Texas baseball continued its season and series against the UC Davis Aggies tonight, 6-4 in eight and a half innings.
The first half of the match was similar to the series’ first, with the Longhorns going down early before storming back with towering home runs.
Graduate pitcher Luke Harrison started shakily, allowing three baserunners and two runs before logging his first out. But he finished strong, striking out six batters in four and a third subsequent scoreless innings.
His successor, junior pitcher Thomas Burns, found even more success, striking out four of the six batters he faced.
Offensively, it was a quiet night for the Longhorns until the fifth inning when junior leadoff man Ethan Mendoza launched a home run 417 feet into center field, bringing home himself and freshman right fielder Anthony Pack Jr.
Mendoza’s homer opened the game for the Longhorns, as their next three hitters all got on base. Junior Casey Borba then brought one run home on a sacrifice fly before junior Aiden Robbins stole home.
Texas fans did not have to wait long to see more fireworks, as only one inning later, the Longhorns brought in two runners courtesy of a double from junior Ashton Larson and a single from Mendoza.
The Aggies answered in the sixth when sophomore catcher Evan Gentil’s single brought home one runner, and a throwing error from sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez brought home another. The Longhorns managed to stop the bleeding there and ended their Valentine’s Day by securing a win on the day and in the series.
The story of the season so far for Texas has been the performances from Mendoza and Pack at the plate.
Mendoza was Texas’ best contact bat last season, but he only hit five home runs. He has hit one in both games this season, likely a result of him putting on fifteen pounds this offseason.
“I’m the same hitter I was last season, I’ve just put on more strength and more weight,” Mendoza said in the post-game press conference.
Pack, who now has four hits and four runs in his first two games for the Longhorns, has surprised even those on his team with his early level of success. He has hit at the bottom of Texas’ lineup in both the first two games after struggling in practice over the last four weeks. However, he may soon climb the lineup, as he has been a very different player on the diamond.
“He’s using the whole field and hitting the ball harder,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I think he may have hit a [ball] 106 or 108 [miles per hour] during the game, and he couldn’t hit a ball over 98 when he first got here.”
Mendoza, Pack and the rest of the Longhorns will wrap up their series against the Aggies tomorrow.
