The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
8-5, 0
#17 Texas Tech
10-3, 0
No. 24 Baseball explodes for 22-8 win over No. 17 Texas Tech
03.08.2024 | Baseball
The Longhorns scored 22 runs on 20 hits in the Big 12 opening game on Friday night.
LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 24 Texas Baseball had an offensive explosion, blasting No. 17 Texas Tech 22-8 in the Big 12 Conference opener on Friday night at Rip Griffin Park.
The Longhorns (8-5, 1-0) hammered 22 total hits, including five doubles and four home runs, two of which were grand slams. Texas jumped out to an early lead with a four-run first and then scored in bunches with seven runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth, two in the sixth and four in the ninth.
Porter Brown went 2-for-5 with a homer, five RBI and three runs scored, while Rylan Galvan finished with 2-for-4 with a homer and five RBI. Will Gasparino had an extraordinary night as well, going 5-for-6 with two doubles, a grand slam, four RBI and four runs scored.
Peyton Powell had a four-hit day, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. Max Belyeu went 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored.
Ace Whitehead pitched a career-high 4 2/3 innings out of the bullpen and picked up his first win of the season. He allowed three runs on five hits and struck out a career-high seven batters.
Texas put up a four-run top of the first inning, including a three-run blast by Belyeu. The Longhorns had four hits in the inning with Powell, Flores and Brown hitting three-straight singles to plate the first run of the game.
Texas then had a series of miscues in the bottom of the second inning allowing Texas Tech to score three runs on three walks, two errors, a wild pitch and a passed ball to make the score 4-3.
The Red Raiders tied the game up 4-4 in the third inning with a solo home run to right field.
The Longhorns had an immediate response with their biggest inning of the season in the top of the fourth. Texas sent 11 men to the plate and scored seven runs on five hits to chase the Red Raiders' starting pitcher out of the game and take an 11-4 lead. Schuessler started the inning with a walk and went to third on a double by Will Gasparino. With two outs, Powell drove in both runs with a single back up the middle.
After a single by Jalin Flores, Brown delivered the biggest hit of the inning by crushing a 480-foot three-run home run to right field. Schuessler capped off the inning in his second at-bat of the frame with a two-run double down the leftfield line.
Texas kept its foot on the gas, scoring five more runs in the fifth to take a 16-4 lead. The inning started with Gasparino and Jared Thomas hitting back-to-back-doubles for the first run. After a single by Powell and a walk to Brown, Galvan blasted a grand slam out to left field.
Texas Tech got a run back in the fifth on a solo home run to make the score 16-5.
The Longhorns tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning with RBI walks by Brown and Galvan to give Texas an 18-5 lead.
Gasparino launched the Longhorns' second grand slam of the night in the top of the ninth to extend the lead to 22-6.
Texas will look to win the series in Game 2 of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Whitehead, Ace (1-0)
L: Robinson, Kyle (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Thomas, Jared 1 ; Schuessler, Kimble 1 ; O'Dowd, Jack 1 ; Gasparino, Will 2
HR: Brown, Porter 1 ; Galvan, Rylan 1 ; Belyeu, Max 1 ; Gasparino, Will 1
RBI: Thomas, Jared 1 ; Powell, Peyton 2 ; Brown, Porter 5 ; Galvan, Rylan 5 ; Belyeu, Max 3 ; Schuessler, Kimble 2 ; Gasparino, Will 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Thomas, Jared 1 ; Powell, Peyton 3 ; Flores, Jalin 2 ; Brown, Porter 3 ; Galvan, Rylan 3 ; Belyeu, Max 3 ; Schuessler, Kimble 2 ; O'Dowd, Jack 1 ; Gasparino, Will 4
SB: Brown, Porter 1
HBP: O'Dowd, Jack 1
Batting:
2B: McGee, Cade 1 ; Rivers, Davis 1
HR: Green, Austin 1 ; Bravo, Damian 1 ; Burns, Will 1
RBI: Green, Austin 1 ; Bravo, Damian 1 ; Rivers, Davis 2 ; Pompey, TJ 1 ; Burns, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Green, Austin 1 ; Boehm, Garet 1 ; Washburn, Owen 1 ; Bravo, Damian 2 ; Lopez, Tracer 1 ; Maxcey, Dylan 1 ; Burns, Will 1
SB: Harrelson, Gage 2
