It wasn't much of an upset but it was an upset nonetheless as the fifth seeded Longhorns defeated the fourth seeded Red Raiders 2-1 in the opening game of the Big 12 Baseball Championship in Tulsa on Wednesday morning.
The Longhorns struck first in the top of the second when a two-out triple by Collin Shaw placed him in position to be knocked home by a Zane Gurwitz double. Gurwitz led off the seventh by drawing a walk and worked his way around the bases to eventually score on a throwing error and increase the lead to 2-0. "We came in knowing it's on the line for us," Gurwitz said. "That's what drove us today. We had to win."
The Red Raiders got one back in the bottom half of the inning when a one-out single put Eric Gutierrez on base and another single, along with a passed ball, advanced him to third. Orlando Garcia produced the third single of the inning for Texas Tech and plated Gutierrez but that would be the end of their scoring despite getting two runners on in the bottom of the ninth.
The Longhorns' Parker French went he distance from the mound as he allowed just eight hits and the lone run through nine innings of work. He also recorded six strikeouts in picking up his fourth win of the season.
Texas will now wait on the winner of the Baylor/TCU game while Texas Tech will get the loser on Thursday.