Forty Acres Insider: April 26 - University of Texas Athletics

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Greetings Longhorn Nation,

We're Lighting the Tower Orange once again as that patented Texas Fight was on full display last weekend and two more Longhorns squads became Big 12 Champions! Make that eight Big 12 Titles for our Horns in 2021-22 with several more yet to compete for. Coach Joffe and Women's Tennis got the latest league-title run started on Sunday with a Big 12 Tournament Championship in Fort Worth, and a couple hours later Coach Murphy and Women's Golf followed suit with a conference title in Houston. All we do is win, win, win, no matter what as Baseball and Rowing got into the act with a pair of decisive sweeps, while the Spring Football Game and Made in Austin Weekend were a rousing success, as well. Oh, and we opened the doors on the spectacular Moody Center with an in-house performance by Earth, Wind and Fire on Tuesday followed by y'all raising the roof on shows with John Maher and Bon Jovi. It's truly a great time to be a Longhorn!

And Saturday truly exemplified that. Thanks to all of you, we had one spectacular time on the Forty Acres! From a packed house at UFCU Disch-Falk Field to the joy-filled streets brimming with Longhorn faithful on Bevo Blvd., Smokey's Midway and in our Hook 'Em Hangouts to rockin' out at Longhorn City Limits, the glorious day set the stage for an epic evening. And it was EPIC! Y'all were revved up and ready to roll when the Spring Game kicked off at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. Looking out on that sea of Burnt Orange and White, hearing the cheers, the band and the Texas … Fight was a sight to behold. Y'all showed up and showed out, and it was such fun to see Coach Sark and the team putting the final touches on a highly-productive spring season. What a blast it was to be a part of and just a taste and teaser of what's to come in a few short months when we'll be back at DKR for the season opener versus ULM on September 3!

And here we go, we're right back at it with another big week! Men's Golf is battling some weather in Dallas, but right in the thick of the Big 12 Championship hunt as we speak with the final round set for tomorrow, Baseball's on the road tonight and prepaing for a highly-anticipated series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field this weekend, Softball and Track & Field are in action on the road later this week, and our defending National Champion Rowing team will host the Longhorn Invite on Saturday. It's go time, get those Horns up and let's do this y'all!

Women's Golf Claims Big 12 Championship
What an awesome effort from Coach Murphy and our Women's Golf squad in claiming the Big 12 Championship in Houston last weekend. Once our Longhorns moved into the lead on day two, they never looked back in bringing home the conference title for the fourth time in the last five league tournaments. It was a challenging course at The Clubs at Houston Oaks, and in windy conditions to boot, but our Longhorns put their best Texas Fight to work and came out on top. Freshman phenom Bohyun Park was in contention for the individual title all weekend and wound up tied for third, while veteran All-American Sara Kouskova was right behind in sixth. Both earned All-Tournament Team honors, the second time in her career for Sara. There's so much more to play for, and the postseason journey continues with the NCAA Regionals in a couple of weeks (May 9-11). The NCAA selection show will take place on Wednesday, April 27, at 3:00 p.m. CT on the Golf Channel. Mark your calendars for that and be ready to follow your Horns as they continue to take dead aim on more championships!

Women's Tennis earns Big 12 Tournament Title
Talk about peaking at the right time, Coach Joffe and our No. 4-ranked Women's Tennis team are definitely en fuego! The squad won three matches in three days (Friday-Sunday) up the road in Fort Worth to win the Big 12 Conference Tournament crown. We knocked off Iowa State (4-0) in the quarterfinals and No. 11 Oklahoma State (4-1) in the semifinals before earning an outstanding 4-2 win against No. 2 Oklahoma in Sunday's championship match. That marks the 12th Big 12 tourney crown and a total of 21 conference tourney titles in school history (we won nine in the SWC days), the last three coming under Coach Joffe's leadership. Kudos to Peyton Stearns who earned Most Outstanding Performer honors and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Kylie Collins, Charlotte Chavatipon and Vivian Ovrootsky! We're not done and there's much more on the horizon as next up is the NCAA Tournament, and our defending National Champs are playing their best tennis of the season. We enter the NCAA tourney having won six-straight and 13 of our last 14 matches!

More Tennis on the 40
Along with the success of the Women, Coach Berque and the Men brought their Texas Fight to Fort Worth and came oh so close to knocking off No. 4 Baylor in the semifinals. Even with the sensational Micah Braswell still out of the lineup with an injury, the match came down to a tiebreaker here and a tiebreaker there that could have swung it our way, but they still have a lot to be proud of for how they've battled through a season of adversity, as evidenced by their three All-Tournament nods. A big Hook 'Em to Pierre-Yves Bailly and Cleeve Harper in singles, along with the dynamic duo of Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab in doubles for that honor! Well done gents!

