No. 10 Mississippi State Evens Series As No. 4 Texas Struggles

It was another forgetful Saturday afternoon for No. 4 Texas, as they failed to clinch the series against No. 10 Mississippi State.

Behind another impressive start from Ruger Riojas, the Longhorns' offense and bullpen were not able to replicate their starting pitcher dominance on the mound to rally back against the Bulldogs.

Texas left 17 runners on base and only drove in a pair of runs with four bases loaded situations in the final four innings. Mississippi State unlocked its hitting prowess after Riojas was pulled after 71 pitches, hitting a three-run home run in the seventh and adding two runs in the eighth to split the series with a 7-4 victory on Saturday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin.

“Not an ugly game at all. I thought it was a very well played game — the difference was the two out-hitting,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We got the two out hits last night and they didn't. We won the game today, and today, they did.”

Longhorns Rally Far Too Late

Texas’ top of the order struggled mightily behind Mississippi State’s dominant pitching, going 1-16 heading into the final inning of the game. The Longhorns started a brief rally, retiring a pair of Bulldog pitchers with Adrian Rodriguez hitting a home run to start the three-run inning.

The six-run deficit was far too large for Texas to pull away, despite the team’s leading hitter, Anthony Pack Jr., at the plate for an opportunity to make the game closer than it appeared.

“I was glad to see us fight back and make some guys in their bullpen throw some pitches,” Schlossnagle said.

The Longhorns bottom of the order carried the offensive production for the majority of the game, with Temo Beccera going 4-5 at the plate and Casey Borba firing his second home run in three games in the bottom of the fifth inning.

In his eight starts in conference play, Riojas has experienced a string of bad luck, as the Longhorns have lost in six of eight, with the bullpen being a major factor in those losses.

The Longhorns starter was pulled in the fifth inning after tossing for seven strikeouts, allowing just three hits and a solo home run in favor of Brett Crossland as the Bulldogs' top of the order came up in the sixth.

“[I’m] trying to not ride him too much as we get towards the end of the year. … so that he has something left in the postseason.” Schlossnagle said.

Crossland tossed for three strikeouts to open up his appearance, and proved to be the staff's final strikeout until Brody Walls caught Kevin Milewski looking in the ninth.

Crossland hit a pair of batters and allowed a single to put two runners on base for Thomas Burns, who would not leave the mound unscathed, allowing Mississippi State to dash in four runs with a three-run homer from nine-hole hitter Nick Myers.

“The difference in the game was the swings they got with two outs,” Schlossnagle said. “The only thing that was ugly is we didn't throw enough strikes after that.”

The Bulldogs added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning to cap off the dominant hitting performance against the Texas bullpen.

Texas will look to take the series in tomorrow’s rubber game against Mississippi State at 1 p.m. CT in Austin.

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