Longhorn Nation,
WE WERE WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND, and what a weekend it was once again for our Longhorns. Another Big 12 Championship, NCAA Runner-Up finish, a Softball Austin Regional rout, and regular season-ending resounding series sweep for Baseball. So here we go — riding the wave of raising another Big 12 trophy for Rowing, Men's Tennis's memorable NCAA tournament run and second-place finish, and y'all packing the house and bringing a truly electric atmosphere for our Horns' sensational success at Baseball and Softball — we're here to reflect on the thrills of victory and get ready for another fantastic week in Longhorn Land! So, COME ON BABY, LET'S GO HORNS!!
YOU CAN LIGHT THE TOWER for Rowing's ninth-straight Big 12 crown. Coach O'Neill and our Horns did it in total domination, crushing the field in all five races and securing All-Big 12 selections for six of our rowers as they tuned up and head towards the NCAA Championship (May 31-June 2 in Bethel, Ohio). And lookie here folks, that extends our record of Big 12 Championships in a season to an eye-popping 15 (yep, your read that right FIFTEEN BIG 12 TROPHIES in 2023-24!). That's two more than our already impressive previous record of 13 set in 2005-06 and matched in 2020-21. And the 15 Big 12 titles this year is 11 (yessiree ELEVEN) more than any other conference school — and to add icing to the cake, it's better than the total of the other 13 schools combined (14). How about that for a fond farewell, my friends?!
9️⃣x BIG 12 CHAMPIONS ‼️#HookEm | #HereComesTexas pic.twitter.com/xkwfQKbKEa
— Texas Rowing (@TexasRowing) May 19, 2024
There's one more Big 12 Championship opportunity left as fresh off a thrilling final Big 12 series sweep (which as y'all know included back-to-back heart-racing walk-off wins on Thursday and Friday night to boot), No. 24 Baseball is off to Arlington and Globe Life Field this week for our final Big 12 Championship tourney. We earned the No. 3 seed after winning our last six conference series (nine of 10 on the year!), and up first, we face Texas Tech later tonight (7:30 p.m. CT/ESPN+). As we head into that, here are a few humble brags for y'all. With the addition of our Big 12 record 15 titles this year (and 51 over the last four years — TALK ABOUT ELITE PROGRAMS, our closest competitor has 19 in that stretch!), our Horns head into the last championship with a league-best 232 all-time crowns (that's more than twice as many as any other school!). Pretty awesome Big 12 trophy collection to remember our proud 28 years with the conference. And speaking of hardware, how about this Big 12 double?! With Max Belyeu earning Big 12 Baseball Player of the Year accolades this week, that makes it a Longhorn sweep of that honor in Baseball AND Softball this year. Reese Atwood is our 2024 Big 12 Softball Player and the Year, making Max & Reese the first duo from the same school to bring home both of those awards since 2009. And it's just the fourth time the same school secured both of those trophies in the same year in Big 12 history.
going out in style 🏆🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/vCVwXVckuu
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) May 19, 2024
But wait, there's much more. We're in the midst of the stretch run filled with NCAA Championship action hitting stride in many more sports now, too. It wasn't the outcome we all wanted, but what an incredible ride our Men's Tennis team took us on. All the way to the Championship Match, coming up just short in an epic 4-3 showdown with TCU. That came on the heels of a victory over Wake Forest on Saturday to advance to the title match and a classic nailbiter with Tennessee on Thursday that earned our Horns a Final Four berth for the fourth time in five years. We are the only program in the country that has played in FOUR OF THE LAST FIVE FINAL FOURS folks! Talk about consistently elite, that's our program under Coach Berque, and I'm so darn proud of the Texas Fight they always put on full display until the bitter end!