That brings us to NCAA Tourney time where you can rest assured we'll be hosting First and Second Rounds for both the Men and Women at the Texas Tennis Center on Firday and Saturday, May 6-7. So save those dates, as we'll need a lot of Burnt Orange to pack the house! Also be sure to tune into the NCAA Selection Shows, which will air on Monday, May 2, on NCAA.com at 5 p.m. CT for the Men and 5:30 p.m. CT for the Women to find out what teams will be headed to Austin!

Spring Football Game and Made in Austin Weekend were a Rousing Success
We were workin' for that weekend for a long, long time and what a rousing success the whole darn Spring Football Game Day and Made in Austin Weekend was! I gotta say S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium topped it off and was magnificent. From pre-game warmups until the final decisive play of our Longhorns Red Zone competition, y'all brought it big time. It was a charged-up, energized, and all gas, no brakes day of Hook 'Ems and Burnt Orange and White and a gigantic dose of Texas Fight. Before that, it was a day filled with family, fun and festivities outside the stadium. There was a meet and greet autograph session with your favorite Longhorns, a Team Store fire sale where all of that authentic Texas gear was flying off the racks, thousands of pounds of crawfish being devoured and folks of all ages grinning from ear to ear. Depth on the offensive line did force Coach Sark to dial back the Orange-White Game into more of a traditional practice and scrimmage, but that didn't put a damper on anyone's spirits or enthusiasm and there still was so, so much to cheer for. You can check out the highlights here! And you and our team got to enjoy a who's who on the sidelines pregame with the M.O.C. Matthew McConaughey and the G.O.A.T. VY in the house, legendary Longhorn defenders Derrick Johnson and Cory Redding proudly looking on, and offensive lineman extraordinaire Leonard Davis towering and standing out among the crowd as he always does … that is with exception to our guy Mo Bamba who was in the house. All of it led to an energy and atmosphere that provided an opportunity for the team to get a taste of what's coming in the fall and launch them into off-season workouts with Burnt Orange burst! It was a great rehearsal for the season and we cannot wait to see you in September when we really get rockin' and rollin'!

Welcome Home: A Fun Weekend with our Football Letterwinners
Welcome Home was the theme, and what a weekend it was with our Football Letterwinners, as we hosted them for a fun few days of events. They are the absolute lifeblood of our program. As Coach Sark said when he spoke to the group, they are the foundation that everything is built on, the ones who set the standard and the greatness the current team strives for each and every day. We also love hearing their thoughts and they had some great things to say about Coach Sark and the program. It was a joy sharing a day at practice with them on Thursday and hosting our annual golf outing on Friday, and that evening was a wonderful opportunity for fellowship and a tour of the new south end zone digs. And it was topped off by a glorious time together at the Spring Game events on Saturday. All in all, it was a phenomenal weekend with a group we are forever grateful for. Thank you to all of our letterwinners and their families who shared some time with us, we appreciate you more than you'll ever know!

While We're Talkin' Football, If You're Not a Season Ticket Holder, Here's Your Chance
Okay, the Spring Football Season is in the books and the season opener is on the horizon. For those of you who aren't season ticket holders, what are you waiting for?! 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.

UFCU Disch-Falk Field was En Fuego last Weekend
Talk about utter domination, with a packed house for all three games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field last weekend we had just that. Sunday's 13-4 victory capped off a fabulous series and put us at 30-13 on the season and right in the middle of the Big 12 title chase at 9-6. Our Longhorns outscored Baylor 46-9 and the numbers were eye-popping as Coach Pierce's squad pounded out 48 hits, including 14 home runs, in the resounding series sweep over the Bears. The 46 runs scored are the most Texas has ever scored in a Big 12 Conference series. Talk about en fuego, the Hispanic Titanic Ivan Melendez was puttin' a charge into the Disch with four homers and 10 RBI, while batting .500 for the weekend! He now has 21 homers on the season and our Horns have cleared the fences 78 times as a team! Hey, and it all got started with Trey Faltine's walk-off homer in a 12-10 victory over Air Force on Wednesday. An impressive string of games, amazing days of Baseball in Austin, not only on the mound and at the plate, but with y'all bringin' your best Texas Fight, too. We'll be seeing you very soon, as I know you've had this weekend's series with Oklahoma State circled on your calendars and will be rowdy and ready! Can't wait to see you at the yard!

