The Longhorns won another night in Omaha and defeated Virginia 6-2 to reach the semifinals against Mississippi State. Texas must defeat the Bulldogs twice in order to win its bracket. The College World Series championship series will begin Monday.
Texas lost to Mississippi State in Sunday's College World Series opener. struck out 21 times against the Bulldogs' pitching staff. If the Longhorns want to win the title, they will need to defeat those pitchers.
First, Texas can celebrate briefly the clutch hitting of Melendez & Zubia.
Melendez struck a grounder in the middle of the infield to tie the game at two in eighth. Mike Antico scored the 3-2 Texas win.
Texas reached this stage in the season thanks to both defense and pitching. To escape an eighth-inning jam, the Longhorns relied on both defense and pitching.
With one out and a runner on the first, Texas' head coach David Pierce called in Aaron Nixon. Nixon struck Kyle Teel with his first pitch, putting runners on first and third. He then coaxed Brendan Rivoli into an inning-ending double-play.
Zubia's ninth-inning bat gave Texas some breathing space to beat the Cavaliers. Two outs later, Texas had taken a commanding lead with the bases full of Longhorns. Zubia pitched a 3-2 pitch to the left-center gap to give Texas a 6-2 lead.
Zubia went 0-for-3 and had two strikeouts in the ninth inning.
