The Texas Longhorns won on Sunday.
They swept a series.
They did it in a come-from-behind fashion.
All those things haven’t happened very often this season.
With so many positives in Sunday’s 4-2 Big 12 win over Texas Tech, the biggest one for Texas (31-10, 12-3) might have been overlooked: Joseph Krebs.
Texas’ Sunday starter put his best outing of the season together with a two-run, five-hit performance over six innings. It was the first time Krebs pitched more than five innings this season. And he did it with a smile.
In the fifth inning, Texas Tech (22-15, 5-8) had taken a 2-1 lead on Krebs, and a runner on first was jumping around, bothering the left-handed starter.
“(Pitching coach Skip) Johnson just came out there and slowed me down,” Krebs said. “I would throw over to first, and Chance (Wheeless) would throw it back. Right as Chance would throw it back, the guy would jump off first. Coach Johnson told Chance to fake the throw and tag the guy.
“It calmed me down a lot. I started thinking about that. I had a little smile on my face the rest of the outing.”
Krebs struck out the next two guys and breezed through the sixth inning.
“Joe turned it around for two more innings,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said. “He broke through and took it to another level.”
Then the Horns broke through.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Travis Tucker walked and stole second and third base. After shortstop Michael Demperio grounded out, leadoff hitter Jordan Danks, who went 3 for 4, came up with his second RBI of the game, shortening up his swing with two strikes and hitting a single to center field.
“Tucker gets on base, steals second and steals third, and that pumps the rest of us up,” Danks said. “You get the adrenaline flowing. You get the crowd behind you, and you just get going.”
Kyle Russell, who did not hit a home run this series and remains tied for the Longhorns’ single-season home run total with Jeff Ontiveros at 20, followed up with an RBI double, giving Texas a 3-2 lead. Russell advanced to third on a wild pitch and was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Wheeless, whose 17-game hitting streak came to an end.
That was plenty of runs as Randy Boone earned the win with three perfect innings.
He did get a little help from Russell, who made a great catch on what appeared to be a double down the right-field line.
“They swung at a lot of pitches early in the count. It was kind of surprising,” Boone said. “I got a lot of ground balls and Kyle made a great play in right.”
The sweep helped Texas keep a firm hold on first place in the Big 12, and it comes at the perfect time. The Longhorns now enter the toughest part of their schedule, traveling to Rice on Tuesday before heading to Nebraska and Oklahoma State the next two weekends.
