Something was in the air Tuesday night in the world of college baseball. Earlier in the evening, two top-10 teams were stunned by mid-major programs, with the third and final domino falling in Austin.
For the third time in two weeks, the UTSA Roadrunners played spoiler to a ranked team, pulling off the 8–7 upset in extra innings over No. 8 Texas baseball.
“A loss like this is not going to define us,” junior catcher Rylan Galvan said. “We played a lot of great baseball, they’re not going to all go your way. At the end of the day, you’ll take a shower, shower well, (and) after that, forget about it — move on.”
After five scoreless frames anchored down by freshman pitcher Kade Bing, the Roadrunners were left stumped on the plate without a single hit. After 55 pitches, Bing’s day was done to open the sixth.
“It was definitely a confidence booster,” Bing said. “I trusted my teammates. I feel like just going out there, dominating the zone like I’m supposed to, and then letting my defense work behind me kind of boosted everything.”
Texas’ pitching began to falter with the absence of Bing on the mound, and UTSA started to regain their early fire, carving away at its 6–2 deficit.
Freshman pitcher Bryce Navarre struggled in his appearance, ending his day quickly after letting up two hits and walking a pair of batters. His replacement, sophomore pitcher Thomas Burns, did not fare any better.
With momentum on their side, the Roadrunners scored three runs in the sixth inning to edge closer to the Longhorns. Continuing its run in the seventh, UTSA added two more runs to regain the lead.
But the Longhorns weren’t willing to give up so quickly. The recently hot Galvan fired his seventh home run of the year, dropping the ball into the YETI Yard to tie the game up at 7–7 to rejuvenate the ever-so-thinning crowd.
Marching closer to the end of regulation, Texas looked to continue its renewed spark on the mound started by junior pitcher Cody Howard. Head coach Jim Schlossnagle handed the keys to the hill to former Roadrunner, now-Texas junior pitcher Ruger Riojas to close out UTSA.
Riojas secured the Longhorns with formidable pitching through his first three innings, but with his pitch count rising in his fourth frame, fatigue started to settle in. Culminating in the 12th, UTSA senior catcher Andrew Stucky shot the ball deep into left field for the game-winning home run.
The Longhorns had one more chance to even the score or take the win with one final opportunity to bat. Two ground outs and a strikeout by sophomore centerfielder Will Gasparino ended the sliver of hope of a 13th inning as UTSA handed Texas’ first loss in over a month, ending their 17-game win streak.
“Congrats to UTSA, what a good club,” Schlossnagle said. “A lot of really good pitchers. It’s a good team. Team is going to be around for a while, looks like a postseason team to me.”
Texas is set for its first conference homestand this weekend, welcoming No. 2 LSU Tigers Friday at 7 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
