After losing three straight games during the State Farm Baseball Showdown, Texas came into the series against BYU firing on all cylinders.

“We were embarrassed coming out of (the State Farm Baseball Showdown),” head coach David Pierce said.

The Longhorns got their second-straight win against BYU as they toppled the Cougars 12-6 on Thursday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field through tremendous play at the plate. 

Texas was hot from the start, scoring in each of the first four innings. It wasn't until the four-run seventh inning that the Longhorns were able to pull away with the game. Texas had nine different players score runs and redshirt senior outfielder Mike Antico lead the way with two hits, three RBIs and two runs. 

The Longhorns completely outmatched the Cougars at-bat as they led them in hits 15-8 and RBIs 11-6.

Despite the emphatic win, Pierce did not overreact to his team’s strong hitting. He said there is still some more work to be done for the Longhorns to play at their full potential. 

“Although we played really good teams (in the State Farm Baseball Showdown) … and we faced really good arms, it still was embarrassing,” Pierce said. “It’s still more of a challenge for us to get better everyday.”

The Cougars put up six runs and eight hits. They were led by BYU sophomore infielder Andrew Pintar, who ended the game with two hits, two RBIs and a double against a bevy of Longhorn pitchers.

Redshirt senior pitcher Palmer Wenzel led the Longhorns in pitching. Wenzel pitched to 12 different batters in 52 pitches throughout three innings, allowing just three hits, one walk and zero runs. 

“He’s very tough,” Pierce said. “But what I’ve been impressed with within his two outings in the regular season is that he’s attacked really well with his best stuff, and to me, he’s been better the last two outings than he was in the fall.”

The Longhorns were able to overcome the batting struggles they displayed throughout the State Farm College Baseball Showdown today in their second game against BYU. Throughout the entire State Farm tournament, Texas had just 20 hits. In this game against BYU alone, Texas put together 15 hits. 

Throughout the first two games of their four-game series against BYU, Texas is 2-0 and has put together 19 hits along with 15 runs. BYU struggled offensively throughout the first two outings against Texas as they have had just 11 hits along with seven runs. 

The Longhorns have flipped the switch since their 0-3 start, now winning two straight games. 

They will look to make that three when Texas plays the third game of their series against BYU Friday night at 6:30 p.m.