Thornhill, No. 18 Baseball blanks Cal, 5-0

Sunday, February 16

Berkeley, Calif.

3 p.m.

University of Texas

2-2

California

2-2

Texas Longhorns

California

02.16.2014 | Baseball

Box Score

Thornhill pitches eight scoreless innings as Texas earns series split at Cal.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Nathan Thornhill pitched eight scoreless innings, Zane Gurwitz broke a 0-0 tie with a solo home run in the sixth inning, and Mark Payton continued a blistering start to the season with a 2-for-5 performance and two RBIs as Texas beat Cal 5-0 Sunday afternoon.

Texas (2-2) earned a series split with the win, rebounding from dropping the first two games by outscoring the Bears 11-2 over the last two.

Starting pitching was again strong for Texas as Thornhill allowed just four hits in eight innings of work. The senior had five 1-2-3 innings and faced real trouble just once when Cal loaded the bases in the fourth, but he got out of the jam by inducing a groundout. On the weekend, Texas starters allowed just one earned run in 27 innings of work.

Cal's Michael Theofanopoulos matched Thornhill early, limiting Texas to one hit in the first five innings. The Longhorns, though, got the only run they'd need when Gurwitz smashed a home run to deep left field that just stayed fair to lead off the sixth.

Payton, who finished the series 9-for-17 at the plate, drove in another run in the sixth with a triple to right center that scored Brooks Marlow. C.J Hinojosa followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Horns a 3-0 lead after six.

An inning later, Texas put the game out of reach by stringing together four straight singles – with Tres Barrera, Gurwitz, Marlow and Payton all in on the action – to increase the lead to 5-0.

That was more than enough for Thornhill (1-0), who struck out three and got 16 of his 24 outs by way of groundout. Freshman Morgan Cooper came on for the second straight game to close the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning.

Theofanopoulos (0-1) was charged with two runs on three hits and took the loss.

Texas returns to Austin for its home opener on Tuesday, when the Longhorns take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6 p.m.

Series Notes

- Mark Payton's home run in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday was his first since May 12, 2012. It was the sixth of his career.

- Payton finished the series 9-for-17 with a double, triple, home run, three runs and four RBIs. He had a .882 slugging percentage and dating back to last season has reached base safely in 44 straight games.

- Texas starters allowed one earned run in 27 innings pitched (0.33 ERA). As a staff, the Horns surrendered just four earned runs (1.06 ERA).

- After committing six errors in the first two games, Texas played flawless defense in the last two games, turning two double plays.

- Freshman Kacy Clemens finished his first series as a collegian 4-for-14 (.286), tied for second on the team with C.J Hinojosa. He also drew three walks and struck out just once for a .412 on-base percentage.