Following another series-opening loss, Texas baseball’s seventh in a row, the Longhorns stormed back to beat No. 18 Oklahoma in a doubleheader on Sunday. With severe weather threatening the Norman area on Saturday, the second game was postponed one day. After losing 9-4 on Friday, Texas bounced back to win 8-6 and 12-10 on Sunday.
Sunday’s second game ended after seven innings due to lightning in the area, but not before Texas could hit a program-record-tying six home runs for the second time in four games. Texas’ first 10 runs came from two-run home runs, following up on the two it hit in Sunday’s first win.
Freshman outfielder Will Gasparino looked to be the star of the weekend with a home run robbery on Friday and two home runs on Sunday, but sophomore outfielder Max Belyeu stole the spotlight on Sunday night.
Belyeu officially reclaimed the team lead for home runs with 16 on the season after hitting two in the final game of the series for three RBIs. Belyeu hit Texas’ only solo home run of the evening for the 12th run of the night and sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores doubled in the sixth inning to bring home freshman second baseman Dee Kennedy. Belyeu now has one more home run on the season than Flores.
Three other Longhorns added home runs on the evening, with Gasparino being the only one to leave the park in both games. Redshirt junior catcher Kimble Schuessler hit a solo home run to even the game before Texas could tie the series and then take the eventual win. Senior third baseman Peyton Powell started the third game with a home run, freshman first baseman Casey Borba added one, and sophomore catcher Rylan Galvan hit one of his own.
The home runs may have launched Texas to a Red River Rivalry win, but the pitching kept Oklahoma from tacking on extra runs. After sophomore Max Grubbs took the loss on Friday, the rest of the Texas pitching staff rallied to limit Oklahoma’s scoring.
Early on Sunday, junior Ace Whitehead struggled on the mound, but redshirt junior Chase Lummus came in for 3.2 innings to take the win, only giving up three hits from the 14 batters he faced. Redshirt sophomore Gage Boehm relieved Lummus and earned a save, giving up two hits and striking out three batters.
In the final game of the series, redshirt junior Lebarron Johnson Jr. did not have the cleanest start, giving up five earned runs and only striking out two batters in 70 pitches for a 5.61 ERA. Sophomore Cade O’Hara relieved Johnson in the fourth inning, struck out two and gave up three runs.
It then took three pitchers to get through the seventh inning with redshirt sophomore Luke Harrison and senior Heston Tole each giving up one run. Redshirt junior Andre Duplantier II finished out what would end up being a shortened game and did not give up any hits or runs by striking out the one batter he faced.
With the series win, Texas defeated the top team in the Big 12 and are now 13–8 in conference play and 27–18 overall. Due to its conference record of 15–6, the Sooners are still at the top of the conference standings with the Longhorns two games back.
Next weekend Texas will return home to face Oklahoma State, who is tied for second with West Virginia at 14-7. To have a chance to take control of the Big 12, Texas will not only need to win all of its remaining series but sweep them if they want to surpass the likes of Oklahoma and West Virginia.
