The No. 2 Texas Longhorns managed back-to-back wins after their toughest loss of the season to capture their fourth conference series victory of the season against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Gamecocks beat the Longhorns 9-1 on Thursday, marking the third time in four series of Southeastern Conference play that head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s squad has dropped the opening game.

Longhorns ace senior pitcher Ruger Riojas had his shortest outing of the year as he surrendered six runs, five of them in the second inning, before getting pulled in the fourth.

Texas’ other starting arms, graduate Luke Harrison and sophomore Dylan Volantis, made up for Riojas’ struggles, combining to allow just three hits, three walks and three runs over 10.4 innings of work.

Texas was able to avoid its typical late-game collapse, only allowing a pair of runs in the last three innings of each game. The Longhorn bullpen was particularly strong in games two and three, allowing one run across 6.2 innings of work.

Schlossnagle turned away from early-season junior closer Thomas Burns at the end of both games in favor of rising freshman Sam Cozart. Cozart registered his third and fourth saves of the season while striking out seven of the eight batters he faced.

All of Texas’ arms were supported by a defense that played admirably in its first real test since losing sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez.

The new-look infield went the entire series without registering an error despite playing on a largely unfamiliar and notoriously unforgiving natural grass field. The Longhorns’ bats had a harder time at the plate, as Texas only brought 10 runs across the plate over all three games, their lowest output this season.

While still plagued by the general slump, junior catcher Carson Tinney flexed his muscles and homered three times during the series. Junior outfielder Aiden Robbins and junior infielder Ethan Mendoza also hit long balls.

Texas will face the Incarnate Word Cardinals on Tuesday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field at 6:30 p.m. CT.