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Texas powers past UT-RGV, 13-5, in midweek matchup

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•04/05/22•

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Skyler Messinger (Joe Cook/Inside Texas)

The No. 7 Texas Longhorns began a five-game homestand with an offensive barrage in a 13-5 win over UT-Rio Grande Valley. Nine different Longhorns recorded a base hit, while Douglas Hodo III, Murphy Stehly, and Mitchell Daly all hit homers in the Tuesday night win.

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Jared Southard netted the victory with his 1.1-inning, one-hit outing in relief of Justin Eckhardt. The base hit allowed by Southard, an RBI single from the first batter he faced, was the only hit allowed by Texas relievers.

“I didn’t see any guys not compete tonight,” Texas head coach David Pierce said. “Outstanding defense, really good out of the bullpen, and then got pitches to hit and did a great job of hitting. Complete night. Good sign.”

Luke Harrison, Lebarron Johnson, and Travis Sthele each pitched perfect innings following Southard. While they were quieting Vaquero bats, the Texas offense was as loud as ever.

Texas scored six runs in the first, two in the third, one apiece in the fourth and fifth, and three in the sixth. Stehly continued his torrid run at the plate with a first-inning two-run homer to left that just barely cleared the short bullpen fence. Trey Faltine and Skyler Messinger followed with base hits that each plated one run before Daly hit his big fly to left center to close out a six-run first.

RGV got one run back in the second, but Texas responded in the third with RBI singles from Stehly and Ivan Melendez. The Vaqueros added two in the top of the fourth, but Messinger helped respond again with an RBI double to make it a 9-3 contest. The Vaqueros fought back to plate two more runs in the fifth, but Texas came right back with another Melendez RBI single.

In the sixth, Hodo III hit his three-run shot with one out to put the game at its final tally.

The following Longhorns recorded multi-hit games: Stehly, Melendez, Messinger, Austin Todd, and Dylan Campbell. Messinger was 4-for-5 with two RBI, raising his average to .370. Melendez was 3-for-4, putting his average at .400. Stehly’s 2-for-5 night moved his average to a blistering .456.

Southard, who had a shaky outing versus Texas A&M one week ago, retired four straight Vaqueros after allowing the single in the fifth. One of the arms Pierce wants to get right for the postseason, Southard showcased some of his best stuff on Tuesday.

“Great bounce back,” Pierce said. “Down-angle fastball 95 to 97, then the slider was lights out.”

Even with an offensive onslaught and a steady pitching performance, Pierce made sure to show his defense some love. They were engaged for the entire game, with the final out coming as a result of an excellent play from Faltine.

“They take it personal, and that’s a great feeling as a coach,” Pierce said.

Eric Kennedy received an off night after a hamstring ailment kept him out of the series finale versus Oklahoma. Pierce said he has a small hamstring issue, and is day-to-day.

“I don’t know if he’ll play Friday-Saturday-Sunday,” Pierce said. “He may be fine, so we’re just going to pay attention to it.”

If he’s back, the No. 23 TCU Horned Frogs will travel down IH-35 to face Kennedy and the rest of the Longhorns this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. When they arrive, they should prepare for an offensive challenge that UT-RGV was not ready for on Tuesday.

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