The Good, Bad and Ugly from Texas Baseball's Win vs. UTRGV

While the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country fell to their midweek showdown, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns did not have much trouble against the UTRGV Vaqueros on Tuesday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas.

The Longhorns flexed their muscles at the plate and on the hill, run-ruling the Vaqueros, 14-0 for their second consecutive midweek run rule of the season.

Texas improves to 8-0 and will head into a competitive field this weekend at the Bruce Bolt College Classic in Houston.

The Good: Sam Cozart Dominates In His First Start

give ‘em the heater 🔥#HookEm pic.twitter.com/yEzS8bqXbG
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) February 25, 2026

Cozart was impressive during his first appearance of the season last week against the Lamar Cardinals. His four innings on the mound against the Cardinals were so impressive that head coach Jim Schlossnagle and pitching coach Max Weiner gave the freshman the keys to the mound on Tuesday against UTRGV.

Although Cozart allowed a single to fly past him on the first pitch of the game, he let that early blip phase him down the stretch. The big-framed freshman mowed through the rest of the Vaqueros' batting order, striking out eight and walking just three.

“I don't keep count at all. Honestly. I forget the last pitch I threw. I work on just focusing and being present,” Cozart said. “At the end of the day, I don't know how many [strikeouts] I had until I'm told, and I was just excited to be able to throw strikes at a high level.”

Schlossnagle noted he could’ve kept Cozart out there longer than four innings, but wanted to see different guys on the mound.

The Bad: Tough Night At The Plate For Adrian Rodriguez

Although the Vaqueros' pitching was nothing to write home about, with their seven pitcher allowing 15 hits, 14 runs, and two home runs, seemingly only Rodriguez struggled at the plate tonight, striking out twice, his highest of the season.

The Longhorn shortstop went 1-5 at the plate – his only hit being a timely lead-off double in the bottom of the sixth inning, jumped start Texas’ final offensive explosion of the night. While Rodriguez did not have his usual offensive performance, the rest of the order was able to pick up the slack.

The Ugly: Longhorns Bullpen

Texas may have one of the best starting rotations in the country with Ruger Riojas, Luke Harrison, Dylan Volantis for their weekend pitchers, and now Cozart asserting himself in that role for Tuesday. The Longhorns relief pitching still leaves a lot to be desired, especially on the midweek games.

Cozart set the tone with a dominant start, but once he was pulled in the top of the fifth inning for pitcher Cal Higgins, the wheels started to fall off.

Higgins opened up his second relief appearance, nailing a Vaquero batter on his first pitch of the night, and it did not get much better for him. Schlossnagle saw enough after four batters, swapping out Higgins for Hudson Hamilton after two walks.

“I think he was excited, he was warming up at 93, 94 miles an hour, which is a lot, that's where we'd like him to pitch. And so I feel like he was just really trying to do a great job,” Schlossnagle said of Higgins' performance. “When you don't pitch a ton and you may be a little rusty.”

Jason Flores, the Tuesday starter to open up the season, made his first relief appearance in the sixth inning. Striking out the first batter he saw, Flores allowed a pair of singles later in the inning but was able to make it of the inning unscathed.

Despite the Vaqueros building up some momentum late, the Longhorns relievers were able to hold on to the season's second shutout.