Keith Shinaberry is a senior left-handed pitcher at the University of Texas. A native of Austin, Shinaberry is a side-armed reliever for the Longhorns. He appeared in 18 games in 2008, all out of the bullpen, and posted a 2-1 record. He walked just two in 11.1 innings. Shinaberry pitched 25.2 innings in 22 relief appearances in 2007 with six walks and 15 strikeouts. He is a regular member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Shinaberry is majoring in corporate communication.

 

April 10, 2009

Landing in Omaha

 

Landing in Omaha seemed all too right, but we were just a couple months early as the weather quickly made us aware that it wasn’t June. It seemed as though Jack Frost and Mother Nature had teamed up once again to make this Nebraska series as well as Easter weekend all the more enjoyable. Practice was cancelled on Thursday due to light rain and a wind-chill temperature that read in the low 30s, leaving just enough time for an always popular study hall session.

Another well-liked detail about this trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, was swift travel to the “corn country”. I have touched on this before in previous articles but after four years of traveling to these exhilarating Big 12 cities, the excitement has subsided. Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State all require an hour bus ride after landing in nearby cities while Kansas State takes the cake with almost a two-hour bus ride. Not only does it make it difficult for us, but fans and families battle the same traveling issues. Rumor has it that some of the dads have rented an RV in hopes of somehow enjoying the scenic Midwest on their trek to Nebraska.

Fortunately for us we were able to face similar weather last weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and hopefully the outcome will be similar. With only five weeks left in conference play, every series can drastically change the standings. The comforting news about our positioning in the standings so far is that every team ahead of us, we have yet to play, allowing us to determine the fate of this conference. Another exciting nugget for us as well as for fans is that we will play at least a part of our next four series at home as we host Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor, and Texas A&M. But our attention will be focused on this Easter weekend as we will be looking to put up goose eggs during this Nebraska Easter Egg Hunt. 

Forever Sidearm,

Keith Shinaberry #35

 

P.S. Our prayers go out to everyone this weekend for safe travel, functional family meals and especially to the Rupp family as Cameron’s brother continues to recover from an all-too-scary baseball related accident.

 

(photos courtesy of Texas Media Relations Office)