An incredible season - 2024 #NCAATennis National Runners-Up #HookEm 🤘🎾 pic.twitter.com/VpNg38kun6
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) May 20, 2024
WHAT A PHENOMENAL SCENE IT WAS AT McCOMBS FIELD last week as Coach White and our No. 1-ranked Softball squad swept their way to three-straight wins and the NCAA Austin Regional title. We opened with a gem of a no hitter (nearly a rare perfect game) in the circle from Mac Morgan in the opener then proceeded to go all gas no brakes in throttling our opponents by a 26-2 tally over the three games. Just total domination to start our Road to OKC in high gear. Now it's on to the Super Regional with a laser focus on earning our place in the Women's College World Series field. In our path are our long-time rivals from College Station, so I know y'all will be charged up for that one! Folks, we need you to pack the house, get your Burnt Orange and White best ready, and bring the heat just like you did last week. The stadium was absolutely en fuego, and it's time to RATCHET IT UP EVEN MORE THIS WEEK for those Aggies from A&M. Mark your calendars Longhorn Nation, it all starts on Friday (5 p.m. CT/ESPN2). Can't wait to see you there!
never a doubt 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/haxzwbJQjJ
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 19, 2024
We came up just a little short, but there's no reason our youthful Women's Golf team should be hanging their heads. It was another outstanding year filled with successes and lots of experience gained, so let's give a big Hook 'Em to Coach Murphy and our squad. The season came to an end on Monday in the fourth round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad, Calif. Our ladies finished in a tie for 11th place, narrowly missing out on making the eight-team cut to advance to the NCAA Match Play Championship. This marked the seventh-straight season our Longhorns have finished in the top-15 at the NCAA Championship. With three outstanding freshmen and two sophom*ores in the postseason playing rotation, our group won the Big 12 Championship and took runner-up honors at the NCAA Bermuda Run Regional before their NCAA Championship finish. The future is so bright for this program you gotta wear shades!
Meanwhile No. 7 Men's Golf got it done big-time last week, leading from start to finish in the NCAA Austin Regional right here on our home course at the UT Golf Club. Christiaan Mass led the way winning the individual title (and we had four golfers in the top seven finishers during our complete domination of the field) as Coach Fields and our Horns were victorious as a team, as well, taking the regional crown by 16 strokes while punching their ticket to the NCAA Championship for the 17th-straight year. Now it's time to take dead aim on the Natty as our Big 12 and NCAA Regional Champs will tee it up starting on Friday at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif.
— Texas Men's Golf (@TexasMGolf) May 15, 2024Ticket punched 🤘
Texas extends the nation's longest active streak of @NCAA Championship appearances to 1️⃣7️⃣.
See y'all at @OmniLaCosta on May 24-29! #TakeDeadAim | #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/2EruaXEDRM
It's step one of the NCAA Championships for our Big 12 Champion Track and Field squads (we lit the Tower in recognition of that on Friday) as they'll be looking to advance as many Longhorns as possible on to the NCAA Championships at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Fayetteville this week. We have 54 Longhorns (yep, FIFTY-FOUR) set to compete (28 men/26 women) and all four relays qualified for the prelims this week with our multi-event standouts Leo Neugebauer (decathlon) and Kristine Blazevica (heptathlon) already having earned their spots to the finals in Eugene on June 5-8. Hey, and while I've got you on the subject of Track and Field, we have to give a gigantic shoutout to our guy Coach Flo on another Big 12 Coach of the Year recognition, this time claiming both the men's and women's conference outdoor coach of the year honors last week. We all say FLO KNOWS, and when you claim 13 Big 12 Coach of the Year trophies (and 15 Big 12 Championships) in a combined 22 indoor and outdoor seasons for us, that leaves no doubt that moniker is definitely spot-on! He certainly left his mark in the Big 12 record books!!
we keep the tower lit 🤘😎#FloKnows x #HookEm pic.twitter.com/65zGLQxl3L
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) May 18, 2024
We know WHAT STARTS HERE CHANGES THE WORLD and with that theme, Coach Elliott and our back-to-back National Champion Volleyball squad are taking our game global with a trip overseas. The Texas Volleyball European Tour got underway last week, starting off in Istanbul, Turkey. Our Horns will spend two weeks globetrotting and experiencing the culture and lifestyle in six different cities while introducing folks in Europe to the premier college program in America with six matches across Europe. We've already got a couple matches under our belt, and we hope y'all will follow along on our social media platforms to keep up with their travels, sight-seeing trips and matches in the days to come.
