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Texas Baseball Completes Sweep over No. 3 Georgia

by:EvanVieth•04/06/25
Syndication: Austin American-Statesman
Texas Longhorns catcher Rylan Galvan (6) celebrates a home run during the game against LSU at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Friday, March. 21, 2025.

A lot was at stake when junior catcher Rylan Galvan stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning of Sunday’s marquee matchup between the No. 5 Texas Longhorns and No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs.

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The star slugger had been beaten up throughout the last two weeks, missing a game against Missouri after hurting his finger on a foul tip while also receiving numerous bumps and bruises throughout his three games behind the plate. Leading off the inning, Galvan was expected to spark the offense into a walk-off win,its first of the year, and one that would confirm the series sweep against a top-three team in the nation.

Galvan, calm as ever, worked the count in his favor, taking some tough pitches on the way to a 3-1 count. Georgia pitcher Brian Zeldin wound up and located a heater, up and away.

Ball game.

Galvan rode the outside pitch to the right-center gap, and there was no doubt in his eyes that that ball had swept the series. The walk-off homer elevated Texas to a 4-3 win, and the catcher’s shirt didn’t survive the mosh pit at home plate after the home run.

Galvan might have been the hero of Sunday’s win, but there were many individuals who deserve highlighting from the weekend. Jalin Flores struggled in many of his at-bats, but his two hits this weekend were clutch ones, driving in four runs between a game-tying double on Saturday and a lead-taking bomb on Sunday.

To no one’s surprise, Will Gasparino had another great weekend, extending a 13-game hit streak (22 hits in his last 18 games) and driving in four runners, including a bomb in Saturday’s win.

But the real highlight of the weekend was the pitching staff. If there’s anyone to praise, it’s pitching coach Max Weiner, whose staff held the No. 1 offense in the nation to eight runs in three games. Georgia entered the weekend with 20 individual games where they scored north of that eight-run mark.

Friday starter Jared Spencer had the best performance, hurling nearly eight innings of one-run ball, striking out 11 and allowing just two hits. While Luke Harrison and Ruger Riojas had solid starts, the bullpen was elite between Max Grubbs and Dylan Volantis, who combined for 8 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. The mighty Dawgs only got four hits against the Longhorn bullpen. The staff’s final stat line was remarkable:

28 IP, 7 ER, 15 H, and 38 strikeouts

What might be the most impressive part of this weekend is that Texas left a lot on the bone in regard to the ceiling of this team. The Longhorns were playing their first series without star outfielder Max Belyeu, and his absence was obvious when looking at the stats of left fielders Jayden Duplantier and Easton Winfield, who struck out five times in nine at-bats without recording a hit (though they each recorded walks).

Additionally, freshman Adrian Rodriguez did not make an appearance this weekend as he recovered from an injury against Missouri. He may be able to play against Kentucky next week and could solve a problem at that left field position. The top of the order (Flores and leadoff hitter Ethan Mendoza) combined for four hits in 24 at-bats (.167 AVG), and adding Rodriguez to help Galvan and Gasparino in the middle of the order should give even more security and confidence to those two hitters.

Texas is now 11-1 in SEC play, holding the top spot in its first year in the conference. The Longhorns not only knocked off a top-three team but also had some help from their rivals as they progressed up the rankings. Texas A&M won the series against No. 1 Tennessee, and No. 4 Florida State fell to Wake Forest in two games. With Nos. 1, 3, and 4 losing this weekend, Texas will almost certainly hold one of the two highest-ranked spots in the nation alongside Arkansas.

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The résumé speaks for itself at this point. The midweek losses hurt, but Texas is 5-1 against teams that entered the series inside the top three and has won two away series in the best conference in the nation. There’s still a lot of baseball ahead of us, but Texas is playing like the best team in the nation, even without two of its best players.

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