Soccer Finishes Its Spring Season with another Rout
An 8-0 rout of UTSA on Sunday, where seven different players scored goals, put a ribbon on a very successful spring season for Coach Kelly and our Soccer squad. Including Friday night's 6-0 win over St. Edward's, it was five matches and five victories with our Horns out-scoring their opposition by a commanding total of 24-2 with four shutouts. The only two goals allowed came during an exhibition against Tigres UANL Femenil, a women's professional team that plays in the top flight of Mexican women's pro soccer, Liga BBVA MX Femenil. Individually over the five-match spring campaign, Lexi Missimo led the Longhorns charge with six total goals, while Jilly Shimkin scored five times. Mackenzie McFarland and Trinity Byars each registered three goals, as well. Thanks to all the Longhorn faithful who came out to cheer on our Horns, and we're looking forward to a great season in 2022!

Hook 'Em to the Big 12 All-Time Hits Leader, Janae Jefferson
It was a record-breaking Sunday for our Softball standout Janae Jefferson. With a perfect bunt single in the fourth inning of Sunday's series finale at No. 6/7 Oklahoma State, our senior second baseman and three-time NFCA All-American made league history. The Humble, Texas native's base knock marked the 333rd hit of her illustrious career, breaking the Big 12 Conference career hits record formerly held by Iowa State standout Sami Williams, so way to go Janae!

Rowing Travels East and Sweeps No. 4 Princeton and No. 16 Rutgers
The stage is set for another big week of competition for our defending National Champion and No. 1-ranked Rowing squad, fresh off a trip to New Jersey where they swept all four races versus No. 4 Princeton and No. 16 Rutgers last Saturday. Coach O'Neill and our Horns have been dominant all season, and last week was no different. Next on the docket is this Saturday's Longhorn Invitational at Walter E. Long Lake. Several of the top teams in the nation will be on hand to compete with our top-ranked squad as No. 8 Ohio State, No. 13 Virginia, No. 17 SMU, UCLA and Alabama all will be in Austin.

More Longhorns earn Big 12 Honors this Week
Kudos are in order for a number of sensational performances by Longhorn student-athletes this week. For the third time this seaon, Ivan Melendez is the Big 12 Player of the Week. Melendez launched five home runs in five games, batting .500 with 11 RBI, nine runs scored and an OPS of 1.942. The El Paso, Texas native had hits in all five games, extending his hitting streak to eight games, including three multi-hit efforts. Women's Tennis standout Peyton Stearns was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the Big 12 Championship after posting a perfect 3-0 record at No. 1 singles with a trio of dominant straight-set victories. Not to mention another shoutout for the numerous all-tournament honors we mentioned earlier for both Tennis programs and Women's Golf.

Eleven of our Men's and Women's Tennis Players Garner Academic All-Big 12 Honors
Eleven of our Men's and Women's Tennis players earned Academic All-Big 12 honors last week, 10 of which were members of the first team. For the Men, six earned first-team recognition, including Nevin Arimilli, Micah Braswell, Cleeve Harper, Evin McDonald, Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab, while Chih Chi Huang was named to the second team. It was the third-straight year for Nevin, Cleeve and Chih Chi. On the Women's squad, all four selections were first-team honorees, including Charlotte Chavatipon, Kylie Collins, Malaika Rapolu and Peyton Stearns. Congrats to all of you for truly embodying the term student-athlete!

Another Full Week on the 40
We've got a lot going on this week on The Forty and beyond. Men's Golf is in the midst of competing for a Big 12 Championships to start the week. Baseball travels to UTRGV before hosting Oklahoma State in a Big 12 series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field from Friday-Sunday. Rowing will hosts its annual home extravaganza with the Longhorn Invite on Saturday at Walter E. Long Lake, its final tune-up before the Big 12 Championship right here in Austin on May 15. Softball heads west to Texas Tech for its three-game conference series, and Track & Field will send folks to both the Penn Relays and LSU Invitational.

Monday:
• Men's Golf at Big 12 Championship
Tuesday:
• Baseball at UTRGV
• Men's Golf at Big 12 Championship
Wednesday:
• Men's Golf at Big 12 Championship
Thursday:
• Track & Field at Penn Relays
Friday:
• Baseball vs. Oklahoma State
• Softball at Texas Tech
• Track & Field at Penn Relays/LSU Invitational
Saturday:
• Baseball vs. Oklahoma State
• Rowing hosts Longhorn Invite
• Softball at Texas Tech
• Track & Field at Penn Relays/LSU Invitational
Sunday:
• Baseball vs. Oklahoma State
• Softball at Texas Tech

We got two more Big 12 Championships last week, Men's Golf is going for another this week, there are many more to compete for, and NCAA Championship action is on the horizon! April will soon give way to May, we've got a whole lot of pep in our step, and it's such a special time to be a Longhorn. Y'all are the absolute best, let's get those Horns Up for another awesome week and Hook 'Em Horns! We got this!!

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

Chris Del Conte signature
Chris Del Conte