Clemens' homer earns tacos for fans in win

After striking out five times by end of third inning, Horns rally.

On Friday, Texas’ baseball fans received tacos and a win.

Junior pitcher Morgan Cooper out-performed UConn ace Tim Cate as Texas earned a 4-1 win at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Cooper’s seven-inning effort was backed by two home runs from senior Kacy Clemens. The second of Clemens’ drives clanked off of Taco Shack’s free taco sign in right field.

After the game, Clemens said he told his dad, Roger, the postgame meal was on him.

“I said, ‘Why are we going to pay for dinner? I provided it,’” joked Kacy Clem- ens, whose team improved to 4-2. “Tonight’s for me to provide dinner for once.”

Earlier this week, Texas coach David Pierce referred to Cate as a possible firstround pick in next year’s Major League Baseball draft. Equipped with a mystifying curveball, Cate kept UT stumped during a 51-pitch quiz over the game’s first three innings. Texas had struck out five times by the end of the third inning, and Michael Cantu had the team’s only hit.

With one out in the fourth, Cantu got the better of Cate again with a double to left field. Clemens then fouled off two two-strike offerings before homering into the Texas bull- pen in right field. Cate faced two additional batters in the inning before a trainer came out to get him in the middle of Joe Baker’s at-bat.

“I was just trying to have a productive at-bat and get (Cantu) over somehow to get things going,” Clemens said.

Two innings after his tworun drive, Clemens hooked the fans up with tacos with his third home run of the young season. Clemens became the first Longhorn to hit two home runs in a game since C.J. Hino- josa accomplished the feat at Baylor in 2015.

“He has a great approach; he knows what he can hit and what he can’t hit,” Pierce said. “He’s pretty aggressive in the zone on balls that he can han- dle.”

The drives made a win- ner of Cooper, who did not earn a decision in Texas’ season-opening loss to Rice. Cooper allowed four hits and a run against the Huskies on Friday. One week after he struck out six Rice batters, the righthanded junior tied a career high with eight strikeouts.

“Me personally, I had to come in here, and I’m not going to get embarrassed,” Cooper said of his duel with Cate. “You’ve got to be on top of your game and know that the guy across from you is pretty good.”

Cooper is the fourth starter to win a game for Texas this season.