Night 1️⃣ in Istanbul! #HookEm 🤘 pic.twitter.com/WgHcu07DKq
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) May 17, 2024
GET FIRED UP FOLKS, another great week is underway! We've got the NCAA Men's Golf Championship, a Super Regional rivalry at McCombs Field, and our first pitch at the Big 12 Baseball Tourney tonight. There's so much more on the horizon as well, LET'S GET THOSE HORNS UP AND HOOK 'EM!
Austin Super Regional
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 20, 2024
(1) @TexasSoftball 🆚 (16) @AggieSoftball #RoadToWCWS pic.twitter.com/dDDKKWaCQt
Softball continues march towards Oklahoma City
The only thing hotter than the weather in Austin over the weekend was our No. 1 Softball team! What a showing by Coach White and our ladies as they swept through the NCAA Austin Regional behind a 5-0 win against Siena and a 14-2 victory against Northwestern before capping the weekend with a 7-0 shutout of the Wildcats, again, on Sunday. Not only was the offense sizzling by outscoring its opponents 26-2, but the pitching was just as amazing. How about the seven-inning no-hitter from Mac Morgan, the career-high 12 strikeouts from Teagan Kavan and solid outings from both Citlaly Gutierrez and Estelle Czech. Talk about a full staff rotation that'll get the job done in the postseason! And those pitching arms will be on full display this weekend when Texas A&M comes to the Forty Acres for this weekend's NCAA Super Regional action. That's right, it's the Horns and Aggies at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Friday (5 p.m. CT/ESPN2). And the two teams will square off in game two on Saturday (4 p.m. CT) with a game three if necessary on Sunday. We know you're ready becausewe sold out in no timeand can't wait tosee y'all there!
need we say more? 🤘#HookEm | @NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/KASod9WqSN
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 20, 2024
Baseball set to begin postseason play at final Big 12 Tournament in Arlington!
Coach Pierce and our guys finished the regular season on fire with a sweep of Kansas that included a pair of exciting walk-off wins. Jalin Flores provided the heroics on both Thursday and Friday, with a walk-off RBI double in the first game and a sacrifice fly in the second. Then we sent the seniors off right with a Senior Day win in the regular season finale on Saturday to close out the sweep. Our guys also picked up a number of All-Big 12 honors, led by the Big 12 Player of the Year Max Belyeu. In addition to Belyeu, the Longhorns had nine total players on the All-Big 12 team. Now our guys head to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and begin play against Texas Tech later tonight (7:30 p.m. CT/ESPN+) at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
9️⃣ Horns on the All-Big 12 Teams 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/EeyZJbMYck
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) May 20, 2024
Men's Tennis finishes as NCAA Runners-Up
Well folks, what can I say about Coach Berque and our Men's Tennis team? They were inches away from their second National Championship in five years with a shot here and a shot there the entire difference, as is so often the case with tennis. It was an incredible effort that came up just short in the third set of the final singles match of a 4-3 decision, and much like Coach Berque's sentiments after the match, you see the hurt on the faces of the guys who worked so hard and wanted it so badly, and you wish you could do something to take that away, but after the dust settles, you hope every player on that team realizes how special their accomplishments have been and what they all mean to us, especially this senior class. It hurts all the more that it was the last chance for that core group of Eliot Spizzirri, Micah Braswell, Siem Woldeab, Cleeve Harper, Eshan Talluri and Evin McDonald, and more than winning it for Texas, you wanted them to win, because with everything they poured into this program, it's something they deserved. But ladies and gentlemen, as much as everyone wanted that trophy, that doesn't make them any less champions, and that's certainly what they are. They've done everything, and I mean everything, the right way since the moment they stepped on this campus, and there's no one we'd rather have representing our school, our program and all of Longhorn Nation. They're the best of the best as tennis players, and more importantly, as people. Even though this match didn't go their way, what they accomplished this season can't be ignored, including beating this same TCU team for both the conference regular season and tournament championships. Of course they wanted the big prize at the end, but I know they'll pick themselves up and realize that the most important thing is what they mean to each other and all of us. Eliot has proven himself to be one of the greatest to ever put on the Burnt Orange and White, Micah is one of our winningest singles players of all-time and has had one of the most phenomenal seasons in our history, Cleeve is a Doubles National Champion, Siem is an All-American, and Eshan and Evin have been the heart and soul of it all. It's a special group, and we wish they were all coming back, but we know they'll go on to incredible things both on and off the court, and we can't wait to see all the successes they have in life. For the rest of the guys coming back, we know the program is in good hands, and they'll be gearing up for another crack at it next year.
