Texas baseball blasts five home runs in 14–2 run-rule victory over USC Upstate

You would think after 13 games this season that Texas baseball would slip up at some point, right?

Even some of the best teams in the nation have found themselves dropping games against mid-level opponents.

But not the Longhorns, who, behind a dominant outing from Ruger Riojas and a barrage of home runs, cruised to a 14-2 run-rule victory over USC Upstate Spartans baseball on Friday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Longball Gets Going

Texas infielder Ethan Mendoza is greeted in the dugout. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sometimes it’s just a long-ball kind of night for Texas. And Friday was one of those nights.

The Longhorns hit five home runs from five different players.

Ethan Mendoza got things started early. With a little help from the wind, the second baseman launched a 327-foot home run over the wall in left field — his fourth of the season — to give Texas a 1-0 lead.

USC Upstate briefly tied the game in the second when Gage Griggs blasted a 394-foot home run to left field — the first homer allowed this season by Riojas.

But Texas quickly answered.

First baseman Casey Borba led off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to center field to restore the Longhorns’ lead.

Temo Becerra — the reigning most outstanding player of the Buce Bolt College Classic — wanted in on the fun too. The Stanford transfer crushed a two-run home run to left field in the third, driving in outfielder Aiden Robbins and extending the lead to 4-1.

Becerra has now hit more home runs early in his Texas career than he did during three seasons at Stanford.

And somehow, they didn’t stop there.

Robbins launched a home run of his own to left field in the fifth inning — his fifth of the season — pushing the lead to 6-1.

USC Upstate added a run in the seventh after a walk came around to score on a wild pitch, trimming the lead to 6–2. In the bottom of the inning, catcher Carson Tinney led off with a double and later scored on Becerra’s RBI single, his third RBI of the night. Robbins also scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 8–2.

In the eighth, pinch-hitter Maddox Monsour walked and stole second and third before scoring on a double by Josh Livingston. Robbins added another RBI with a single later in the inning.

The cinematic finish came from true freshman outfielder Anthony Pack Jr..

With two outs and the bases loaded, the freshman launched a grand slam to right-center field for his second career home run to secure the run-rule victory.

“It felt amazing,” Pack said. “I was floating around the bases. I’ve never hit a walk off grand slam in my life. Doing it in front of the Texas crowd, always behind us. It felt great.”

Another Fantastic Outing from Ruger

it's gotta be the 'stache 👨#HookEm | @RugerRiojas_19 pic.twitter.com/zJFwSEMoHI
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) March 7, 2026

At this point, it’s become pretty standard to see a fabulous Friday night outing from Riojas.

While it maybe wasn’t last week’s performance, when he struck out 11 and allowed just one hit against Coastal Carolina, it was still pretty spectacular.

The right-hander struck out a career-high 12 batters in six innings, allowing just one run on four hits while issuing no walks. The win improved Riojas to 4-0 on the season.

The only blemish came in the second inning when USC Upstate second baseman Gage Griggs connected on a solo home run. But other than that, Riojas was everything the Longhorns could have asked of their Friday starter.

“Last week was certainly his A plus game, right?,” Texas head coach Schossnagle said. “You're not going to have that every time. And I thought this was solid for him, and I felt like they were super competitive.”

Texas returns to the Disch on Saturday for the second game of the series, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Central.