Longhorns Notebook: No. 15 Texas Avoids Collapse, Beats Washington 10-9

Nothing to see here, folks, just a casual 10-9 win for the No. 15 Texas Longhorns (7-1) over the Washington Huskies (3-7) to kick off their weekend in Las Vegas. Well, not exactly.

For most of this game it was an all out pitcher's duel, as Texas' Jared Spencer and Washington's Max Banks traded punches on the mound. Heading into bottom of the sixth the Longhorns were clinging to a 2-1 lead and proceeded to put up a seven-run inning to take the 9-1 lead.

Then all chaos broke loose, as the Huskies outscored the Longhorns 8-1 in the seventh and eighth innings. However, their late rally came up just short as Texas held on for dear life to escape Friday night with the victory.

Texas Longhorns infielder Ethan Mendoza (5) catches a ball in the sixth inning as the Texas Longhorns take on the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 25, 2025. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns' gritty 10-9 win over the Huskies.

Ace performance from Spencer

Spencer entered Friday's game against the Huskies looking for a bounce back after his outing agaisnt Dartmouth the week prior. While he wasn't bad in that start, he was far from his dominant self -- only tossing 4.1 innings of one-run baseball before being pulled.

Fortunately for the Longhorns, he was dialed in from the jump against Washington. He kept hitters off balance all night long, surrendering only one run on four hits and a pair of walks across six innings. The southpaw also racked up nine strikeouts en route to securing his first win as a Longhorn.

Jalin Flores' slumpbuster

It had been an undeniably slow start to the season for Flores prior to his performance against the Huskies. Despite putting together solid at-bats, the star shortstop was frustratingly not putting up the results he knew he was capable of producing.

That seemingly all changed on Friday, however. In his first at-bat he went deep for a solo home run in the second inning, his first of the season, and then launched another solo blast for his second of the year in the fifth.

He reached base safely two more times, via a walk and a hit by pitch. Raising his average up to .286, the slugger appears poised to give Texas another potent bat in the lineup.

Andre Duplantier II and Max Grubbs, to the rescue

Leading 9-1 heading into the top of the seventh, the Longhorns turned the ball over to Cody Howard. Howard proceeded to not retire a single batter, giving up five runs. Then the usuallly reliant duo of Ruger Riojas and Thomas Burns also struggled, allowing three runs during their brief outings.

Saving the day for Texas was the tandem of Andre Duplantier II and Max Grubbs. Duplantier came in with the bases loaded and no outs, limiting the damage to just two runs and preserving a 10-9 lead for the Longhorns. Following him was Grubbs, who entered in the top of the ninth and recorded the save with three quick outs to give Texas the 10-9 win.

What's next for Texas?

The Longhorns will be back in action on Saturday evening in the Las Vegas Classic, as they take on former Big 12 foe the Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-5) at 6 p.m. CT.

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