Texas Baseball Shuts Down Michigan State Offense in Sweep: Longhorns Notebook

While there is no such thing as a sure thing in college baseball, some series and some games will be a bit easier to win than others. Coming into this weekend, however, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (7-0) knew they'd be in for a fight against a talented Michigan State Spartans (2-4) squad.

This proved to be no problem for the Longhorns at all. They made sure not to overlook the Spartans and handled their business with relative ease, with both the pitching staff and offense firing on all cylinders en route to an impressive sweep to remain perfect on the season through their first seven games.

Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns’ sweep of the Spartans.

Texas got the job done in dominant fashion against the Spartans

Texas Longhorns second baseman Ethan Mendoz — Texas infielder Ethan Mendoza (5) is greeted in the dugout after scoring against Tennessee in the SEC Baseball Tournament. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Pitching shoves again

Once again, the star of the weekend for the Longhorns in their sweep of the Spartans was the pitching staff. It was the projected strength for this team coming into the season and has undoubtedly been the case so far through seven games.

Friday saw staff ace Ruger Riojas deliver yet another gem. He tossed six innings and tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts, shutting down the Spartans in the 8-1 win. While Luke Harrison was a bit off his usual game on Saturday, the bullpen trio of Haiden Leffew, Max Grubbs and Thomas Burns came in behind him to pitch 4.2 shutout innings.

And to no one’s surprise, Dylan Volantis was Dylan Volantis in the finale. In complete control throughout his outing, the southpaw twirled seven shutout innings while scattering five hits and recording a career-high nine strikeouts in the 4-0 victory -- with the staff as whole allowing only one run in th

Struck first all three games

Prior to this weekend, Texas had dealt with a recurring issue in its first four games. That, of course, being having to play from behind. In three of those games, a comeback was needed after opponents scored first.

This was not the case against Michigan State. All three games saw the Longhorns take the lead first and take advantage of that with an impressive sweep. Of course, playing from behind in those contests didn’t ultimately matter. That being said, they will look to make striking first the norm – especially as conference play approaches.

Well-rounded offense

As the game of baseball has evolved, it isn’t uncommon for teams to become overly reliant on launching home runs. That’s not inherently bad, however it can lead to a feast or famine showing at the plate. The Longhorns themselves have fallen victim to this mindset in recent years.

The opener featured three home runs for the Longhorns and the second saw only one – a solo home run for Aiden Robbins to complete the cycle . Other than that, they showed they can plate runs both playing small ball and with an ability to rack up extra base hits.

If they can continue to do this and put pressure on pitchers, then the Longhorns offense will have no issue putting up runs as the season develops.

What’s next for Texas?

The Longhorns wrap up their eight-game home stand to start the season, hosting the UTRGV Vaqueros on Tuesday evening from UFCU Disch-Falk Field at 6:30 p.m. CT.