so he's got to be careful there.
Adrian Rodriguez, and we talked about it in linked last night.
Adrian of course had that injury when he was hit
by a pitch same series on the road at Missouri
(36:55):
when Blue got injured and it hit right on top
of the hand on the handmap bone. He did not
break the bone, but it caused an edema and a
big bone bruise. It has taken him a long while
to try to get back in a groove, so much
so that Rodriguez, a switch hitter, is only able to
back from the left side of the plate right now,
cannot take right handed swings. He is able to play
(37:17):
the field, and he was at second base last night.
But also you should know, and we talked about this,
that in taking swings it's been painful, especially as he's
fouled off some pitches and reaching across the plate and
you could tell he was getting it was really hurting
him last night. And then he got hit by a
pitch in the eighth inning last night, and so that
(37:42):
didn't help. Actually, in the ninth inning, got hit, stayed
in the ball game, finished at the ball game. So
he's banged up. So it would be logical to think
that maybe they might give him a rest. Kimball Schusler
has been so solid at first and a clutch hitter,
and came and what so again? Last night Shoes had
an RBI sing on the eighth, but Texas in front.
(38:03):
He just keeps rolling on. I think he stays where
he is. Then you get to Ryland Galvon. This is
my twenty fourth year being the main play by play
voice on Long Worn Baseball. I worked in the you
call it the number two chair with Bill Schooning on
selected games when Keith Morland was unavailable as a fill in,
(38:24):
doing somewhere between twenty and thirty games a season between
nineteen ninety eight and two thousand and one. Two thousand
and two was the first year that I moved into
the league play by play voice. The reason why I
bring this up is that in the now twenty four
years of calling play by play in Texas Long Worn Baseball,
I have never ever seen a catcher take as much
(38:45):
punishment as Ryland Galvon has taken this season.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
It has been painful to watch.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
I know it has to be painful for him with
all the foul tips he's taken in the wild pitches,
and not to mention, you know, every player goes through
this filing balls off your shoe and your ankle and
your knee. And then last night we saw him hobbling.
I think he's playing through a sore, not pulled, but
a sore hamstring. So it would not surprise me at
(39:15):
all if Tim Schlasnigga wanted to give him a breather
at least for a day or maybe even two days
or whatever, and then bring him back for the SEC tournament. Remember,
these two games probably probably don't matter in the grand
scheme of being the number one overall seed, and they've
already clinched the conference title. So wouldn't shock me if
(39:36):
that was the case where he was concerned. Where Riling
Galvan was considered, then you get to the mound. So
he obviously Schloss and Max Wiener, in their consultations about this,
had to make a decision to flip the rotation to
get the maximum of matter arrests for rugar Riojas who
(39:58):
will get the start tonight, and Luke Harrison, who will
get the start tomorrow in their normal Friday and Saturday slots.
When they got moved up two weeks ago in Arkansas,
that's when some of the problems started, not saying it
was just on that, but it didn't help. So now
Ruger's back, we'll see if it makes a difference for him.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Tonight we will also see.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
And here's the other side of this, we'll also see
how long he goes even if he's effective. I think
Schlass is wanting to say, pitching, if you will keep
guys healthy for the conference tournament and then certainly and
most importantly NCAA tournament play. So not sure if we'll
see Ruger for an extended amount, if there's a pitch count,
(40:42):
if he's only two innings or three innings or forty
pitches or whatever, or if it's just a regular turn
in the rotation. I'll find out in about an hour
when I visit with Schloss down on the field for
a pregame. Same story for Luke Harrison as the Saturday starter.
So those are some two things to keep in mind.
And then you say, well, what do you do with
the third star, because you're really going to need that
in the regional probably also in the SEC tournament. In
(41:05):
order to win it, you have to win three games.
It's single elimination, so you don't have to worry about
elimination games and a loser's bracket, But you have to
get that figured out. They might have gotten their answer
last night with a combination of k being starting Grayson
Sonier out of the Penn Thomas Burns, they have arms.
The question is how do they want to go with
(41:26):
the rotation. So those are the questions that are facing
Jim Slasnegle and Max Wiener and Nolan Kane and the
rest of the coaching staff about the field players, the
position players, and the pitchers as well heading in to
what will be the postseason. But prior to the postseason,
they have two more games here in Norman, Oklahoma, and
(41:49):
the first one is tonight, and the final game of
the regular season is tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock. All right,
so we're getting ready here toward the end of this
I'm thirteen under this zone.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.