The Good, The Bad and The Ugly From No. 2 Texas Baseball’s Loss to Houston

Tuesdays are starting to become a problem for No. 2 Texas Baseball.

The Longhorns dropped their second straight midweek game Tuesday night, completely blowing a seven-run lead in a 9–7 loss to Houston at Schroeder Park.

Here’s everything good, bad and ugly from the defeat.

The Good — Early control (without the hits)

Texas Longhorns' Casey Borba (31) swings at the ball as Auburn Tigers take on Texas Longhorns. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For five innings, Texas was in complete command. Even doing so without swinging the bats all that well.

The Longhorns scored seven runs on just two hits through the first five frames, taking full advantage of Houston’s lack of command. Eleven walks, two hit batters and three errors handed Texas opportunity after opportunity, and to its credit, it capitalized enough to build a 7–0 cushion.

Ethan Mendoza’s two-run double provided the only real extra-base damage, but the lineup still found ways to manufacture runs through patience and discipline at the plate.

Meanwhile, on the mound, starter Jason Flores delivered a much-needed steady outing. The sophomore tossed three innings of one-hit ball, showing improved command and confidence after a shaky start to his season.

For a while, it looked like Texas was trending back in the right direction, and perhaps last week’s midweek loss to Tarleton State may have just been a blip.

The Bad — Missed chances to bury the game

Texas Longhorns' Adrian Rodriguez (24) swings at the ball as Auburn Tigers take on Texas Longhorns. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A seven-run lead should be more than enough, but Texas made sure it wasn’t. Again.

Despite constant traffic on the bases, the Longhorns never landed the knockout punch. They finished with just three hits on the night and went quiet in key moments, failing to add on against a very poor Houston pitching staff.

Outside of Mendoza’s double, there was no big swing or momentum-sealing inning, like the Longhorns had been accustomed to earlier this season.

The Longhorns essentially asked their pitching staff to be perfect over the final four innings.

Well, we all know what happened there.

The Ugly — Another late-inning meltdown from the bullpen

Texas pitcher Max Grubbs (38) throws a pitch in game two of the Big 12 baseball series. | Chase Seabolt/For the Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

There’s no way around it; this is becoming a pattern.

Texas surrendered nine unanswered runs, including six across the seventh and eighth innings, in another bullpen collapse.

The trouble began in the fifth when reliever Brody Walls loaded the bases, putting Ethan Walker in a difficult spot after entering with one out. Houston pushed across three runs in the inning, highlighted by a two-run single from Tre Broussard.

Then came a solo home run from former Longhorn Easton Winfield. Defensive mistakes from Adrian Rodriguez and Andrew Ermis helped Houston claw back, and the bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding.

Texas pitchers walked five batters and hit three more, continuing a troubling trend of free passes in high-leverage moments. Every reliever who entered contributed to the unraveling in some way, as Houston took full advantage of every mistake.

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