Big 12 Champs again for Rowing!
Coach O'Neill and our top-ranked Rowing squad are on top of the Big 12 again! Our Horns swept the Big 12 Championship for the ninth time in a row – that's every year that there's been a championship held since Captain Dave has been on the Forty Acres. To cap it off, six members of the First Eight were named to the All-Big 12 Rowing team. Congrats to Anna Jensen, Etta Carpender, Lanie Nitsch, Marg van der Wal, Abby Dawson and Carly Legenzowski on the well-deserved honor. We can't wait to see what you and the rest of the squad do at the NCAA Championships at the end of the month! The team will learn their seedings for the three NCAA boats – First Eight, Second Eight and Four – later this afternoon (4 p.m. CT) during the NCAA Division I Rowing Selection Show, then head to Littlefield Fountain tonight to take photos in front of The University of Texas Tower, which will be lit in Burnt Orange to commemorate the 2024 Big 12 title. Fans can come on out between 8:45-9:15 p.m. CT to support the squad.
Light the Tower! 🤘#HookEm | #HereComesTexas pic.twitter.com/4JEbd0FcRj
— Texas Rowing (@TexasRowing) May 19, 2024
Men's Golf peaking at the right time entering NCAA Championship
Well folks, Coach Fields and our Men's Golf team are on a serious heater at the perfect time of the year. After winning the Big 12 Championship by 18 strokes, our guys made themselves right at home at The University of Texas Golf Club and posted a 16-stroke victory at last week's NCAA Austin Regional. Talk about absolute dominance! Texas recorded a 54-hole total of 27-under-par 825 (273-273-279) and recorded the low team round on each of the three days of competition at the NCAA Regional. Christiaan Maas, who began the final day in a tie for sixth and two strokes off the lead, shot a final-round 5-under 66 to earn his first collegiate career individual victory at 9-under 204 (71-67-66). Nathan Petronzio took runner-up honors just one stroke behind Maas, while Brian Stark tied for third and Tommy Morrison placed seventh. With our top-five team finish at the NCAA Austin Regional, we punched our ticket to the NCAA Championship for the 17th-straight time, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I Men's Golf. Our guys will begin play on Friday at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., and the tournament runs through Wednesday, May 29. Let's go chase that Natty in southern California!
Light the Tower for the Big 12 Champs! 🤘#HookEm | @UTAustin pic.twitter.com/FHI6wC4BmU
— Texas Men's Golf (@TexasMGolf) May 18, 2024
Thank You Longhorn Network, and everyone that made it GREAT!
