No. 3 Texas baseball wrapped up its sweep of the UC Davis Aggies in a 9-1 victory with a dominant performance on the mound and at the plate.
The Longhorns finished the series with a complete game, dominating both sides of the ball. Eight of Texas’ batters got a hit, while their pitchers only gave out a combined three walks and two hits.
“(We) opened up at home and (had) … really good crowds,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “So a really good start to the season for the fans and for our team.”
Junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza got the offense rolling early with a sacrifice fly to center field in the second inning, bringing home redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra. Mendoza has already batted seven runners in this year after only logging 35 RBIs last season.
Texas’ offense exploded in the third inning, pouring in six runs and batting around the order.
Junior left fielder Ashton Larson got the party started, hitting another sacrifice fly to the same part of the field with the bases loaded. Mendoza reloaded the bases with a single before sophomore infielder Adrian Rodriguez emptied them with a three-RBI double to left center field.
“I was in the (dugout) … (with) (assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki), and he was like, ‘I need someone to clear the bases here, we need a double or something,’ and I was like, ‘Tulo, I got you. Watch this,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez was rewarded for his efforts on the next at-bat with a single from junior center fielder Aiden Robbins, bringing him home. Junior first baseman Casey Borba, who led off the inning, returned the favor two batters later, bringing Robbins home on a single through the left side of the infield.
The Aggies stopped the bleeding there, pulling Braydon Wooldridge, senior designated-hitter-turned-pitcher, in favor of freshman right-hander Taylor Werth, who notched the final out of the inning.
The Longhorn defense was just as impressive, with sophomore pitcher Dylan Volantis, who was Baseball America’s National Freshman of the Year in 2025, throwing five innings before giving up his first and only hit of the afternoon.
Volantis tied his career-high with eight strikeouts and set a career-high in innings pitched and pitches thrown with seven and 78, respectively. He did so while only walking one batter and giving up one unearned run.
“We wanted him to get him to 75 pitches and I think he started (the seventh) inning in the low 60s or high 50s,” Schlossnagle said. “I was going to get him in the middle of the inning, but he made a couple really nice pitches, and it felt like he earned the opportunity to finish it.”
Texas’ infield registered three double plays on the day, with Borba contributing two of them unassisted.
Texas baseball continues its season on Tuesday when it faces off against the Lamar Cardinals at 5 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
