No. 2 Texas Longhorns Thrash Incarnate Word Cardinals in Run Rule

For most of the night, it looked more like a cat sadistically playing with its already dead prey, or in the context of this game, a giant Longhorn stomping a little songbird repeatedly into the ground.

By the third inning, the No. 2 Texas Longhorns were already up by 11 runs over the far outmatched Incarnate Word Cardinals, but baseball still had to be played for another four innings. The Longhorns closed out the night with another midweek run-rule, 16-4 in a very uncompetitive game at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin.

“We've proven both positively and negatively that our focus hasn't been consistent in the midweek games,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. Today [I] try to approach it a different way in terms of my conversation with the team... I thought we responded well.”

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The Cardinals' pitchers struggled all night commanding the plate, giving the Longhorns plenty of free bases from simple walks, defensive errors, or simply poor fielding in both the infield and outfield.

Texas pounced on the opportunity early. In the first three innings, the Longhorns scored 13 runs, set up by the poor control of the Cardinals' pitching staff.

Every starter reached base safely against UIW and batted around the order twice in back-to-back innings. It was a much-needed tune-up game following a less-than-stellar series against South Carolina.

“I felt like for the most part, our at-bats until the very end, when the game was out of hand,” Schlossnagle said. “I thought our bats were solid, and Mendoza certainly looked good. Tinney, he continues to swing the bat well.”

Texas tattooed the first two runs on the board, set up by two simultaneous steals by second baseman Ethan Mendoza and Texas catcher and designated hitter Carson Tinney.

Mendoza drew the first run on a wild pitch during left fielder Anthony Pack Jr.’s at-bat. Tinney came in for the second on Pack Jr.'s ground out for an early 2-0 lead at the end of the first.

Then the night started to get ugly for Incarnate Word's pitchers. Emir Encalada got the nod in relief in the second and quickly loaded up the bases with a walk, hitting a batter, and letting up a single to outfielder Jayden Duplainter.

Encalada, feeling the pressure, was not able to escape the inning. Mendoza drove in the first run on a groundout, and a wild pitch allowed another two to come in.

Cardinals pitcher Jose Bludau replaced Encalada in the middle of the inning, but did not find much success either. Faced with third baseman Casey Borba, Bludau let up a two-run double, along with an error in the outfield, clearing the bases for three runs.

Texas first baseman Ashton Larson drove in the sixth run of the inning, sending Borba home two at-bats later.

The hitting onslaught did not stop in the third — the Longhorns tattooed another six-run innings, retiring two more Cardinals pitchers to go up 14-3. UIW would finally end the inning with their only double play of the night.

With the game firmly in hand, the Longhorns let off the gas, outside of two home runs by Mendoza and Tinney’s third monster shot of the season in the fourth inning to cap off the dominant scoring assault.

“I'm a big guy, so that helps me get some power, give and take to that. That's why I don't have as many bags as I would like,” Tinney said. “When I make contact, it’s pretty hard.”

Texas’ pitching staff had a solid night, with Kade Bing making his first start since May 2025, and found early success in his first two frames. He allowed one hit and three runs, with the damage piling up in the third inning.

The Longhorns bullpen closed out the night with a solid performance, with the four allowing just one hit, zero walks, and five strikeouts, three of them coming from Hudson Hamilton’s 1.2 innings of play.

Texas will face the No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies on Friday at 7 p.m. at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas.

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