WALKING TALL

Ty Madden is the latest big righthander from Texas and has the Longhorns in contention for Omaha

- TEDDY CAHILL

The big Texas righthander is a draft archetype that goes back decades. Nolan Ryan. Roger Clemens. Kerry Wood. Josh Beckett. Jameson Taillon. The list goes on.

All of them seemingly cut from the same cloth as strong, powerful pitchers from the Lone Star State with big fastballs and seemingly boundless upside.

Ty Madden is familiar with his home state’s tradition for producing big, powerful righthanders, pitchers who, well, look like him. Listed at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, Madden has touched 100 mph with his fastball and this spring was averaging nearly 95. The native of Cypress, Texas, a suburb of Houston, headlines the Texas rotation and has helped the Longhorns emerge as College World Series contenders this season.

Madden, a third-year sophomore, fits the profile of a big Texas righthander to a burnt orange T.

Madden has been excellent for the Longhorns in 2021. Through the first 12 weeks of the season, going into Texas’ mid-May finals break, he was 6-2, with a 2.27 ERA, 89 strikeouts and 28 walks in 75.1 innings. He’s been remarkably consistent all season long, delivering quality starts in nine of his 12 appearances.

As a result, Madden is on track to be both an All-American and a first-round draft pick. Since righthander Taylor Jungmann accomplished both feats in 2011, the Longhorns have not produced a player drafted in the first round and had only one All-American, Kody Clemens in 2018.

While it’s been a decade since the Longhorns have had a pitcher like Madden, Texas coach David Pierce has been around several throughout his career. Pierce, now in his fifth season in Austin, previously was a longtime assistant coach under Wayne Graham at Rice, working with the Owls all-time great rotation of Philip Humber, Jeff Niemann and Wade Townsend.