AUSTIN (KXAN) — For the first time since 2002, the Texas baseball team held an opponent scoreless for an entire series after completing a three-game sweep of Cal Poly on Sunday.
The No. 16 Longhorns dispatched the Mustangs 7-0 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field to make every win of the series via shutout, something the program hasn’t done in more than 20 years since they did it to UT-Pan American (now UT-Rio Grande Valley). In 2015, Texas shut out Minnesota for three consecutive games in a series, but that was a four-game set. Texas won the other game of that series 13-2.
While the skies above Austin were pristine blue with no clouds in sight, the Longhorns’ offense brought a bunch of thunder. Texas crushed four home runs, two by Peyton Powell, along with Max Belyeu and Jalin Flores.
“It was a great weekend,” Longhorns head coach David Pierce said. “We had great pitching and defense all weekend, along with some timely hitting. Some of that hitting was with authority, too. It was a complete weekend.”
Powell opened the scoring his first homer of the day, a solo shot in the third inning. Belyeu made it 2-0 with a line-drive homer over the left-field fence in the sixth, and then both Powell and Flores belted long balls in the seventh. Powell’s second homer was a two-run blast and Flores followed it up with a solo homer.
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Belyeu came into the series without a hit and left with his first two home runs of his Texas career.
“Max is a guy that can get a little tight, but once he starts having fun and relaxes, he’s got major power,” Pierce said. “He’s got a skill set that’s awesome. Keeping him in a good comfort where he feels like he’s a contributor and he’s doing things he can control, I think that’s big for Max.”
Belyeu agreed with his coach, saying “it was good to get my confidence back.”
“I was glad to catch a couple of barrels this weekend,” Belyeu said. “The first weekend I might have been pressing a little bit. It was my first start and everything, but then I got back to what was best for me.”
Belyeu also made a terrific defensive play from right field in the first inning, throwing out Cal Poly’s Jake Steels trying to advance from first to third on a hit.
Cody Howard went five strong innings on the mound for the Longhorns, allowing seven hits with three strikeouts in 67 pitches. He forced eight groundouts in 19 batters faced and didn’t allow a walk or hit anybody. Max Grubbs, Gage Boehm and Easton Tumis took care of the game out of the bullpen, combining for two hits over four innings.
Five players for Texas had multiple hits. Powell had an outstanding day with four hits and three RBIs, Thomas had three hits while Belyeu, Rylan Galvan and Casey Borba all notched two hits. Texas had 14 hits in the game and 27 for the series.
Texas (6-1) ends an 8-game homestand Tuesday against St. John’s before hitting the road to Houston for the Astros Foundation College Classic to take on No. 4 Louisiana State on Friday.