Johnson, Borba lead Texas baseball team to series-clinching victory over TCU

Back in January, TCU and Texas were voted into the first and second slots in the Big 12 preseason poll. The conference coaches also selected Lebarron Johnson Jr. as the Big 12's preseason pitcher of the year.

Over the next few months, not much went as planned for the aforementioned parties. But on Sunday, Texas and Johnson at least showed a glimpse of why they had garnered that hype and hope in the preseason.

Texas closed out its weekend with a 2-1 win over TCU at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Sunday afternoon. That result secured a series win for the Longhorns, who had previously traded a 5-0 Friday loss for a 7-0 Saturday shutout with TCU.

With the victory, Texas (24-17, 11-7) remained in the hunt for the Big 12 championship. TCU (23-15, 8-13) remained in 11th place in a conference that invites just 10 programs to its postseason tournament.

"You've always got a chance to win, especially with this group," freshman Casey Borba said. "So just knowing that we're going to be in it every time no matter what the score is, always find a way to bounce back. That's the culture that we have in the clubhouse that many people don't see. It's pretty awesome that we get to bounce back and win on Sundays."

On the mound Sunday, Johnson was credited with the win while Gage Boehm picked up his team-leading fourth save of the season. Over 6⅓ innings, Johnson allowed three hits and one run.

The outing wasn't perfect. Only two of Johnson's innings were clean. He walked four Horned Frogs and hit a batter. TCU scored in the second inning when Johnson surrendered a double and then threw wild pitches on two of his next three offerings.

But for a pitcher who had lost his job as UT's Friday starter and entered Sunday with a 1-3 record and a 5.57 ERA, the win was certainly a step in the right direction. This marked just the third time in Johnson's 10 starts that the fourth-year right-hander worked into the seventh inning.

"Best way to describe (this season) was ups and downs," Johnson said. "Last few starts were a little depressing, but I can't focus on that, just focus on being here for my team."

And what was working against the Horned Frogs?

"Definitely first-pitch strikes with my fastball, that was kind of the biggest thing for me," Johnson said. "Just working on getting ahead with my fastball. My slider was a plus today. Those two allowed me to be great today."

That wild pitch-scoring play gave TCU a 1-0 lead in Sunday's second inning, but Texas quickly struck back. With one out in the inning's bottom half, Borba doubled in two of his teammates. Those were the fourth and fifth RBIs of the weekend for Borba, who hadn't started since March 17 before Saturday.

Texas nearly added onto its lead in the seventh inning, but the umpires ruled that Max Belyeu's two-out single into right field had hit baserunner Peyton Powell. So instead of Jared Thomas scoring on the play, Powell was called out and the inning was over. David Pierce was ejected after the Texas coach argued the call.

"He was fighting for his players and fighting for the moment, and that's something that I think every one of our players looked at and said, 'Yeah, that's what we're expected to do,' and that's what he's doing for each of them," UT assistant coach Steve Rodriguez said. "I think he was fighting for our guys, fighting for the team and fighting for that moment."

Due to Sunday's Texas triumph and West Virginia's two losses at Texas Tech on the same day, UT now finds itself tied with Oklahoma State and WVU for second place in the Big 12. The Longhorns' ascension in the standings closed out a wild week that began with a humiliating loss to UTRGV.

"Sometimes you just look at the final score and people can jump to certain conclusions," Rodriguez said. "I think what Coach Pierce has just done an amazing job of is really keeping these guys locked in and keeping them in the fight and really kind of constantly pushing their work ethic to just continually get better."

Texas will close out a five-game homestand this Tuesday against UT-Arlington (17-23). The Longhorns will then head to Norman, Okla., for the first time since 2018 for a three-game series against the first-place Sooners (24-14, 14-4).

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas baseball team ends weekend with victory over TCU Horned Frogs