Heading into the top of the fourth inning, No. 12 Texas baseball led unranked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-0. By the time the fielding unit came off, the Longhorns had changed pitchers twice and were down 5-4.
However, the Longhorns did not succumb to its pitching struggles, relying on its offense to recover the lead in the bottom of the fourth. The quick momentum changes driven by Texas’ hitting eventually led the team to a 15-5 win on Tuesday.
“A lot of different feelings about that ball game, mostly positive,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “A lot of really good at-bats. Obviously, hit some homers and I thought we ran the bases well.”
While freshman pitcher Jason Flores led the Longhorns through three innings without a hit in his second collegiate start, he made his first error early in the fourth inning.
Islanders senior infielder Cade Sanchez hit a single, making it to second base after Flores made an uncatchable throw for graduate infielder Kimble Schuessler. Sanchez scored later in the inning. Flores then hit junior infielder Karson Krowka, his third hit by pitch of the night, and was taken off shortly after. However, Schlossnagle still credits the freshman for an impressive performance.
“Certainly thought Flores was really good. He pitched deeper into the game, mixed his pitches well, and made some nice plays,” Schlossnagle said. “He didn’t panic when he got behind counts. … He hit a guy or two, but for a young pitcher with that kind of arm, that’s back-to-back good starts now.”
Junior pitcher Connor McCreery took over for a short 10-pitch stint where he allowed two runs and was shortly replaced by fellow junior Grayson Saunier. During Saunier’s tenure on the mound during the fourth inning, the Islanders scored twice giving them their one run advantage.
Despite the turn of events, the Longhorns stepped up to the plate and quickly regained the lead, ending the inning up 11-5.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of a team giving up 16 free bases in one inning. That was ugly,” Schlossnagle said. “But the positive was that it’s awesome to be in the dugout that never panics, and that’s a trait that we’re going to need throughout the course of the rest of the season. So really proud of the team that way.”
With a hitting performance that eventually led the game to be cut short at the end of the eighth inning due to the run rule, junior catcher Rylan Galvan led the Longhorn’s with three runs.
Galvan’s two home runs came on opposite ends of the game. The catcher’s first home run was in the second inning to right field, helping establish early momentum. The other was in the seventh inning to center field, bringing the Longhorns closer to the win.
“(The hitting production) is good to see, especially coming out there a couple of weekends ago, pretty tough weekend,” Galvan said. “Seeing everybody grinding out at-bats, finding the barrel. It’s good to see and good to have for later down the road.”
