Forty Acres Insider: April 12

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Longhorn Nation,

We had it all last week … sunshine, packed houses, Longhorn victories, a sensational surprise, and a win for the ages! Whether it was a Baseball series triumph and a delightful jersey retirement surprise, more Women's Tennis sweeps, or tuning in to every glorious hole of our Longhorn Great Scottie Scheffler stampeding from start to finish to win the Masters, it was truly another magnificent week to be a Longhorn.

Well, here we go again! You can hear the rumbling, feel the ground shaking, and y'alls amazing passion, pride and Texas Fight rising this spring, and now it's on to another exciting week. As we head into Easter Sunday, here's hoping y'all have a wonderful time celebrating and enjoying a holiday filled with faith, family, fun and festivities galore. But in the meantime, we'll be providing the Longhorns sports action you love, the Hook 'Em Horns you point to the sky and Texas Fight y'all bring with such vigor. Let's make this another memorable week!

First off, last night we hosted an event for all of our student-athletes at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, and I must say we had an absolutely wonderful time. We are so fortunate to have the best of the best, blessed with an incredible group of student-athletes representing all of our sports programs, and had a blast breaking bread, visiting and sharing a fabulous evening at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium alongside them.

Scottie Scheffler, Masters Champion!
We had a lot of Longhorn success last week, but we gotta start with our Longhorn Legend, the world's No. 1-ranked golfer and a guy that's hotter than fish grease, as we say in Texas – Scottie Scheffler and his masterful performance in earning that Green Jacket at the Masters! Watching him and his bride Meredith make that prideful stroll from the 18th green to the clubhouse through the throngs of patrons at Augusta National was so cool, and we couldn't be prouder of our three-time All-American and 2018 graduate of the McCombs School of Business. Scheffler is the third former Longhorn to win the Masters, joining two-time champion Ben Crenshaw (1984 and 1995) and Jordan Spieth (2015). He's also the sixth former Longhorn to win a major championship, joining Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Mark Brooks, Justin Leonard and Spieth. And just how hot is Scottie? He's won four tournaments in his last six starts, and the 57-day span of his four victories marks the shortest stretch for a first-to-fourth victory in PGA TOUR history!

Baseball Gets Series Win over TCU
Capped by back-to-back exciting Sunday victories, Coach Pierce and our Baseball squad secured a second-straight Big 12 series win by taking two of three against No. 23 TCU last weekend. And before we talk about the games, how about y'all?! You packed UFCU-Disch-Falk Field, brought the juice every single inning, and once again gave us an awesome homefield advantage. With 21,911 Longhorn faithful on hand over the three games (7,482 Friday/7,323 Saturday/7,106 Sunday) the Disch was en fuego! That's the fourth-largest three-game home series attendance mark in school history, yeah you did that! And our team appreciates you so, so much! The series got started with an absolute pitching gem from our sensational lefty Pete Hansen who tossed a 12-strikeout, complete game shutout to begin the weekend. Oh, and for his efforts, Pete was once again selected as the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week! After a spirited comeback came up just short in a 7-5 loss on Saturday, it was bounce-back day on Sunday as our Horns scored five runs in the final three innings for a 7-3 victory. Another blast from the Hispanic Titanic, Ivan Melendez, in the third was good for two runs and put us on top. TCU tied it, but our Texas Fight kept us on top the rest of the way. We'll host Stephen F. Austin for a Tuesday night tilt (6:30 p.m. CT/LHN), before a quick turnaround with Easter Sunday on the horizon as our Horns travel to Kansas State for a Thursday-Saturday series.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! … We Really Got our Baseball Great Taylor Jungmann on Saturday
For those of you in my age bracket, as our good friend Gomer Pyle always said, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! There is nothing quite like a good surprise, and the joy on our guy Taylor Jungmann's face said it all as we did just that on Saturday when we announced we're retiring the Baseball jersey No. 26 he made famous at Texas. We will do a full-blown jersey retirement ceremony during the 2023 season, but what fun it was making our Longhorn Legend's day extra special on Saturday. Taylor was already being honored at the game as part of our traDISCHion series, so what better time to drop the news for our two-time first-team All-American pitcher and 2011 Dick Howser Trophy National Player of the Year honoree. His No. 26 will join fellow Longhorn greats Scott Bryant (25), Roger Clemens (21), Burt Hooten (20), Brooks Kieschnick (23), Keith Moreland (3), Greg Swindell (21) and Huston Street (25) on the illustrious walls of UFCU Disch-Falk Field in receiving this honor. Congrats Taylor, you are one of the greatest to ever don the Burnt Orange & White, and we had a blast honoring you on Saturday!

