No. 2 Texas Shows Resilience in Comeback Win Over Texas State: Longhorns Notebook

A sigh of relief was heard across the city of Austin following the conclusion of the No. 2 Texas Longhorns' (24-4) midweek contest against the Texas State Bobcats (19-9) on Tuesday evening.

It's hard to blame them, though, especially after they had watched the Longhorns drop back-to-back midweek games against the Tarleton State Texans and Houston Cougars between their dominant series wins in SEC play.

For part of this game it appeared to be headed in a similar direction. Trailing 3-0 after the first inning and then 5-3 after the fifth, things did not look great for Texas. Then the bats roared to life with a six-spot in the sixth and would add another run on an Ethan Mendoza in the eighth, holding on to secure a 10-8 win and break a midweek losing skid.

Three key takeaways from Texas' midweek win over Texas State

Texas Longhorns outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. — Texas Longhorns' outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. celebrates a grand slam against the USC Upstate Spartans. | Texas Longhorns Athletic

Bing delivers in relief

As the season progresses, midweek games become more valuable for bullpen arms looking to show they can be valuable weekend pieces. Knowing this, Kade Bing was up to the task in relief against the Bobcats in this one.

Following Grubbs, Bign entered in the second inning and proceeded to give Texas a solid three innings of relief. While he did give up one run on a solo home run, the veteran provided stability when the Longhorns found themselves trailing early.

In what has been an up and down showing for the bullpen so far in conference play, the possible emergence of Bing could bode well down the home stretch.

Clutch two out hitting

Entering the bottom of the sixth, the Longhorns trailed 5-3 and looked lifeless at the plate. A leadoff Casey Borba home run made it 5-4 and then they eventually had two on with two outs after a Maddox Monsour fly out to left.

What looked like it could be a wasted inning quickly changed, though, as Ethan Mendoza came up with a two-run double and was followed by an RBI single from Carson Tinney. Anthony Pack Jr. would add one of his own and it was suddenly 9-5.

Any time when you can produce two runs to that degree is going to end well for you, as the Longhorns displayed in their win over Texas State.

Home woes broken against Texas State

A home-and-home series against the Bobcats has been a staple of the Texas schedule in recent seasons. Unfortunately, though, wins have been extremely hard to come to by when playing them at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The last time the Longhorns won beat Texas State in Austin was 2021. That trend was finally bucked in this one. While it wasn't always easy, the Longhorns did overcome an early deficit and then staved off a late rally to vanquish Texas State and keep the momentum rolling heading into another conference series.

What’s next for Texas?

The Longhorns face another quick turnaround ahead of their conference series, as they’ll hit the road to open a three-game set against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. CT.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.