{"id":245719,"date":"2026-04-12T01:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T01:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/245719\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T01:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T01:11:09","slug":"big-first-inning-sinks-longhorns-as-texas-am-clinches-lone-star-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/245719\/","title":{"rendered":"Big First Inning Sinks Longhorns as Texas A&M Clinches Lone Star Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

All season, when the Texas Longhorns failed to pull out a Friday night win<\/a>, Luke Harrison had been there to stop the bleeding on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The formula felt automatic \u2014 drop game 1, then reset behind an ace-level start from Harrison. He delivered that kind of performance three times already this season, against Ole Miss, Auburn and South Carolina.<\/p>\n

That same Harrison magic was not present Saturday, when Texas A&M erupted for eight runs against the left-hander. The Aggies built a seven-run lead that never came close to shrinking in an 11-4 win that clinched the Lone Star Showdown series and handed Texas its first SEC series loss of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An hour-and-40-minute rain delay in the perilous bottom of the first only deepened the damage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harrison knocked out early as Aggies strike fast\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns pitcher Luke Harrison stares into the box before throwing a pitch. | University of Texas Athletics<\/p>\n

After Friday night\u2019s emotional opener, one would figure the Longhorns would be more resilient to the deafening Blue Bell Park environment.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Inning one looked promising enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ethan Mendoza ripped a double off the wall after Texas A&M center fielder Caden Sorrell couldn\u2019t bring it in at the fence. Mendoza later moved to third on a Carson Tinney flyout and scored the game\u2019s first run on a Boston Kellner error.<\/p>\n

But subsequent innings proved the Longhorns indeed could not overcome the suffocating atmosphere. <\/p>\n

Texas A&M opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles off Harrison, then Nico Partida delivered a two-run double with the bases loaded. Then the rain came, and a 98-minute subsequent delay followed. <\/p>\n

When play resumed, Bear Harrison added a two-run double, Gavin Grahovac followed with a three-run triple, and Sorrell capped the outburst with an RBI double as Texas A&M stacked hit after hit in an eight-run frame.<\/p>\n

Harrison was pulled after recording just two outs, charged with a career-high eight earned runs on 44 pitches. It marked the first time in his Texas tenure he had allowed more than four earned runs in a weekend start.<\/p>\n

He entered the day with a 2.72 ERA. He left with it sitting at 4.33.<\/p>\n

“When a pitcher’s on, he’s going to be competitive against any offense,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “But when he’s not, that’s going to bloody you pretty quick.”<\/p>\n

Bullpen settles, but damage already done\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas pitcher Max Grubbs (38) throws a pitch in game two of the Big 12 baseball. | Chase Seabolt\/For the Avalanche-Journal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n

Max Grubbs entered in relief but was tagged for another run on a Kellner sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n

Brody Walls quieted the storm for a short while, allowing just one hit across 3 2\/3 innings. But even he could not keep the Aggies at bay, allowing a two-run home run by Sorrell in the sixth. By then, the game had long since tilted out of reach.<\/p>\n

Aiden Robbins did his part to keep Texas alive, launching two solo home runs \u2014 his 15th of the season and third multi-homer game in SEC play. Josh Livingston also went deep, but the lineup never produced sustained pressure.<\/p>\n

But after the horrid first inning, there was simply nothing the Longhorns could do, even against an Aggie bullpen that has been inconsistent in conference play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas will try to avoid its first sweep at the hands of Texas A&M since 1991 when the series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park in College Station.<\/p>\n

“When you pray for the opportunity to be good at responding to adversity, then you get opportunities to do it,” Schlossnagle said. “That’s what a baseball season brings. And so I asked (the team) to go find out what their response is. And they certainly have the tools to be able to go do that.”<\/p>\n

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