Softball's Red River Showdown and Cat Osterman's Jersey Retirement Ceremony This Week at Red & Charline McCombs Field
Once again, it's time to renew Softball's version of the Red River Showdown this upcoming weekend at Red & Charline McCombs Field, as No. 19 Texas and No. 1 Oklahoma will square off for the Big 12 lead. The games are set for Thursday-Saturday, and along with a full house, they'll all be broadcasted live for the nation to see on Longhorn Network. The Sooners are off to the best start in NCAA Division I history at 36-0 and boast the nation's top offense and pitching staff, while the Longhorns currently rate second in the Big 12 behind only OU in batting average (.321 – 20th NCAA D1) and scoring (6.71 runs-per-game – 14th NCAA D1) and third in team ERA (2.99). It should be a wild atmosphere at McCombs Field as all three games have already sold out, while on Saturday, Longhorns Legend Cat Osterman will have her jersey No. 8 officially retired at McCombs Field in pregame ceremonies. I cannot wait to join Longhorn Nation in celebrating our Longhorn Legend and one of the greatest softball players ever!

Plans are set for all the Activities around Football's Orange-White Game on April 23
Tuesday was another productive day for Coach Sark and our Football team with Spring Football practice number 10 in the books. The guys scrimmaged Saturday and are working hard, making progress and looking good. All of the exciting plans have come together and we can't wait to welcome y'all to campus a week from Saturday for our Orange-White Game presented by Living Spaces at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium (6 p.m. CT/LHN). We can watch some Football and have some fellowship as there will be activities around the stadium on an action-packed Saturday on the Forty. There's much, much more as it's a big day of celebrating everything Texas, and part of the "Made in Austin Weekend" events that cover several days from April 22-24. You can check out all the events and details for what's gonna be one heck of a time right here! So, make your plans, get your best Burnt Orange & White garb ready and let's do this! I'm fired up to get together for another spectacular family reunion!

With Football on Your Mind, If You're Not a Season Ticket Holder, Here's Your Chance
For those of you who aren't season ticket holders, let's get on board. Place a deposit to become a new season ticket holder for the 2022 Texas Football season for only $199 per seat! You'll be able to choose the exact location of your seats this spring before the general public, and apply the $199 deposit to the full cost of season tickets. All season ticket deposits are NON-REFUNDABLE. NEW SEASON TICKET STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS.

Tennis Heading into Final Sets of Regular Season
Men's and Women's Tennis are heading into the final week of regular season competition this week with the Big 12 Championship Tourney set for later this month in Fort Worth. All you can say is utter domination for Coach Joffe and Women's Tennis last weekend at the Texas Tennis Center. On Friday, it was a 7-0 sweep of No. 25 Kansas, and Sunday we took down Kansas State, 4-0. Kudos to Kylie Collins who was named the Big 12 Player of the Week, as she posted a combined 4-0 mark in singles and doubles over the weekend. Our Horns have one final regular season match at Baylor on Saturday (2 p.m. CT) before their postseason begins. Coach Berque and the Men won the doubles point and continued to fight valiantly through all of their injuries, but fell at No. 1 TCU on Saturday. They have a pair of matches this week at Oklahoma on Thursday (4:30 p.m. CT/Bally Sports Oklahoma) and Oklahoma State on Saturday (12 p.m. CT) before heading to the Big 12 Tourney.

Men's and Women's Golf Teeing Off for their Final Tune-Up Before Big 12 Championships
Fresh off a record-breaking effort in winning the team title at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational a week ago, Coach Fields and our Men's Golf team are already in action this week at the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz. They're off to a good start and will wrap up play on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Coach Murphy and our Women's Golf squad are in DFW, and after 36 holes on Monday, will complete their two-days at The Bruzzy tournament today. It's the final regular season event for both teams as the Men head to their Big 12 Championship April 25-27 at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, while the Women are at the conference championship at Houston Oaks from April 22-24.

Spring is in the Air for Volleyball and Soccer, too
Volleyball and Soccer both recorded spring season wins last week, and Coach Elliott and Volleyball are back in action this week. They traveled to Texas State last Thursday and recorded a victory and will host Baylor on Thursday at Gregory Gym (8 p.m. CT/LHN), before closing out their spring matches at TCU on Saturday (4 p.m. CT). Soccer has recorded a trio of victories this spring, including a 3-2 win over Liga MX Femenil (Mexico) professional squad Tigres UANL on Thursday, and a 4-0 shutout of Houston on Saturday. They'll wrap up their spring season with a pair of home matches versus St. Edwards on Friday, April 22 (7 p.m. CT), and UTSA on Sunday, April 24 (2:30 p.m. CT).

