Ivan Melendez, Mitchell Daly hit noteworthy homers as No. 22 Texas blows out Kansas

Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman
·4 min read
2
Texas players celebrate Mitchell Daly's fourth-inning grand slam during the Longhorns' 12-4 win over Kansas on Thursday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. It was UT's 100th homer of the season. The Longhorns hit three homers in the game.
Texas players celebrate Mitchell Daly's fourth-inning grand slam during the Longhorns' 12-4 win over Kansas on Thursday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. It was UT's 100th homer of the season. The Longhorns hit three homers in the game.

As Texas inched closer to the postseason Thursday night, Ivan Melendez inched closer to history.

The Longhorns opened their final series of the regular season with a 12-4 win over Kansas at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, and Melendez moved within one home run of Kyle Russell's single-season school record.

"It's a game that we should take care of business, and we did tonight," UT pitcher Pete Hansen said. "We showed that we're a contender and that we're a top team in the nation. It's always good to start the weekend off like that."

More: As Ivan Melendez nears Texas history, Kyle Russell 'looking forward to tossing the baton'

After building a 4-2 lead, the 22nd-ranked Longhorns blew the game open in the fourth inning. With one out, Melendez hit a three-run blast to center field. The home run was his 27th of the season. Fifteen years ago, Russell set the Longhorns' standard with 28.

Earlier this week, Melendez said he was more focused on chasing a championship than history. However, he did acknowledge the significance of closing in on Russell's record.

"It'd mean everything to me, just knowing how many prestigious baseball players have played for this program," Melendez said. "I don't like spotlighting myself. I just want to win, go deep in the playoffs, hopefully win a national championship and go from there."

Melendez wasn't the only Longhorn with a big swing in the fourth. With two outs, the Longhorns loaded the bases against Kansas starter Daniel Hegarty. Mitchell Daly then smashed the second grand slam of UT's season.

"That guy had a good change-up, and he gave me something I could hit," Daly said. "I was able to drive the ball."

Texas' Mitchell Daly heads toward the plate after bashing a grand slam in Thursday night's 12-4 win over Kansas. The Longhorns have hit 100 homers this season, shattering the previous school record of 81. "I wouldn't say everybody's trying to hit a bomb," Daly said. "But when you work (hard in batting practice) like that every day, you know you're going to have good results that come with it."

In the seventh inning, the Longhorns added a solo homer by Douglas Hodo III. Texas finished with 17 hits.

Backed by that offensive output, Hansen won his ninth game. In what might have been his last start at Disch-Falk, the third-year left-hander allowed seven hits and four runs over six innings.

After Hansen exited, Kansas pounced on Travis Sthele and loaded the bases with one out. Texas turned to Tristan Stevens, who struck out the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters in the Kansas batting order.

More: The Big 12 baseball title remains up in the air on final weekend. Here are the scenarios.

Texas (37-17, 12-10 Big 12) finished off the Jayhawks over the final two innings to remain in a fifth-place tie with West Virginia in the Big 12 standings. With two games left on the schedule, the Longhorns are one game behind fourth-place Oklahoma State. For seeding purposes in the Big 12 Tournament, the Cowboys own the tiebreaker with UT while Texas could break a tie with West Virginia.

Thursday's loss guaranteed that Kansas (20-33, 4-18) will miss the Big 12 Tournament.

Key play: With Melendez on first base and one out in the third inning, Murphy Stehly grounded a ball to third base. Kansas third baseman Dylan Ditzenberger attempted to get the lead runner but threw wide of second base. The Jayhawks ended up recording no outs on what could have been an inning-ending double play.

At the time of the error, Texas and Kansas were locked in a 1-1 tie. Texas went on to score three more times in the inning. Two of those runs were unearned.

Ditzenberger's error was committed with Skyler Messinger in the Texas dugout. Messinger started at third base for Kansas the last time these two teams played. A graduate transfer, Messinger has a .985 fielding percentage as UT's third baseman this year.

Notable number: 100. Daly's grand slam was the 100th home run of the Longhorns' season. Texas had already broken its school record for home runs in a season. That happened when the Longhorns hit No. 82 on April 30.

Oklahoma had been the only Big 12 school to record a 100-homer season since 2000. During the 2010 season, Oklahoma hammered 105 baseball out of the ballparks it was playing in.

"I wouldn't say everybody's trying to hit a bomb," Daly said. "But when you work (hard in batting practice) like that every day, you know you're going to have good results that come with it."

Up next: The Longhorns can secure the series on Friday night when they face the Jayhawks at 6:30 p.m. Texas sophomore Lucas Gordon (5-1, 2.66 ERA) will be opposed by Kansas senior Cole Larsen (1-8, 8.26).

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Ivan Melendez, Mitchell Daly power Texas past Kansas for Big 12 win