In a common early-season weather pattern, a north wind blowing into right field impacted Saturday’s 3-1 win by the No. 3 Texas Longhorns over the Michigan State Spartans that was keyed by junior center fielder Aiden Robbins hitting for the cycle, capped by an eighth-inning home run that hit the foul pole in right field.
It was the first time that a Texas player has hit for the cycle since shortstop CJ Hinojosa in 2015 with an RBI single in the first inning, a triple in the third inning, and a double in the sixth inning to notch four of the eight hits by the Longhorns.
Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle couldn’t recall the last time he coached a player who hit for the cycle, but Robbins has done it before — on Senior Day in high school at Holy Ghost Prep in Pennsylvania.
“He’s an emotional player in a good way. He plays with emotion, but he’s not emotional, and handles himself well. Loves being here, feeds off the crowd, just really loves playing baseball,” Schlossnagle said of Robbins.
In a pitchers’ duel, the Horns needed to two runs provided by Robbins, as well as an unearned run scored on a passed ball in the seventh inning, thanks to the impressive effort on the mound by Spartans graduate right-hander Carter Monke in perhaps the best start of his career. Monke worked down in the zone with his fastball and threw his changeup regularly to scatter seven hits and allow two runs, one earned, in 6.1 innings. By staying away from elevated pitches, Monke was able to induce 12 groundouts by Texas.
“We have good hitters and the other team’s allowed to play well, too. He’s a senior, so he’s been around and did a great job,” Schlossnagle said.
The wind factored into the low score, too — Schlossnagle estimated that at least one hard-hit ball by Michigan State was kept in the ballpark because of it, in addition to a ball hit by Texas junior catcher Carson Tinney.
The Longhorns also supported good pitching efforts from senior right-hander Luke Harrison, senior right-hander Max Grubbs, and junior right-hander Thomas Burns with strong defensive plays, including a diving catch by Robbins at the warning track in right-center to save a run in the third inning.
At third base, senior Temo Becerra made his own diving play in the eighth inning to end the frame.
Mostly a middle infielder at Stanford, Becerra has made an impressive transition back to the position he played for the Cardinal in 2024.
“He’s worked really hard, he’s made some good adjustments on mechanics just fielding with Tulo, way more sure of himself handling the ball. And now he’s starting to play with some freedom. He’s a fun guy to watch,” Schlossnagle said.
At the plate, Becerra was the only Texas player other than Robbins to record multiple hits on Saturday and is now batting .316 through six games.
“As our guy Chuck Box says, you can’t coach birthdays. A guy that has had that many college at bats, he’s a better guy in the games than he is in practice. His best tool is his heart and his competitiveness and his experience and and he’s playing really well right now,” Schlossnagle said.
Behind the plate, Tinney was phenomenal, throwing out both base runners who tried to steal on him — Texas has yet to allow a stolen base this season.
On the mound, junior left-hander Haiden Leffew made his debut at Texas, replacing Harrison with runners on first and second in the fifth inning and inducing an inning-ending groundout. Then Grubbs pitched three innings without allowing a hit and Burns can on to record his first save of the season by striking out the side with a fastball that sat between 96 and 98 miles per hour.
After winning the series on Saturday, Texas goes for the sweep on Sunday at noon Central on SEC Network+ with sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis on the bump.