Innings 1-3: Texas had a slow start with no hits and one walk by Ben Johnson. Sam Houston State’s Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI triple scored Hayden Simerly. O’Hearn scored on a groundout, putting the Bearkats ahead 2-0. 

Innings 4-6: Sam Houston State’s Spence Rahm sent the ball sailing out with a home run in the top of the fourth. Texas gained a bit of momentum in the sixth inning as Matt Moynihan launched a triple, allowing Ben Johnson to score. Moynihan scored on an RBI groundout by Taylor Stell, putting the Longhorns one run behind, 3-2.  

Innings 7-9: The Bearkats pulled ahead in the seventh, scoring two on Colt Atwood’s single and Anthony Azar’s sacrifice fly. Mark Payton’s triple drove in Weston Hall in the eighth but a scoreless ninth inning kept the Longhorns behind for a 5-3 loss.  

Mark Payton picked up the tempo and earned his eighth career triple in the eighth inning, with an average of .536. Payton’s flawless 3-for-3 against Nebraska on Sunday helped Texas close out a 2-0 sweep of the Cornhuskers.  

After doubling to drive in a run in his first at-bat Saturday, Codey McElroy has gone hitless in his last eight at-bats, dropping his batting average to .222. 

 9: Innings played by freshman catcher Jeremy Montalbano in his first career start at Texas.  

12: Number of batters before Texas got a hit, a single by Johnson in the fourth. 

22: Consecutive number of innings in which Texas didn’t trail before O’Hearn’s RBI triple in the second, which caused Texas to fall behind 2-0 by the end of the inning. 

Texas will head to sunny California this weekend to face No. 14 Stanford in a three-game series. The Cardinals are 6-2 this season and 4-0 at home.