Longhorns Notebook: No. 15 Texas Cruises, Takes Down Texas Tech 10-5

The No. 15 Texas Longhorns (8-1) are certainly feeling lucky in Las Vegas, folks. After winning their first game in the Las Vegas Classic against Washington 10-9, they entered Saturday's showdown with the Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-6) eager to win the weekend.

It didn't take long for them to get rolling, either, as the bats exploded in a big way following a scoreless first inning. In the second inning the Longhorns pushed across seven runs, an outburst that was capped off by an Ethan Mendoza three-run shot and a Will Gasparino shot to make it 7-0.

From there it was all Longhorns as they added three more runs in the fifth and eventually cruised to a 10-5 win. The victory marked their eighth straight win and sets them up with a chance to sweep their way through the weekend on Sunday.

Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns' 10-5 win over the Red Raiders.

Harrison matches Spencer's outing

Both Jared Spencer and Luke Harrison dominated their first starts and then looked solid but not as remarkable in their outings against Dartmouth last weekend. Spencer bounced back on Friday for the Longhorns, as he delivered six innings of one-run baseball with a sparkling nine strikeouts.

Harrison responded in turn with a sensational outing against a strong Red Raiders offense. Keeping them in check, the southpaw twirled five innings and allowed only one run while striking out a career-high seven in the win.

If he and Spencer can look like this version of themselves all season long, well, they'll be hard to beat.

Bats stay hot in Vegas

After scoring 24 runs in back-to-back wins over Ole Miss and Oklahoma State, the Longhorns only scored 17 runs combined over their next four. Granted, they did win those games so it didn't matter, but the explosive offense was put on ice in the process.

That all changed in a big way once they got to Las Vegas, however. In their wins over Washington and Texas Tech the bats were red hot once again, putting up 10 runs in both victories. Safe to say the offense is still alive and well.

Volantis auditioning for future rotation spot

There was likely plenty of reservations amongst the Texas faithful once the Longhorns went ahead 10-0 and the bullpen entered the game. Not that we blame them, of course, after the bullpen gave up eight runs in the late innings on Friday before hanging on to beat Washington 10-9.

Dylan Volantis was having none of that drama on Saturday. He entered in seventh inning and proceeded to offer a phenomenal showing out of the bullpen. Over his three innings of work he allowed a pair of runs, both of which were unearned, and struck out five Red Raiders to secure the win.

What's next for Texas?

The Longhorns are back in action on Sunday afternoon against the Illinois Fighting Illini to cap off their weekend in Las Vegas at 1 p.m. CT.

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