Hot off its weekend series win against No. 18 Oklahoma in Norman, Texas baseball returned to Austin for its final midweek and non-conference game of the regular season. The Longhorns rose past Sam Houston to claim a 16-9 victory built on five home runs, two of them grand slams.
In the team’s collaborative effort to overtake the Sooners, they saw nine home runs across the three-day contest, also tying the record for the most homers in one game at six. That electric energy poured over into Tuesday night’s matchup as the Longhorns saw their second game of the season with two grand slams, one from freshman right fielder Will Gasparino and another from sophomore center fielder Jared Thomas.
“I think all season long we’ve known we’ve been able to do it, and to finally put all our pieces together and really play as a team, I think it’s huge for us,” Gasparino said.
Thomas’ grand slam was his first as a Longhorn, which may come as a surprise, as he now sits tied for second in the conference in batting average at .370 and has claimed 13 doubles, as well as 14 home runs, on the season.
Junior designated hitter Kimble Schuessler gave Texas a promising start with a solo home run to left center field at the bottom of the second inning, recording his sixth of the season.
As Sam Houston was left off the board for the first two innings, it was able to score a run at the top of the third inning from a sacrifice bunt from sophomore left fielder Caleb Cotton for an RBI.
Texas’ offense raised the stakes with a senior third baseman Peyton Powell double and a single from sophomore left fielder Max Belyeu in the third inning to put Texas back in the lead at 2-1.
From there, churning out hits and runs was like clockwork for Texas. Schuessler returned in the fourth inning to slam a double to left center while Thomas launched a triple for another RBI. Sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores stepped up to hit the second home run of the game and brought in two runners to give the Longhorns a 6-1 advantage.
Flores is currently tied for first in home runs next to Belyeu with 16 on the season.
Belyeu opened up the bottom of the fifth inning with a double followed by a single from sophomore catcher Rylan Galvan for an RBI. Gasparino and freshman second baseman Dee Kennedy both walked, setting Galvan up at third until Thomas’ grand slam made them run the bases.
In similar fashion during the bottom of the sixth inning, freshman first baseman Casey Borba and Galvan walked while Schuessler claimed his second double. Enter Gasparino’s grand slam, and the Longhorns had itself a 15-1 game.
Schuessler would end up hitting three doubles for the evening, each one reaching over 100 feet, setting a new career high.
“Say maybe two weeks ago, I kind of got away from the fastball,” Schuessler said. “I think in Norman and tonight … I just stayed simple with my approach, and we had a good night.”
The Bearkats were able to decrease the scoring gap at the top of the seventh inning due to late pitching struggles from sophomore pitcher Cody Howard. Without even pitching a full inning, Howard allowed five walks and seven earned runs. Efforts from freshmen pitchers Hudson Hamilton and Easton Tumis helped to close out the game at 16-9.
Texas will return to UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Friday to take on No. 14 Oklahoma State in hopes of gaining another conference series win.
