No. 15 Texas baseball held the honor of being the only ranked team in the field of four that were invited to the annual Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. The Longhorns displayed they were the best team in the tournament, sweeping all three of their opponents for a third consecutive series win. 

Texas survives a late-game push by the Washington Huskies, winning 10–9 

Starting off the year a bit sluggish in the box, 2024 Texas Baseball home run leader junior shortstop Jalin Flores returned to his familiar form Friday evening picking up his first two home runs on the season to give the Longhorns an early 2–1 lead over the Huskies. 

Capitalizing on Washington’s worn-out starting pitcher, Texas exploded in the box in the bottom of the sixth inning. Graduate first baseman Kimble Schuessler, with the bases loaded, singled to right field for a pair of run-batted-ins. 

Washington senior pitcher Max Banks hit Flores with the pitch for his last throw of the night, but the pitching change did not help the Huskies’ odds with freshman infielder Cole Chamberlain’s single for his own pair of RBIs. 

Junior catcher Rylan Galvan capped off the Longhorns’ massive inning with his home run, batting in 3 RBIs. Texas’ 9–1 lead quickly dissipated when Washington came storming back with their own six-run inning, burning through three relievers to come within two. 

Texas added one more run for double digits, and Washington added a pair of runs to come within one in the final inning. Junior pitcher Max Grubbs came in to finish the Longhorns’ victory — a strikeout and two fielding opportunities in the infield sealed their 10–9 victory. 

Late game rally by Texas Tech stalls, could not overcome Longhorns’ early lead 

In lead-up interviews with the media, Red Raiders junior catcher Dylan Maxcey spoke about playing their old Big 12 Rivals in Texas. His comments quickly caught the ire of Longhorn nation on social media. 

“I’m just super excited to go to Vegas and play Texas,” Maxcey said. “We are going to be with the mentality, if we don’t ‘run-rule’ (Texas), then we lost.” 

Making Maxcey eat his words, Texas found itself in real contention for an early exit over their former Big 12 rivals. For their second straight night, the Longhorns exploded, scoring seven runs in the second inning to give them a 7–0 lead. 

On his first pitch in the fifth, freshman infielder Adrian Rodriguez shot his third home run of the year to kick off Texas’ second wave of scoring. Two more scores in the inning marked the final runs for the Longhorns of the evening. 

Luck began to run out for Texas as the Red Raiders began to mount their comeback over their former rivals, answering with a run in the fifth. Texas Tech held the Longhorns scoreless in the next two innings ending any hope to close the game out early. 

Freshman pitcher Dylan Volantis entered the game and struggled in his third appearance on the mound this season. Volantis allowed three runs as Texas Tech started to march closer on their deficit in the seventh. 

The young pitcher was not pulled and stayed on the mound to close the game for Texas. Volantis, in his final two innings, struck out three batters and allowed only a single run in the ninth for his first save as the Longhorns beat the Red Raiders 10–5.

Illinois jumps up early, Texas takes over down the stretch

The Longhorns’ best showing in the tournament came on their last day in Las Vegas. Junior outfielder Max Belyeu went off in the final game of the Las Vegas College Baseball Tournament, going 4–6 for three RBIs and three doubles.  

The game started to get out of hand for Texas as Illinois jumped up to a 6–1 lead, the Longhorns did not wait too long to respond, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and coming within one. 

Flipping Illinois on top of their heads, Texas took complete control of the lead in the sixth inning and never looked back. In their highest scoring frame this season, Illinois gave up nine runs and retired a relief pitcher after just 14 pitches thrown. 

The Longhorns were just a single score away from enacting the “run rule” over the Fighting Illini in the seventh after Flores came home on a wild pitch for Texas’ 15th run of the afternoon. 

Sophomore outfielder Tommy Farmer IV could not seal the game, popping out towards centerfield, forcing both teams to play on until the ninth inning. Although he did not finish the game, Grubbs pitched the longest, with four complete innings, earning his second win of the tournament. 

Texas returns home to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas.