Texas Baseball Explodes for 13 Runs to Salvage Finale Against Tennessee

Casey Borba’s grand slam and a 13-run offensive outburst helped Texas avoid a series sweep in Knoxville.

Texas Longhorns infielder Temo Becerra celebrates after recording an RBI base hit against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. | University of Texas Athletics

After two straight frustrating losses in Knoxville, Texas finally looked alive again Sunday afternoon.

And this time, the bats never let up.

Behind a 13-run offensive outburst and a massive day from Casey Borba, No. 4 Texas avoided a sweep with a 13-6 victory over Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Longhorns scored 13 runs on 10 hits, launched four home runs and chased Tennessee starter Taylor Tracey before the end of the first inning.

The win improved Texas to 37-12 overall and prevented what would have been the Longhorns’ first three-game sweep of the season.

Texas offense explodes early

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

After struggling to generate consistent offense through the first two games of the series, Texas wasted no time Sunday.

Anthony Pack Jr. and Temo Becerra both worked walks in the opening inning before Adrian Rodriguez launched a three-run homer to right field to give Texas an early lead. Moments later, Casey Borba followed with a solo homer of his own as Texas built a 4-0 advantage before Tennessee had even recorded its third out.

The inning forced Tennessee to throw 51 pitches and pull Tracey before the second inning.

Texas kept adding from there.

Pack blasted a solo homer in the third inning, and the Longhorns manufactured another run later in the frame after Becerra doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Borba.

Becerra continued his recent surge at the plate, reaching base five times Sunday. The redshirt senior finished the weekend with eight hits after entering the series in the middle of one of the toughest offensive stretches of his season.

Borba delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon in the sixth inning — a towering grand slam to left field that pushed Texas’ lead to 12-4. The junior now has three home runs over his last six at-bats and moved into a tie for ninth place on Texas’ all-time home run list with 31 career blasts.

Riojas rebounds after rocky first inning

Texas starting pitcher Ruger Riojas | Texas Athletics

Texas needed a response from Ruger Riojas after the pitching staff struggled badly Saturday night.

The right-hander delivered one — eventually.

Tennessee immediately answered Texas’ early four-run inning when Reese Chapman crushed a first-inning grand slam to tie the game at 4-4.

At that point, another chaotic afternoon felt entirely possible. But after the opening inning, Riojas settled in. The junior retired eight of the next 10 batters he faced and did not allow another hit after the first inning.

Thomas Burns and Haiden Leffew handled the rest.

Burns struck out three over a scoreless fifth inning before Leffew delivered one of his sharpest appearances of the season. The left-hander retired eight of the last 10 batters he faced and struck out four across three scoreless innings.

Even after Chapman homered again in the sixth inning, Tennessee never seriously threatened the rest of the afternoon.

Texas will now return home for a series against Missouri beginning Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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