The Texas offense carried the Longhorns to their fourth straight victory Thursday night. The Longhorns defeated Oklahoma State 8-5 on the road in the first game of a three-game series. 

Freshmen C.J. Hinojosa and Jeremy Montalbano each had three RBIs on the evening as the Longhorns (16-9, 2-2) cruised to 13 hits on the night. Junior Mark Payton went 2-for-5 on the evening, extending his hitting streak to 14 straight games. Junior Erich Weiss led all Longhorns by going 3-for-4 on the night.

The Longhorns got started quickly with Weiss pulling in an RBI double to plate Hall in the first. Payton then plated Weiss with a single on the next at-bat. Oklahoma State (19-6, 1-2) starting pitcher Jason Hursh struggled to contain the Longhorn offense, surrendering all eight runs off 13 hits through seven innings of work.

After the Longhorns put up two in the first, the Cowboys responded with a run in the first and two in the second for their only lead of the ball game. The Longhorns then put up four in the third to take the lead for good.   

Freshman Travis Duke got the win after coming in as relief for starter Parker French in the fourth. French, who was starting in his first game since missing the series against Minnesota with arm tightness, gave up four runs off seven hits. Duke pitched three innings of scoreless relief, giving up only two hits. Corey Knebel was credited with the save in Game One.

The Texas defense held the Cowboys to five runs despite surrendering 11 hits.

“You saw some great defensive plays up the middle. We talked about getting the middle infielders to another level and they certainly showed it tonight,” Texas head coach Augie Garrido said. “That was a big part of it to go with the offense.”

The Longhorns take on the Cowboys again in Game Two of the series Friday night.