AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 15 Texas scored 35 runs to post a 3-0 record at the Las Vegas Classic, capping the perfect run with a wild 15-6 win over Illinois on Sunday.
Texas had nine RBIs with two outs and collected 17 hits, hitting .550 with runners in scoring position to move their record to 9-1.
Six Longhorns had multiple hits against the Fighting Illini, and outfielder Max Belyeu tore the cover off the ball. He hit three doubles to finish the game 4 for 6 with three RBIs. Jalin Flores hit a pair of doubles and drove in two runs while Adrian Rodriguez, Max Borba, Ethan Mendoza and Easton Winfield all had two hits. Tommy Farmer IV drove in two runs with a double in the 9-run sixth inning.
“This time last week, we weren’t in the greatest place offensively,” Longhorns he ad coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “All the work we put in showed up this weekend. We won games in different ways.”
Texas trailed 6-1 after 3 1/2 innings following a 5-run outburst by Illinois in the top of the fourth. The Longhorns answered with four in the bottom half, highlighted by a Belyeu RBI double, and the deficit was 6-5 after four.
Then the dam broke for Texas. Flores doubled home Belyeu, Borba hit a 2-run single, Farmer smacked his double and Belyeu came back to the plate and smacked a 2-run double to cap the monster frame.
Belyeu said the team showed its toughness at the plate not just Sunday, but the entire weekend.
“We take every at-bat individually and chip away, try not to do too much,” he said. “I loved the way we competed.”
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Max Grubbs picked up the win in relief for Texas, taking over for starter Kade Bing with one out in the fourth inning. Grubbs tossed 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
For the weekend, Texas smacked 40 hits and raised its team batting average to .297 and on-base percentage to .396.
Texas 10, Texas Tech 5
There’s certainly no love lost between the former Big 12 Conference rivals, but the Longhorns put this one away early Saturday, building a 10-1 lead after five innings. The Red Raiders scored four runs in the final three innings, but that wasn’t nearly enough to catch the Longhorns.
Mendoza went 2-for-5 with four RBIs, including a 3-run home run in the second inning. Will Gasparino also hit a home run in the frame and Rylan Galvan drove in two runs with a double.
Rodriguez hit a solo homer in the fifth, and the Longhorns overcame four fielding errors with their big bats, notching 11 hits.
Luke Harrison picked up his second win of the season, allowing one run on six hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in five innings. Dylan Volantis earned his first collegiate save the hard way, going three innings and striking out five. He allowed two runs, both unearned, on four hits.
Texas 10, Washington 9
Things went sideways late in the game Friday, but the Longhorns hung on after taking a 9-1 lead in the sixth.
Texas built its lead on a Flores solo homer in the fifth and a Galvan 3-run homer in the sixth. Kimble Schuessler and Cole Chamberlain also drove in runs with 2-run singles in the 7-run sixth.
The Huskies didn’t go away quietly and posted six runs in the seventh and two in the eighth, but Grubbs worked a perfect ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.
Jared Spencer was great as the starting pitcher, throwing six innings and allowing one run on four hits with nine strikeouts and two walks.
Mendoza, Farmer, Flores and Rodriguez all had two hits for the Longhorns.
The Longhorns are back in action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at UFC Disch-Falk Field against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
