Six stellar innings of one-run ball from starter Jared Spencer against Washington on Friday night gave the Texas baseball bullpen plenty of rope to work with.
And the Longhorns’ relievers resolved to use every inch of it.
The Longhorns held onto a 10-9 victory over the Huskies in their first of three games this weekend at the Las Vegas Classic.
The only reliever for Texas (7-1) to pitch a scoreless inning was Max Grubbs, who put together a perfect ninth against the Huskies (3-7) to nail down the save and protect what was once an eight-run Longhorn lead.
Spencer struck out nine batters and allowed four hits and two walks in his third outing for Texas. When he stepped off the mound for the final time in the sixth inning, the Longhorns had managed only two runs of support for him, which both came from solo homers off the bat of Jalin Flores.
Texas exploded for seven runs in the bottom half of the sixth, though, highlighted by a three-run home run by Rylan Galvan. From there, it looked like the Longhorns might win the game via the run rule.
But Texas’ bullpen suffered an implosion of its own in the seventh. Cody Howard allowed five runs and Ruger Riojas gave up another in a six-run Washington inning.
After the Longhorns added an insurance run, Washington struck back with two more, and advanced the tying run to third base with one out against Andre Duplantier in the eighth inning before he escaped with two big strikeouts that extinguished the final Washington threat of the night.
The Longhorns are set to play Texas Tech on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Las Vegas.
Max Grubbs came on to nail down the victory for the Longhorns, pitching a perfect ninth inning.
The Huskies struck for two more runs against Andre Duplantier, but he picked up a pair of key strikeouts with the tying run on third base to preserve the lead.
It was Texas’ turn to suffer a bullpen implosion in the seventh inning. The Longhorns needed three pitchers to get three outs, with Washington collecting eight hits in the frame – seven singles and a grand slam for AJ Guerrero. By the end of the inning, five runs were charged to Cody Howard and one run was charged to Ruger Riojas, with Thomas Burns coming on to execute an escape act.
Spencer continued his dominant outing with three strikeouts in the sixth, bringing his total to nine for the night. In the bottom half of the inning, Texas finally got to Banks a bit. Kimble Schuessler’s two-run single that chased Banks from the game and made it 4-1 Longhorns. Cole Chamberlain then came through with a two-run base knock that extended the lead to 6-1.
The Longhorns weren’t done. Catcher Rylan Galvan finished off the rally with a three-run, opposite-field home run.
Max Banks has spent the night tearing through just about everyone in the Texas lineup not named Jalin Flores. The shortstop’s second solo shot of the night gave the Longhorns a 2-1 lead in the fifth.
The Longhorns and Huskies are locked in a pitchers’ duel in Las Vegas. Jared Spencer has allowed just one hit with five strikeouts through four innings for UT, while Washington’s Max Banks has given up two hits with five whiffs of his own.
Washington’s Cooper Whitton took Jared Spencer deep to know the game at 1-1 in the top half of the third. The Longhorns went down in order in their half of the inning.
After a five-pitch inning from Jared Spencer, Jalin Flores put the Longhorns on the board first with a solo shot. He slugged his first homer of the season by lifting a 3-2 breaking ball out to left field.
Jared Spencer worked around a Jalin Flores error and a walk to work a scoreless first inning for the Longhorns. In the bottom half of the inning, Ethan Mendoza’s leadoff single was erased by another double play.
What time does Texas baseball play Washington today?
- Time: 8:40 p.m. CT
- Date: Feb. 28
- Location: Las Vegas Ballpark in Las Vegas
How to watch Texas baseball vs Washington today
- TV: N/A
- Streaming: D1Baseball (subscription required)
- Radio: The Longhorn Radio Network
Texas lineup
- 2B Ethan Mendoza
- RF Max Belyeu
- CF Will Gasparino
- 3B Adrian Rodriguez
- 1B Kimble Schuessler
- SS Jalin Flores
- DH Cole Chamberlain
- LF Tommy Farmer IV
- C Rylan Galvan
Washington lineup
- SS Sam DeCarlo
- RF AJ Guerrero
- C Colton Bower
- 3B Trevor Kole
- 1B Casen Taggart
- CF Malakhi Knight
- RF Jackson Hotchkiss
- DH Cooper Whitton
- 2B Blake Wilson
Texas baseball starting pitcher
- LHP Jared Spencer
Washington baseball starting pitcher
- RHP Max Banks
Reach Texas Insider David Eckert via email at deckert@gannett.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access
