Beaten in its Big 12 finale, No. 24 Texas shifts its focus to the NCAA regionals

ARLINGTON − On Wednesday, Texas exited the Big 12 and entered the NCAA tournament.

A comeback attempt came up short for Texas in an 8-7 loss to Cincinnati at Globe Life Field that eliminated the Longhorns from the Big 12 baseball tournament. The No. 3 seed in the tournament's field, Texas was also beaten by Texas Tech in Tuesday's first round. This marks the third time in the last six Big 12 tournaments that UT has gone 0-for-2.

Texas (35-22) must now wait until Monday to find out its draw for the NCAA tournament. D1Baseball and Baseball America both currently project UT as a No. 2 seed.

"For whatever reason, we just haven't played well in this tournament the last few years," Texas coach David Pierce said. "It's unfortunate because we've been playing really well.

"It is what it is. I think we've done plenty to make sure that we've secured a regional (berth) going into this tournament. Our résumé says that. We're disappointed right now, but we've got to get back to work."

In the first-ever meeting between Texas and Cincinnati (32-24), the Longhorns were held without a hit over the first three innings. Facing Cincinnati starter Tommy Boba, who entered the game with a 5.48 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, UT finally broke through in the fourth frame.

While taking a 3-2 lead, Texas produced five hits in that inning. The base knocks ranged in pizzazz from Porter Brown's bunt single to Will Gasparino's RBI double, but the biggest swing was Max Belyeu's two-run blast into the right field stands.

A defensive collapse in the sixth inning led to Cincinnati grabbing a 4-3 edge against reliever Gage Boehm, who recorded four strikeouts in the session. "We didn't play as sound as we wanted to, but it is what it is. We didn't play well enough to win," said Rylan Galvan, the Texas catcher who had a passed ball in an inning that also featured an error and an infield single that could have been credited as a defensive miscue.

Texas and Cincinnati traded four-run outbursts in the eighth inning before UT stranded the tying run on second base in the final frame as Galvan grounded out and Will Gasparino flew out to right field to end the contest.

"We're going to be tough, we're going to have grit, we're going to fight to the end," Galvan said of the attempted comeback. "I think that's something that we have relied on."

Taking the loss on Wednesday with Boehm, the team's all-conference closer who entered the game with no outs in the fourth inning and allowed two hits and two unearned runs over four innings. Texas also used starter Lebarron Johnson Jr. in relief for the second time this season.

"I'm not going to get beat with my best guy in the bullpen," Pierce said. "We're playing for today. Tomorrow's tomorrow, we'll deal with that. But as of right now, there's not a tomorrow so we're going home."

With Wednesday's loss, the relationship between Texas and the Big 12 essentially ended since UT's athletic department has no more conference competitions left on its schedule for the 2023-24 school year. In a few weeks, Texas will officially join the Southeastern Conference.

A founding member of the Big 12, Texas has called the conference its home since 1996. The Longhorns won 15 of the league's 30 regular season and tournament championships during this school year.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Longhorns go winless at final Big 12 baseball tournament