No. 2 Texas Baseball loses 15 inning contest 5-4

Saturday’s game was a miserable five hours of baseball for Texas Longhorn fans.

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Texas baseball fell 5-4 against unranked Kentucky in a 15-inning, unending, and pain-inducing matchup that saw the Longhorns strike out 18 times and lose on a bunt attempt that scored a runner all the way from first.

It started as a fairly regular game for Texas, with a three-run fourth inning breaking open a batting drought thanks to a Jalin Flores two-run homer. Even with Luke Harrison giving up his third run in the fifth inning and having to be taken out before the inning could end, Texas looked to be in a good spot heading into the end of the game.

The Longhorns were up 4-3 after eight innings, riding some strong performances from rare bullpen arms like Aiden Moffett and Jason Flores. When Dylan Volantis shut down a potential rally in the eighth inning, it felt like the man with a 0 ERA in SEC play was bound to take the game, and the series, home.

Unfortunately, outfielder Ethan Hindle had other plans, smacking a leadoff home run in the ninth and putting Texas at risk of giving up a walk-off homer.

Volantis, however, stabilized, and Texas was out of the inning with a chance to win it in extras.

What ensued was one of the worst six innings of Texas baseball all season. It took 3 2/3 innings starting at the top of the ninth for Texas to string together a single base hit. Even when Tommy Farmer IV broke that streak, Ethan Mendoza grounded out one pitch later.

Texas’ next hit came in the 15th inning, marking the first time Texas had two runners on or a runner in scoring position since the eighth inning. Mendoza singled, followed by Rylan Galvan pulling a ball through the 5-6 hole.

With one out, Will Gasparino and Casey Borba had the chance to give Texas the lead, six innings after the blown save from Volantis.

Gasparino worked to a friendly 2-0 count, but a poor swing popped the ball up to center field. Mendoza aggressively got to third base, but Gasparino’s day ended 0-6 with four strikeouts.

Borba had his chance with runners at the corners but was caught looking on a low-and-away fastball.

Thomas Burns had been pitching for the majority of extras and was having his best game in burnt orange. Through four innings, he had surrendered just four hits and no earned runs with four strikeouts. He had already solidified himself as an important future asset in the pitching staff.

But after four innings and 60 pitches of work, Burns might’ve needed to come out of the game. His first pitch of the inning was down the middle, and Kentucky was on first.

What ensued on the next pitch was arguably the worst play of the Longhorns’ season. CF Griffin Cameron squared to bunt and placed a nice one in front of Galvan, moving the runner to second with just one out in the inning.

Or so you might’ve thought.

Instead, Galvan got a slow jump out of the squat and fumbled with the ball. Trying to nab a speedy Cameron, Galvan’s throw strayed between Kimble Schuessler at first base and Cameron, getting past the infield and into the right field foul area. Kentucky’s catcher Devin Burkes, who had gotten on before Cameron, was already running hard and continued to round the bases. Even if Farmer’s throw hadn’t sailed over Galvan’s head, Burkes would’ve scored anyway. Kentucky had scored the walk-off run on a bunt error, tying up the series and giving Texas just its second loss in SEC play.

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The Sunday rubber match between the two teams will begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow, with Texas needing much more from its offense to win a matchup versus Kentucky’s best starter.