More Longhorns Earn Big 12 Weekly/Monthly Honors
We had more Big 12 honorees this week as Baseball's Pete Hansen was selected the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week and Women's Tennis standout Kylie Collins was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for her effort on the court. Additionally, news of a couple of our Longhorns earning Big 12 honors last week came in after the Forty Acres Insider went out so I want to be sure to send kudos and emphatic Hook 'Ems to our Men's Golfer of the Month Pierceson Coody and Women's Track & field Athlete of the Week Tyra Gittens. Playing in his first competitive collegiate event since the Big 12 Match Play Championship on Oct. 13 (as he recently recovered from an injury sustained in the fall), Coody won medalist honors by six strokes at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational (April 2-3). In Texas' dual meet with Texas A&M last week, Gittens won the high jump with a UT-record tying and facility record 1.95m (6'4.75").

Men's Swimming & Diving's Jake Foster Tabbed Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year
Talk about an extraordinary student-athlete, our Men's Swimming & Diving standout Jake Foster epitomizes that term. A six-time All-American, Big 12 individual Champion and member of our 2021 National Championship team in the pool, Jake has twice been named a CSCAA Scholar All-American and first-team Academic All-Big 12 for his accomplishments as a swimmer and in the classroom. This week, our Biology major from Cincinnati who maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA brought home another great honor in being tabbed the Big 12 Men's Swimming & Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year. The Big 12 recognizes one outstanding student-athlete for this award in each of the conference's sports so kudos to Jake for being among the extraordinary group.

Another full week on the 40
We've got a lot going on this week on The Forty and beyond. Men's and Women's Golf are in the midst of competition with the Men teeing it up at the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz and the Women at The Bruzzy in DFW. Baseball will join them with early week action welcoming in Stephen F. Austin (6:30 p.m. CT/LHN) on Tuesday, and then travels to Kansas State for a Big 12 series Thursday-Saturday. On Wednesday, Track & Field is on the road and begins competing on the west coast. Highlighting our home slate for Easter week is Softball hosting a Red River Showdown with the No. 1-ranked Sooners coming to town Thursday-Saturday. Women's Tennis will travel up I-35 to Waco to face Baylor on Saturday (2 p.m. CT), while Men's Tennis heads to OU on Thursday (4:30 p.m. CT) and Oklahoma State on Saturday (12 p.m. CT) as both programs get in their final matches before the Big 12 Tourney commences on April 22 in Fort Worth. Volleyball has a pair of spring matches, as well, hosting Baylor on Thursday (8 p.m./LHN) and will travel to Fort Worth for a match with TCU on Saturday (4 p.m. CT).

Monday

• Men's Golf at Western Intercollegiate

• Women's Golf at The Bruzzy

Tuesday

• Baseball vs. Stephen F. Austin (6:30 p.m.)

• Men's Golf at Western Intercollegiate

• Women's Golf at The Bruzzy

Wednesday

• Men's Golf at Western Intercollegiate

• Track & Field at Mt. SAC Relays/Brian Clay Invitational

Thursday

• Baseball at Kansas State (6 p.m.)

• Softball vs. Oklahoma (6 p.m.)

• Men's Tennis at Oklahoma (4:30 p.m.)

• Track & Field at Mt. SAC Relays/Brian Clay Invitational

• Volleyball vs. Baylor (8 p.m.)

Friday

• Baseball at Kansas State (6 p.m.)

• Softball vs. Oklahoma (6 p.m.)

• Track & Field at Mt. SAC Relays/Brian Clay Invitational

Saturday

• Baseball at Kansas State (4 p.m.)

• Softball vs. Oklahoma (1 p.m.)

• Men's Tennis at Oklahoma State (12 p.m.)

• Women's Tennis at Baylor (2 p.m.)

• Track & Field at Mt. SAC Relays/Brian Clay Invitational

• Volleyball at TCU (4 p.m.)

In closing, get those calendars marked, plans made and let's all get together for our Texas Fight Tour that begins soon. You're invited to join the Texas Longhorns and the Texas Exes and hear from Head Football Coach Steve Sarkisian, Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Beard, Head Women's Basketball Coach Vic Schaefer, and little old me about the future of the Texas Longhorns athletics programs, bask in Burnt Orange spirit, and more! Get your tickets now at https://www.texasexes.org/tour.

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

Chris Del Conte signature
Chris Del Conte

P.S. I — Congrats to our guy Andrew Jones on receiving the USBWA's Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award. You are an inspiration to every one my friend!