Here's to a BIG THANK YOU and emphatic Hook 'Em, Horns to our friends and partners at LHN who broadcasted their last regular season game last week. Y'all are the best and we are beyond grateful and indebted to you and your tireless efforts. It's been an incredible ride filled with lots of tremendous stories, shows and event broadcasts. I've really enjoyed working with everyone at LHN and am so thankful for all they poured into covering our student-athletes, coaches, teams and the entire university. LHN was an absolute win for Texas and a real testament to the leadership of our legendary AD DeLoss Dodds with a big-time assist from another visionary in our chief of staff, Chris Plonsky. Their ingenuity — along with the folks at ESPN and IMG College — launched a one-of-a-kind, first-ever venture in college athletics that brought so many of our games, matches and meets to y'all's living rooms and produced an enormous number of high-quality stories and programming that will live on. And I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize the extraordinary efforts, support and commitment our communications and creative teams put into pitching the stories, providing the access, preparing for broadcasts & shows, and wearing so many different hats in helping LHN bring all those stories to life. LHN will air a lot of their all-time best shows and events they've carried over the years through the end of June. Then on July 1, under the leadership of our executive senior associate athletic director Drew Martin and our creative team, that outstanding historical content and our future programming will transition to our in-house branded LHN app. Stay tuned for all the details on that!
Hook 'Em Horns,
Chris Del Conte
P.S. — This will get you fired up for Football!
Goosebumps 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Tvjlri3Gtz
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) May 16, 2024
P.S. — In Coach Sark We Trust!
Prepared for the next level 📈@CoachSark x @XavierWorthy x @Chiefs pic.twitter.com/8oonUvUvD4
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) May 15, 2024
P.S. — We see ya Tara, World Leader in the Long Jump! What Starts Here!!
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) May 19, 2024She's on a roll 👀@tar___ruh flies out to 7.17m at the @adidasATLGames 😮💨
📸 Kevin Morris pic.twitter.com/uc2ujRz1PR
P.S. — Our guy Quinn reppin' our Horns!
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) May 16, 2024Go behind the scenes of the @EASPORTSCollege cover shoot 📸
P.S. – So awesome having our guy Coach Sark share his inspirational story!
— American Heart Texas (@AmericanHeartTX) May 20, 2024Can we get a Hook 'em Horns for Coach Sark - .@TexasFootball for joining us at the 2024 American Heart Association – Austin Heart Ball and sharing his heart story! 🤘🧡
.@bryantawards #ThisIsTexas #HookEm pic.twitter.com/Z8DA7ZKlUY
P.S. — Talk about Super Fans, we had the pleasure of celebrating Scott Wilson on his 1,500th-straight Longhorn Baseball game last Friday (a 3-2 walk-off win)!
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) May 18, 2024
HEADLINES
UT Tower lighting to honor No. 1 Rowing set for tonight
Men's Tennis' Micah Braswell advances to NCAA Singles Championships Round of 32
Women's Tennis' Malaika Rapolu advances to NCAA Singles Championships Round of 32
No. 24 Baseball preview: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
Men's Basketball to play Ohio State in Hall of Fame series Las Vegas event on Opening Night 2024
Draws released for NCAA Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships
Draws released for NCAA Women's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships
No. 1 Rowing collects six All-Big 12 Team honors
Women's Basketball's Lee named to USA Women's U18 National Team
Video: Bruce Berque and Micah Braswell postmatch press conference (May 18)
No. 1/1 Softball places five on NFCA All-Central teams
Video: Bruce Berque and Eliot Spizzirri postmatch press conference (May 16)
Women's Basketball's Booker named TABC Player of the Year
Neugebauer remains on The Bowerman watch list
Baseball's Flores named semifinalist for Howser Trophy
Track and Field's Garrett and Floréal earn Big 12 Outdoor yearly awards
Video: No. 13 Men's Golf NCAA Austin Regional day three highlights
Women's Golf's Murphy named to WGCA National Coach of the Year Watch List
Video: No. 3 Men's Tennis pre-NCAA Championship media availability
Women's Golf's O'Keefe named to WGCA Freshman of the Year Watch List
No. 1/1 Softball's Atwood named one of 10 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
SEC announces opponents and locations for 2024-25 Women's Basketball schedule
