No. 2 Texas baseball hadn’t faced much adversity through its first 16 games, cruising throughout the early part of the season —building an unbeaten 16-0 record as it reached Southeastern Conference play.
And in their conference opener, the Longhorns took on the Ole Miss Rebels and were handed their first loss of the season as the Rebels took down the previously unbeaten Longhorns, 9-8 in 11 innings after a late-inning collapse from Texas.
“I heard someone say one time you either win or you learn,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “And I know we didn’t win the ball game, but we certainly learned more about our team, and it stinks to have it happen that way.”
Senior pitcher Ruger Riojas made his usual Friday night start and got himself into some trouble after two clean innings to start the ballgame in the third inning.
Riojas would surrender a leadoff single, followed by a walk with no outs in the inning, and in the subsequent three at-bats, the Rebels would find their three runs of the game.
The Longhorns wouldn’t trail for long as they responded quickly in the bottom of the third inning with a big help from the bottom of the lineup as the eighth and ninth hole hitters drew walks to flip the batting order for Texas and serve up a big chance for junior infielder Ethan Mendoza.
And the junior would deliver on the opportunity, crushing the first pitch he saw in the at-bat for a three-run jack, a home run that would square the scoreboard at three.
After that, it appeared to be all burnt orange as junior infielder Casey Borba got a hold of a pitch for a solo shot in the very next inning, and what looked to be a potential dagger was a three-run home run from freshman outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. in the eighth inning.
The Rebels battled down the stretch after trailing 7-3 headed into the ninth inning, finding a lone run early in the ninth inning and then flipping the game upside down with the bases loaded. Ole Miss senior outfielder Tristan Bissetta promptly unloaded the bases with a grand slam to give the Rebels an 8-7 lead.
Texas dug in and didn’t go away from the fire as senior infielder Temo Becerra entered the batter’s box with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and muscled away a full-count pitch through the right side for an RBI-single to even up the ballgame.
Ultimately, the Longhorns were unable to close out the matchup, as with the bases loaded for the Rebels, Longhorns senior pitcher Max Grubbs walked a batter and allowed the runner from third to score freely to give Ole Miss a 9-8 lead into the bottom of the eleventh inning.
And Texas, unable to muster up another late-stage comeback, was held at bay and handed its first loss of the season.
“I’m really proud of the guys, giving up a five-spot in the ninth and coming back,” Schlossnagle said. “You put yourself in that scenario more often than not; it’s going to turn our way, but it didn’t tonight.”
The Longhorns will look to even up the series on Saturday as they return to the field for the second of three games against the Rebels, with first pitch slated for 2:30 p.m. CT.