No. 2 Baseball defeats South Florida 4-3 on Kennedy walk-off double in Super Regional opener

Saturday, June 12

Austin, Texas

8 p.m.

University of Texas

46-15

South Florida

31-29

South Florida

Texas

No. 2 Baseball defeats South Florida 4-3 on Kennedy walk-off double in Super Regional opener

06.12.2021 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

Eric Kennedy drilled a two-out double to walk it off for Texas.

AUSTIN, Texas – Eric Kennedy drilled a ninth-inning two-out walk-off double to propel No. 2 Baseball to a 4-3 victory over South Florida in the NCAA Austin Super Regional opener at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday night.

With the score knotted at three runs apiece in the ninth, Silas Ardoin reached on a two-out fielding error. Kennedy stepped in and crushed the first pitch he saw to the base of the wall in deep center, bringing home Ardoin all the way from first.

Starting pitcher Ty Madden was stellar on the mound, pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits while walking four and striking out nine.

Texas took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Mike Antico walked, stole second and scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Zach Zubia. The Longhorns had an opportunity for more runs in the inning but left two runners in scoring position to end the inning.

The Longhorns got another run on the board in the second and Antico was involved yet again. Kennedy legged out a two-out infield single to keep the inning alive and Antico drove him in with an RBI double to left-center.

Texas got an insurance run across in the seventh after Trey Faltine started the inning with a double to the left-center gap. Faltine moved to third on a flyout to right by Ardoin and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Kennedy to make it 3-0.

South Florida (31-29) plated three runs on a pair of ninth inning home runs to tie the game, 3-3.

Kennedy finished the game 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI, while Mitchell Daly went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Tanner Witt picked up the win in relief, improving to 4-0 on the season after striking out three batters in 2 1/3 innings of work.

The walk-off was the second of the season for Texas, who topped Oklahoma in 11 innings, 4-3 on March 26.

The two teams will square off at UFCU-Disch Falk Field on Sunday at 8 p.m. CT with the Longhorns looking to advance to the College World Series for the 37th time in program history.