Texas Baseball fans were spoiled by Porter Brown’s power on Friday night, but small ball was the real star of the Longhorns’ Saturday victory over Indiana.

Texas secured the series victory and third-straight win on Saturday with a 5-2 victory over the Hoosiers, sparked mostly from a fifth-inning masterclass in speed and discipline.

Senior third baseman Tanner Carlson started the rally with a walk, and from there the Longhorns were off to the races. Contrary to last year’s team, the run generation didn’t come from explosive power and big homers, but from good hitting and baserunning.

Redshirt senior center fielder Eric Kennedy followed Carlson up with a bunt base hit, something coach David Pierce has added to this season’s offensive gameplan. Dylan Campbell followed Kennedy with a 3-2 walk, his 8th on the year, loading the bases. 

“When you look at a guy that hasn’t had a bunch of big hits but has been able to take a lot of walks, that shows some maturity,” head coach David Pierce said.

Junior left fielder Porter Brown, whose home run last night won the game for Texas in the 8th inning, didn’t deliver another bomb for Texas, but his infield single knocked in two after a throwing error from sophomore first baseman Brock Tibbitts. Junior catcher Garrett Guillemette kept the ball in the infield, smacking a ball up the middle that was stopped but not able to be turned into an out. Freshman first baseman Jared Thomas added another earned run by reaching on an error from sophomore second baseman Evan Goforth, and the Longhorns were in a commanding 5-1 lead after five.

“The energy is there,” Guillemette said, “We’re very close, still a couple swings away, but we’re getting a lot of runners.”

Junior right hander Zane Morehouse bounced back on the mound in efficient fashion after a rough outing the past Saturday versus Missouri. Morehouse worked through five innings of one-run baseball, allowing one hit and two walks on just 66 total pitches with his fastball hitting 95 on multiple occasions. However, Morehouse did get into trouble in the fifth, allowing three free bases and a hit, but clutch pitching with the bases loaded kept the Hoosiers at bay.

“Zane was just self-inflicting there in the fifth,” Pierce said, “He did a good job getting back in there and making a pitch to get the double play.”

Indiana’s offense, who had scored over seven runs per game prior to their trip to Austin, have been completely nullified by the Longhorn’s pitching, only scraping together only four runs through their two losses this weekend. Though last season’s Longhorns struggled a lot in the bullpen, Texas’ first weekend series victory has been defined by steady pitching and strong bullpen outings.

The Longhorns will have a chance to sweep the series on Sunday, facing the Hoosiers one more time at noon before No.1 LSU comes to town on Feb. 28.