AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas baseball team moved up a spot in the D1Baseball.com Top 25 after getting back on track with a series win over Oklahoma to clinch the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.
Texas sits at No. 2 in the national rankings heading into the SEC tournament, behind Louisiana State. North Carolina, Oregon and Arkansas round out the top five. Despite dropping the first game of their series with Tennessee, the Razorbacks moved up three spots after winning the next two games against the Volunteers.
Texas begins SEC tournament play in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. Thursday in Hoover, Alabama. The top-seeded Longhorns could face Tennessee, Alabama or Missouri. The Volunteers have a bye to the second round Wednesday, and await the winner of a first-round game between the Tigers and Crimson Tide on Tuesday.
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The Longhorns’ 7-4 victory in the opener Thursday was enough to win the regular season title outright, coupled with Arkansas’ loss to Tennessee, but the boys in burnt orange weren’t done in Norman. They dropped the middle game 8-6 before storming back Saturday with a 9-1 victory to take the rivalry series. It’s the first time a first-year team has won the regular season championship.
Max Belyeu returned to the lineup for the series against the Sooners and made his presence felt immediately with a 3-run home run to give the Longhorns the lead late in the opener.
