No. 4 Texas' Bats Explode in Third Inning, Take Series From No. 10 Mississippi State

No. 4 Texas needed a statement at the plate after a dismal performance, leaving 17 runners on base in yesterday’s loss to No. 10 Mississippi State.

The Longhorns quickly fell behind by five runs, capped off with a full count grand slam from Bryce Chance to give the Bulldogs a commanding lead in the first inning. Two innings later, Texas batted around the order and drove in nine runs, a season high in a single inning, to give the Longhorns the lead and the victory.

Texas takes its seventh Southeastern Conference series, beating Mississippi State, 10-6, in Sunday’s rubber match at UFCU Disch Falk Field in Austin.

“That was not the greatest start to the day, but [Luke Harrison] found himself and kept us in the ball game,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Then they gave us some free bases in the third inning, and then we put a bunch of good swings.”

‘Horns Play Their Best Ball On Sunday

Texas baseball, Luke Harrison — Texas Longhhorns graduate pitcher Luke Harrison throws the "Horns Up" after a start | Texas Athletics

Under the pressure of dropping the series in the rubber match on Sunday, the Longhorns have shown up time and time again. In conference play, the Longhorns have gone 6-1 on Sundays, first anchored by Dylan Volantis and now Luke Harrison.

Harrison got off to a rocky start, walking a pair of batters and tossing for two strikes, almost getting out of the inning without any runs. Allowing Mississippi State to drive in a run on an RBI single to Jacob Parker, Harrison loaded up the bases with his third walk of the inning.

The Longhorns would find themselves down 5-0, after Chance rocketed his first home run of the season for a Grand Slam. Harrison quickly racked up a high count, tossing for 41 pitches in just the first inning alone.

Harrison was able to recover, ending his afternoon off in the fifth inning with nine strikeouts and allowing just one hit following his tough first inning.

“There's a moment where I was down and just kind of took a moment with Coach Max [Weiner]. … We made a Game of Thrones reference. We talked about Hodor, just hold the line,” Harrison said. “It was just a moment to really gather myself and get back to what matters, and that's the next thing — the next pitch.”

Texas retired two Mississippi State pitchers — starter Charlie Foster and relief pitcher Jack Gleason — in its third inning fury.

Foster walked three batters in a row before hitting catcher Carson Tinney for a bases-loaded walk to drive in the Longhorns' first run of the inning. With zero outs, the Texas bats started to pile on, against Gleason, Anthony Pack Jr. and Adrian Rodriguez, both hit 2 RBI singles

Temo Beccera and Casey Borba hit back-to-back doubles, driving in a combined three runs in identical places down the left field line. Aiden Robbins capped off the scoring onslaught, hitting the left field gap to send Maddox Monsour home for the season-high nine runs in a single inning.

“I thought we did a good job shrinking the strike zone and making Foster throw the ball in the zone. And then we got some swings off on some guys.” Schlossnagle said. “They're down a big pitcher, which affects their bullpen. And we felt like, if we could just keep it close, then we could maybe catch up. Luckily, we pitched well enough, made enough plays.”

The Longhorns and Bulldogs would add just one run apiece to the scoreboard, with Rodrigez and Beccera hitting back-to-back extra base hits in the fourth. Parker cashed in a triple in the sixth inning on his first pitch against Haiden Leffew and reached home on Vytas Valincius' groundout.

With the game in control, Leffew, Brett Crossland, and Sam Cozart were able to hold off Mississippi State despite combining for five walks. In Cozart’s appearance in the eighth, the Texas defense came up with a big double play and another pick at first from Casey Borba to close the inning.

“He's done that for me the whole year in the whole infield,” Rodriguez said about Borba. “I think it's been a big factor in our defense this year.”

Texas will face the UTSA Roadrunners for its final midweek game of the season on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT in Austin.

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