San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Horns looking for first CWS win in 7 years
OMAHA, Neb. — Zach Zubia made it sound so easy, as if it were possible to trick your brain into visualizing 24,000capacity TD Ameritrade Park as just another barren sandlot with nothing but neighborhood bragging rights at stake.
Of course, Zubia is more familiar with the rigors of this event than his Texas teammates. The redshirt junior first baseman is one of two remaining Longhorns who played in the 2018 College World Series, and he’s doing his best to Jedi mind trick the wide-eyed newcomers into treating this event like a random regular-season Tuesday at Disch-Falk Field.
“What I’m sharing with my teammates every day is just to understand that it’s another baseball game. It’s nothing bigger than what you did as a little kid,” Zubia said Friday during a Zoom call with reporters. “You still got to put your pants on the same way when you wake up. And when
you show up to the ballpark, nothing changes. Don’t get out of your routine, don’t get out of your element. Don’t try to do too much, and the game will take care of itself.”
No. 2 national seed Texas (4715) has been pretty darn adept at taking care of itself while steamrolling through its regional and super regional. Even in those brief moments when an opponent actually fought back, the Longhorns invariably found ways to squash their uprising.
It gets harder in Omaha, though. Zubia has first-hand experience with the College World Series’ amped-up difficulty — Texas went 0-2 and was outscored 17-6 in 2018.
And Texas’ CWS opener tonight against No. 7 seed Mississippi State (45-16) will be its most exacting NCAA tournament test after outscoring its first five postseason opponents 49-12.
“They were really good opening weekend,” fifth-year Texas coach David Pierce said Friday, referring to the Bulldogs’ 8-3 season-opening
win over his team in Arlington. “And for an SEC team, I think they run better than most SEC teams. They have power arms. A big part of their pitching staff is reliant on the strikeout. They play with a lot of confidence, and they’ve been here three years in a row, so these guys are veterans.
“And in comparison of now to opening weekend, a lot of similarities of how they started, in my opinion. So what I’ve seen of late, they play with emotion, they play with confidence.”
Texas hasn’t won a CWS game since 2014. That amounts to an eternity for a program whose record 85 victories in Omaha are 11 more than second-place USC.
These Longhorns expect to end that winless drought before ending another that’s endured far longer — they haven’t claimed a national title since 2005.
Before getting too far ahead of itself, Texas will have to exact some revenge on Mississippi State and advance to the Bracket 2 winners’ game on Tuesday. With All-American and Big 12 pitcher of year Ty Madden (7-4, 2.41) on the hill, the Horns like their chances even against a Bulldogs
offense headlined by SEC Player of the Year Tanner Allen (.392, 10 HR, 62 RBI) in center, Rowdey Jordan (.326, 10 HR, 20 2B) in right, and catcher Logan Tanner (.284, 14 HR, 47 RBI).
“I think he’s gonna have to go out there and pitch. I don’t think he can just go out there and depend solely on his fastball,” Pierce said. “So I think he’s going to have to continue to pitch and utilize his slider around his fastball. But more than anything, getting strike one and trying to work ahead in counts, especially early in the game to get some really good rhythm in his delivery and in the pace of the game.”
Righthander Will Bednar (7-1, 3.53) will take the mound for the Bulldogs.
The 6-foot-2, 229-pound sophomore struggled in his last outing against Notre Dame in the super regionals, allowing seven hits and four earned runs in a game the Bulldogs still won 9-8. He also lasted just two innings in an SEC tournament loss to Tennessee, surrendering three runs on five hits.
But those two outings were blips amid a season of stellar performances. Bednar has rung up
113 strikeouts in 74 innings, a mark made even more impressive by his hyper-efficient 5.65 strikeoutto-walk ratio.
In 2018, when Texas arrived with a thinner lineup and less allaround depth, the threat of facing Bednar might have been daunting. But this year’s version is superior, hitting .303 with 13 doubles, four home runs, 13 stolen bases and more walks (38) than strikeouts (35) in its five NCAA tournament wins.
And while the Longhorns might not be able to mentally transport away from cavernous TD Ameritrade Park come Sunday, Zubia doesn’t believe for a second that this will be a repeat of 2018.
“I think the work that we put in, the mentality that we’ve practiced all year was to be put into this type of environment on the national stage with championship aspirations on the line,” Zubia said. “We work with the intent to be in Omaha. And I think that this team is just going to be really prepared to take that first step on the field Sunday night.”