COLLEGE STATION, Texas — No. 2 Texas brought the tying tally to the plate in the ninth, but the Longhorns dropped the series opener to No. 18 Texas A&M, 9-8, at Blue Bell Park on Friday night.
In an affair that featured six lead changes, Texas (27-6, 9-4 SEC) smacked four home runs, including back-to-back solo shots with the Longhorns down to their final two outs.
Clayton Freshcorn bounced back by inducing a ground out and a pop out to secure the Aggies (26-7, 7-5 SEC) a victory. Freshcorn recorded the last nine outs to earn his seventh save of the season.
In the defeat, Aiden Robbins notched his second career multi-homer performance, smacking a go-ahead two-run blast in the fifth and a 421-foot jack in the final frame. Robbins’ second home run of the evening marked his team-leading 13th round-tripper, surpassing his two-year total at Seton Hall. The junior added a single in the third, setting up the game’s first run.
Three pitches after Robbins’ ninth-inning dinger, Anthony Pack Jr. powered a 377-foot rocket to pull Texas within one. Pack Jr. also kickstarted the Longhorns’ offense, breaking the scoreless tilt with a sacrifice fly to follow Robbins’ base hit. The freshman reached safely three times and plated two tallies.
Meanwhile, Carson Tinney launched his fifth home run in 11 at-bats, delivering a go-ahead two-run shot in the sixth. Tinney’s 12th homer put the visitors back in front, 6-4.
Texas A&M responded by scoring five unanswered, highlighted by a three-run sixth.
Southpaw Ethan Daren (3-0) collected the win. Darden pitched two innings in relief of starter Shane Sdao, who exited with no outs in the fifth.
Texas left-hander Haiden Leffew (2-1) was tagged with his first loss in burnt orange. Leffew yielded a pair of runs despite not allowing a hit. The Aggies drew three walks off of the junior.
The Longhorns will look to even the series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.