Longhorns fall to Ragin’ Cajuns

COLLEGE STATION — Texas entered the NCAA Tournament hoping to reach the College World Series. The Longhorns didn’t even get past College Station.

UT coach David Pierce described the Longhorns’ regular season as full of “ups and downs.” What about the postseason? It was one and two downs for the Longhorns, a proud program that will miss the eight-team CWS for the second straight season.

Unlike a year ago, this time UT (36-24) didn’t come close to a trip to Omaha, Neb., for the CWS. Second-seeded Louisiana outlasted Texas, 10-2, in the regional on the rival court, while top-seeded host Texas A&M waited with glee for the worn-out winner of Sunday’s first game in the a possible regional title game late Sunday.

Had Louisiana won Sunday night’s game, the Aggies and Ragin’ Cajuns would have played in a final title game on Monday at a time to be determined.

UT under Pierce has won 13 straight regional games, including a 12-5 win over Louisiana in the Longhorns’ home opener on Friday, before dropping its final two games of the season, including a 4-2 loss to A&M in the 11 innings on Saturday night. pushed the Longhorns into Sunday’s early elimination game.

A year ago, the Longhorns fell short in a super regional title game at Stanford with a spot in the CWS on the line. Sunday’s season finale was tight going into the eighth inning, with Louisiana grabbing a 2-1 lead before breaking the game open with seven runs on six hits, with all of the runs scoring with two outs .

Texans reliever Charlie Hurley allowed six of those runs on six hits, though UT starter Ace Whitehead (4-2) absorbed the loss despite allowing just two runs in 6⅔ innings. Big 12 Player of the Year Max Belyeu had a regional to forget, finishing 1-for-15, but he wasn’t alone in his offensive misery for the Longhorns over the past two games.

Now, Pierce’s future with the Longhorns is in question — and he’s drawn questions about it following another failure to win a national title with a program that won six before his arrival.

“As long as the University of Texas gives me the opportunity, they’re going to get everything I’ve got,” Pierce said after Sunday’s loss. “The question of whether I will come back, I mean, it’s not in my hands. I know how well our team plays and I know how hard (of) our staff has worked.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve had a lot of success. So I’ll leave it at that.”

“Tons of success” is subjective, considering the previous six national titles, including two in 2002 and 2005 under Pierce’s predecessor, Augie Garrido. The Longhorns made three CWS appearances in Pierce’s eight seasons, but fell short of the championship series after reaching Omaha. Two years ago, they were knocked out of the CWS by A&M.

“The future of this program is going to be in great hands and it’s going to be in a good place,” Pierce said in support of his future with the Longhorns. “We have so many young players and we have a coaching staff who are very capable of pushing the boys and creating the standards we want – and doing it the right way, with character and integrity.

“We’re going to keep doing that.”

The junior Whitehead, in support of his coach, said the Longhorns are in a good position to make their Big 12 debut and enter the Southeastern Conference this summer, despite this year’s early exit from a regional.

“I see the work the guys put in every day and I can say with confidence that we outscore everyone in the country,” Whitehead said. “We are the University of Texas and we will always have talented players. Our coaches work harder than anyone I know. Going forward, it’s going to be a challenge in the SEC and we know it. But that’s something we’re looking forward to.

“The incoming freshman class is super talented. We’re in as good a place as anybody.”