Texas came into this mid-week matchup battling the odds, even as the clearly favored roster and home team.
[Sign up for Inside Texas for 50% off! Get the latest on the Longhorns HERE]
Texas State, which Texas had obliterated three weeks ago in San Marcos, had won four straight games in Austin, dating back to 2022.
Additionally, the Longhorns had dropped both midweek games since that big win in San Marcos to Tarleton State and Houston, teams Texas clearly should be beating. Instead, they combined for five hits, and both the hitters and pitchers left a lot to be desired.
It felt like the perfectly crafted bitter cocktail of defeat coming into this one. That sentiment only grew stronger as Texas State shot out to a 5-3 lead off the back of multiple long balls on different Texas pitchers through five innings. As the bottom of the sixth came around, Texas had just 12 outs to tie the game up, having notched just one hit and two total base runners in the last three innings against inexperienced Bobcat arms.
That was until a bomb was dropped onto The Disch, courtesy of Casey Borba. The BorBomb was back for the ninth time in March.
Borba started the scoring, as Texas would put up five more runs in the inning.
Temo Becerra and Jayden Duplantier each walked, but with two outs and the top of the order coming up, Texas had to spark a rally.
Ethan Mendoza stepped in and was ready to pounce, swinging on the first pitch and rifling his second double of the game to right-center, scoring both runners as Duplantier flew around the bases to score.
“I think a big thing is staying positive with the team, not letting other people know you’re not doing good,” Mendoza said about getting over his slump from weeks prior. “One thing you can control is defense. Hitting is going to come and go, but you can always play good defense. And just making sure that I’m perfect in that.”
Carson Tinney would knock Mendoza in on the second pitch of the AB, then Aiden Robbins singled on his first pitch. Then Anthony Pack would do it again on his second pitch, scoring both thanks to a poor throw from the CF.
In just six pitches, Texas had knocked in five runs with four hits, the first sign of aggression all game from the Texas bats, and a welcome one. It was the catalyst that brought Texas its first midweek win in three weeks, 10-8 over Texas State.
“When you look up at this video board and the guy’s got no walks, he’s a good pitcher,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said about his aggressive calls. “We weren’t going to be taking pitches against Smith, we were ready to hit.”
Of course, this game wasn’t going to just end easily for the Longhorns. The weekday bullpen struggles continued, as Ethan Walker gave up three runs before even getting his second out in the seventh. Texas had to burn star RHP Brett Crossland in a game they probably wouldn’t have wanted to.
Crossland would plow through the eighth inning in his typical dominant fashion, and Mendoza capped off his great night with another big-time swing.
A career high six homers in one season, Mendoza gave Texas some much needed insurance with this blast. He finished the night 3/4 with 3 R, 3 RBI and all three hits going for extra bases.
But Texas clung to just that two-run lead heading into the ninth, and they had to burn another important weekend arm in Sam Cozart.
Well, burn is putting it too harshly. Cozart took just eight pitches to go 1-2-3 at the top of Texas State’s order, taking down the Bobcats in Austin for the first time since 2021, 10-8.
Texas moves to 24-4 with the win, a much-needed one after their history against Texas State, and their recent midweek performances. They’ll travel east to Columbia to face South Carolina over the weekend, starting on Thursday.