Longhorns Notebook: No. 1 Texas Wins 14-11, Splits Texas State Season Series

Breathe, folks, breathe. After a back-and-forth, offensive slugfest that lasted well over four hours, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns (34-5) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the Texas State Bobcats (19-21) on Tuesday night.

With Jared Spencer unable to go for the Longhorns this weekend, this became a bullpen game. And boy was it evident, as they gave up 11 runs, walked eight hitters and hit three batters in the contest. However, the bats roared to life and put up 10 runs in the final three innings to secure a come from behind 14-11 win for Texas.

Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns' thrilling 14-11 win over the Bobcats.

Texas Longhorns outfielder Will Gasparino (8) throws to the infield after catching a ball in the second inning as the Longhorns play the Auburn Tigers. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bullpen day struggles

With the injury to Texas’ staff ace Jared Spencer, the rest of the pitching staff has to be adjusted accordingly. This means no Kade Bing in his usual midweek slot as he will likely be called upon for a start this weekend when Texas A&M comes to town.

Getting the start was Grayson Saunier, who tossed three innings of two-run baseball. Both runs he allowed came on a two out, solo home run. It wasn’t any better behind him, either. The next five arms out of the bullpen combined to allow nine runs and gave up six walks.

Ultimately the Longhorns were able to overcome their pitching struggles, but that won't always be the case with bad bullpen days.

Crooked numbers galore

Look, there are going to be days where your pitching staff struggles. This is especially true when it becomes a bullpen day in a midweek game against a strong offense, which was the case for the Longhorns in this one. When that happens the offense needs to step up.

Fortunately, the Longhorns got the bats going in this one. They started out slow, not scoring a run in their first four innings, but exploded after that. They put up four crooked number innings, including a trio of four-run frames, in the comeback effort.

The big blow came in the top of the ninth, as Jalin Flores launched a go-ahead grand slam that powered Texas to a 14-11 win.

Another come from behind win

It's easy when you fall behind to let your heads hang, roll over and let the rest of the game get away from you resulting in a loss. That is not the case with this Longhorns' squad, though, as they have shown they will never go down without a fight regardless of deficit.

This gritty mindset was on full display in their comeback win over the Bobcats on Tuesday, their 16th such victory of the season. Aside from a brief 4-4 tie in the fifth inning, they found themselves trailing Texas State. Instead of accepting defeat they got to work.

Texas proceeded to score four runs in the seventh, two in the eighth and then four more in the ninth to roar all the way back and secure yet another impressive comeback win.

What’s next for Texas?

The Longhorns are back in action on Friday evening, as they look to extend their winning streak to seven games with the Texas A&M Aggies coming to UFCU Disch-Falk Field at 7 p.m. CT.