It took an extra day, but the Longhorns were able to kick off their season with a 4-0 seven inning victory over Duke.

Despite a weather delay that pushed Opening Day to Saturday afternoon, the Longhorns endured and came away with a win. The team was led by a five inning, three hit performance by Nathan Thornhill and a pair of homeruns from freshman second baseman Brooks Marlow.

Marlow got the scoring started for Texas when he hit a line shot that snuck over the right field wall. The long bomb was the first run of the Texas season, and to boot, the first hit of his colligate career.

Marlow wasn’t done, though, he came up again in the again in the fifth inning and did it again, hitting another ball over the right field fence, in what looked like a replay of the first one. This kind of game is rare for a team known for the small ball, this is the first time a Texas player has hit two homeruns in a game since Kevin Lusson hit two against Missouri on May 23, 2010.

Marlow looks to be an instant fan favorite on the 40 Acers, fans were chanting “Marlow” after his second long bomb, and this is just the first game of his career.

Marlow is filling in for Jordan Etier at second, during his four game suspension for possession of marijuana and evading arrest. Coach Augie Garrido will have a nice problem of where to put Marlow in the lineup when Etier returns.

Thornhill was efficient in his first start of 2012; he threw only 62 pitches in his five innings of work sticking to the Texas philosophy of pitching to contact.

All-American closer Corey Knebel came in to relieve Thornhill in the sixth, and earned the two inning save. Knebel didn’t allow a hit in his two innings of work and continued last season’s stellar form.

In between Knebel’s innings of work there was a 30 minute rain delay, but that didn’t affect him a bit. He came out in the seventh and quickly retired the Blue Devils in order, sending Texas to the locker room with an hour to spare before Game 2.