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Walk-off homer lifts Texas baseball to sweep of No. 14 Texas Tech, 14th straight win
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The unranked Texas Longhorns baseball team undoubtedly raised a few eyebrows around the country following a 9-8 walk-off win Sunday to complete a sweep of No. 14 Texas Tech at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
In back-to-back games, the Longhorns scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Red Raiders, and Sunday's was a bit more conventional and exciting than the walk-off wild pitch Saturday. It was Texas' 14th consecutive win.
Garret Guillemette launched a 407-foot home run over the wall in left field to send the burnt orange fans home happy and the Longhorns to a 3-0 start in Big 12 Conference play. He grounded into two double plays in his previous at-bats, but baseball is a quirky game and Longhorns head coach David Pierce had faith in his catcher to get it done.
"It was just a great swing by Garret to finish it," Pierce said. "He came up big in the clutch and looked very comfortable."
Guillemette, who transferred from Southern California before this season, said it was "the coolest moment I've ever had in my baseball career."
"Just hitting it, hearing the crowd erupt and seeing my teammates out there," he said. "Looking at the sea of orange and white out there was pretty cool to me."
Guillemette finished the day 2-for-4 at the plate and his game-winner was one of five balls that left the yard for the Longhorns. Peyton Powell continued his torrid pace at the plate with two home runs, a 2-run shot in the first inning and a solo in the fourth. Rylan Galvin hit a solo homer in the second inning and Jared Thomas hit a solo blast in the third inning with a full count to give Texas an early 4-1 lead. It was Thomas' first home run of his Texas career.
The Red Raiders didn't go away and plated six runs over their last three innings to tie the game at 8-8. Texas used six pitchers with Charlie Hurley getting the start. He pitched four innings and allowed one run on one hit with four strikeouts and three walks, then Pierce dipped into the bullpen. Lampasas native Ace Whitehead was credited with the win in relief after allowing one run on two hits in 1.1 innings.
Thomas and Powell each had three hits and Jack O'Dowd had two. Powell drove in four runs and is hitting .397 for the year with 29 hits and he leads the team in on-base percentage at .500.
"It was a great sweep," Pierce said. "Any sweep in the Big 12, doesn't matter if you're home or away, you position yourself at 2-0 to go for the sweep, and I love the fact we were able to finish it."
Texas (18-7, 3-0 Big 12) has a big game Tuesday at Blue Bell Park in College Station against Texas A&M and will hit the road for a 3-game set against Oklahoma State in Stillwater beginning Friday.