DH Zubia earns first Big 12 award

Justin Verlander struck out nine over seven dominant innings, Carlos Correa had two hits and scored twice and the Houston Astros beat the Minne- sota Twins 2-0 on Monday night.

Verlander (2-0) was in control throughout on a chilly night with a first-pitch temperature of 35 degrees. The right-hander gave up three hits and walked one while helping the reigning World Series champions match their best 11-game start by going 9-2.

Verlander improved to 11-1 in 14 games, including the playoffs, since being traded to Houston last season.

Ken Giles earned his first save of the season by getting Byron Buxton to ground out with a runner on third in the ninth.

Twins reliever Taylor Rogers (1-1) allowed a leadoff double to Correa in the sixth after coming in for starter Lance Lynn. Correa scored from third on rookie J.D. Davis’ liner to left field off reliever Trevor Hildenberger.

Davis entered the night 1 for 14 and drove in his first RBI of the season. Marwin Gonzalez added an RBI double in the eighth.

The cold night was all about the two starte r s, though.

Verlander allowed a one- out double in the first to Joe Mauer and then retired eight in a row before walking Mauer to lead off the fourth.

Verlander faced runners at the corners with no outs in the sixth after Brian Doz- ier’s swinging bunt, but he struck out Mauer and Miguel Sano before getting Eddie Rosario to pop out.

In eight regular season starts with Houston, Verlander is 7-0 with a 1.20 ERA.

Lynn pitched five scoreless innings in his first start at Target Field but departed early because of a rising pitch count. After walking six batters in his first outing of the year, Lynn walked four Monday to go with nine strike- outs on 105 pitches.

Minnesota loaded the bases in the eighth, but Rosario grounded into an inning-ending double play.

For the first time in his col- legiate career, Texas freshman Zach Zubia has been recognized by the Big 12 Conference.

Zubia was named the Big 12’s newcomer of the week Monday. In five games last week, Zubia hit .368. A tworun homer helped UT build an early lead in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Baylor.

Last week, Texas went 5-0. The Longhorns swept Baylor over the weekend.

Used primarily as a desig- nated hitter, Zubia is hitting .292 with six home runs and 28 RBIs this year. Zubia struck out when he was used as a pinch hitter in the season opener but is currently riding a 33-game on-base streak for the 22-12 Longhorns.

Zubia joins Kody Clem- ens (player), Mason Hibbeler (newcomer) and Blair Henley and Nolan Kingham (pitchers) as Longhorns who have won one of the Big 12’s weekly awards this season. The only blemish in Zubia’s weekend appeared to occur Sunday when television cameras caught him slipping in the dugout while he celebrated his home run.

Clemens was named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list. The award is given to the top amateur baseball player in the country.

Clemens is hitting .358 and leads the Big 12 in slugging percentage (.683).

Volleyball: Texas announced Monday its volleyball scrimmage against Texas State, which was set to be held in Gregory Gym on Thursday, has been canceled. A Texas spokesperson said the cancellation was done at Texas State’s behest. The match will not be rescheduled.

UT will conclude its spring schedule this weekend at the F.A.S.T. Tournament in Houston.

Women’s tennis: Texas was No. 5 in the Oracle/ ITA women’s ranki n gs, announced Tuesday.

North Carolina holds the top spot, while Georgia Tech moved to No. 2. Vanderbilt was No. 3 and Duke ranked fourth.

Texas will take its 11-match winning streak into this weekend’s Big 12 matches against Iowa State and West Virginia.

Sophomore Bianca Turati is the top-ranked women’s singles player for the fifth straight week. She holds a 25-2 singles record.

Also Tuesday, Petra Granic was selected as the Big 12 women’s player of the week. She has won nine singles matches and has four wins over ranked opponents this season.