It wasn’t the start the fans, players, and first-year Texas head coach, Jim Schlossnagle, hoped for on opening day.  The Horns fell 4-3 to Louisville in extra innings after holding a 2-0 lead from the top of the 2nd inning until 1 out left to get in the bottom of the 9th when pinch hitter Garret Pike singled into right field to score 2 and send the game to the 10th.  

After a 1-out solo shot by freshman Adrian Flores put the Longhorns ahead 3-2, it was up to senior Will Mercer to close out the game. Mercer gave up a lead-off double to Kamua Neighbors, and a sac bunt by Alex Alicia in the next at-bat would advance the runner to 3rd.  Zion Rose would pick up his only hit of the game to drive in Neighbors for the game-tying run.  After issuing a walk to Matt Klein, Mercer was lifted for Andre Duplantier with 1 out and a runner on first.  

Rose and Klein would advance to 2nd and 3rd on a Ryan Galvan passed ball before Duplantier picked up the 2nd out of the inning, striking out Eddie King Jr.  Duplantier hit the next batter, Jake Munroe, to load the bases and would have a 1-2 count on Lucas Moore before giving up the game-winning single just over the leaping reach of Jalin Flores.

And for the Texas Longhorns, the Globe Life nightmare continues.  Texas batters would strike out 16 times en route to their 8th loss at Globe Life in the last 8 games going back to the 2023 season.  Although the Texas offense struggled to put the ball in play, and the late-inning loss was brutal, it wasn’t all bad for the Longhorns.

Newcomers, Jared Spencer and Ruger Riojas, combined for 8.2 innings of outstanding work on the mound; scattering 7 hits, walking 1, striking out 10, and allowing only 2 earned runs.  Spencer was really strong in his first start as a Longhorn, striking out 6.

Sophomore, Will Gasparino, got the scoring started with a booming, opposite-field shot, giving the Longhorns a 2-0 lead that they would hold for the majority of the game.  Freshman, Adrian Rodriguez, would struggle early at the plate but added a blast to right field in the top of the 10th to regain the lead for Texas.

Texas Baseball won’t have to wait long for another opportunity to end the Globe Life curse and looks to bounce back tonight at 7 p.m. CST against the Ole Miss Rebels.  

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