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Horns Head Home from Big 12 Tournament With Many Questions, Few Answers

Updated: Friday, May 25 2012, 10:24 AM CDT
Their primary color might be burnt orange, but the Longhorns are ice cold.

"We have scored four runs in the last four games we have played," said Texas head baseball coach Augie Garrido following his team's loss to Kansas Thursday.  "The only thing hot about us is the weather."

They say in Texas, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.  But the month of May for the Longhorns has felt like the dog days of summer.  As a result, UT is sweating.

"It's going to be a close call, but we're looking forward to hopefully being able to play again," said Longhorns right fielder Mark Payton.

Texas won its first five Big 12 conference series, but lost its final three.  Then, after going oh-for-Oklahoma City by losing to two teams with a combined Big 12 conference record of 17-and-30, UT's NCAA tournament hopes are now in doubt.

"We've put it in the hands of the committee," said Garrido on Thursday.  "We certainly didn't play our way into the [NCAA tournament] with our performance in this tournament."

"The record doesn't show the character this team has or the potential this team has," said Payton, who was 1-for-4 with a run scored vs. Kansas.  "We still haven't peaked yet.  We're just going to wait around and see what the committee has to say."

Adding injury to insult, Thursday's starter John Curtiss left the game with an elbow issue.  The Longhorns have lost four starting pitchers already this season.

"It's hard to replace five guys," said Garrido.  "I'm not making excuses, I'm just telling you that it's been challenging."

"I tweaked something on the 0-2 fastball to their second baseman," Curtiss told KEYE TV sports after the game.  "It didn't hurt particularly bad, but I couldn't throw anymore."

While the Longhorns wait for an official diagnosis on Curtiss's injury, they'll also sweat out their postseason fate.  The NCAA field of 64 will not be released until Monday, making for a long holiday weekend for Texas - a program that has not missed the NCAA tournament since 1998.Horns Head Home from Big 12 Tournament With Many Questions, Few Answers