No. 2 Texas baseball needed a response after a rough midweek loss to the Houston Cougars, and with the opportunity to bounce back, the Longhorns welcomed in the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners for the diamond edition of the Red River Rivalry — and were more than up for the task.
The Longhorns hosted their bitter rivals for game one of a three-game conference series on Thursday night, and it was a rout at UFCU Disch-Falk Field as they came away with a 14-0 run-rule victory over the Sooners in seven innings.
“Certainly an awesome response to a brutal night on Tuesday,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We’ve got too many of those. (I’d) prefer us not to have to do that, but if we do put ourselves through it or the other team puts us through it, we’re going to be able to have that opening day mentality the next day.”
After recording just three hits in their loss to Houston, the Longhorns did not cool down against the Sooners, ending the game with 17 total hits while having every player get in on the action. The entire starting lineup recorded at least one hit, with five batters driving in the Longhorns’ 14 runs.
Texas got its scoring started early and continued to score in bunches, not stopping throughout the ballgame and scoring in four out of the six innings in which it batted. The Longhorns put up a four-spot in the first inning and scored multiple runs in innings three, four and five.
Getting the bulk of the action started for the Longhorns was junior infielder Casey Borba, as he ended his night 3-4 from the plate with a team-high six RBIs. Borba put an exclamation point on his night with a two-run home run in the fifth inning.
Borba has been finding his power at the plate throughout the Longhorns’ last few games, as his two-run shot was his eighth round-tripper in the span of 13 ballgames.
“Just letting the ball travel,” Borba said. “As much as it doesn’t seem like it, being patient and getting my pitch to hit and getting my swing off.”
On the mound, the Longhorns were equally as dominant throughout the night as senior pitcher Ruger Riojas had his usual Thursday night start and was lights out, pitching a complete game shutout against the Sooners.
The senior tossed 105 pitches on the night, surrendering six hits and eight strikeouts while giving up just a pair of walks.
“Starts with preparations,” Riojas said. “(And) how you go about your day, and knowing you’re the best pitcher out there as soon as you step on the (rubber) is the biggest thing for me. All my pitches were working, so I think everything worked well today.”
The Longhorns will return to the field for the second game of the series, looking for the series win over the Sooners. First pitch of game two is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m.
