Strong Start: Texas Opens Austin Regional With 11-3 Victory Over Air Force

After earning a chance to host a regional following a strong finish to their season, the Texas Longhorns entered Friday knowing the path to Omaha would run through Disch Falk Field. Opening their regional against a familiar opponent in Air Force, the Longhorns started their postseason off as they cruised to an 11-3 victory.

The Longhorns trotted their ace, Pete Hansen, to the mound, and he would deliver exactly what Texas needed in the victory. Hansen was given an early 2-0 lead following a two-run first inning for the Longhorns, as they plated a pair of unearned runs and took advantage of Air Force errors.

Air Force tied it up on a pair of runs in the second and third innings, but Hansen cruised through the lineup. He ultimately gave up one last run in the seventh, finishing his day with 6 2/3 innings of three-run baseball.

Offensively the Longhorns had no trouble getting to the Air Force pitching staff, as they offered Hansen plenty of run support. They broke the game wide open in the 5th inning, which saw them put up five runs to extend the lead from 3-2 to 8-2.

The Longhorns added three more runs on Silas Ardoin's RBI double in the 6th and Austin Todd's two-run double in the seventh to push across the 10th and 11th Texas runs. Skyler Messinger was the MVP offensively for the Longhorns, going 4-for-5 and driving in three runs in the Texas victory.

You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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