The No. 3 Texas Longhorns remained undefeated with the team’s fifth run-rule victory of the season, a 14-2 win over the USC Upstate Spartans on Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field that saw the Horns take advantage of a south wind blowing out to left field with five home runs, capped by a walk-off grand slam from freshman left fielder Anthony Pack Jr. in the eighth inning.
“Felt amazing. I was floating around the bases. I’ve
never had to walk-off grand slam in my life before and doing it in front of another Texas crowd, always behind us, it felt great,” Pack said.
It was the second home run of the season for the 5’10, 190-pounder, who has gained almost 30 pounds since arriving on the Forty Acres with the help of the strength and conditioning and nutrition programs for the Longhorns and help with his swing from assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki.
“We don’t try to hit home runs, but we just take what’s given to us,” Pack said.
Entering the game, Texas had all three starters for USC Upstate graded out as average SEC pitchers and left-hander Chris Torre was working with a fastball up to 93 miles per hour with a cutter, slider, and changeup, but the Horns were able to take advantage of some pitches left up in the zone.
In the five innings that Torres pitched, four of the six hits that Texas got off of him were home runs, a long-ball parade that started in the first inning when junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza pulled a ball just over the left-field fence into the visitor’s bullpen.
In the second inning, a 406-foot shot from junior first baseman Casey Borba was a more prodigious clout to left-center.
Redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra continued his late-career power surge by leaning into a two-run home run that left the stadium entirely, his fourth homer in the last five games to surpass his previous career total.
Like Pack, Becerra has taken advantage of the resources at Texas to get stronger, adding 10 pounds of muscle, and made some swing changes with Tulowitzki to increase his power.
“He had to free himself up and become a little more aggressive with his swing,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
Always a “contact-y” hitter at Stanford, Becerra consistently put the ball in play, but didn’t hit it hard. Now Becerra is combining his ability to take professional at bats and add some power to the equation, vaulting his slugging percentage from .427 last year to .744 this season.
The team’s best hitter, junior center fielder Aiden Robbins, has joined the power surge with his own adjustments to unlock his pull-side power, hitting his fifth home run of the season, muscling a wind-aided moonball out to left field with a 44-degree launch trajectory.
Robbins hit six home runs last season at Seton Hall.
Late in the game, the Horns were able to manufacture some runs with an RBI single by Becerra in the seventh, adding another run on a wild pitch, and then scoring two more runs in the eighth before Pack’s grand slam on a double by graduate designated hitter Josh Livingston and a single by Robbins.
Robbins went 3-for-3 with two walks, three RBI and three runs scored and Becerra finished 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored, and three RBI. Junior catcher Carson Tinney added two hits, including a double, and scored three runs.
On the mound, senior right-hander Ruger Riojas continued his incredible start to the season, which has seen the UTSA transfer increase his strikeouts in each outing, setting a career high for a second week in a row with 12 strikeouts, allowing one run on four hits in six innings even though his secondary pitches weren’t as sharp as they were against Coastal Carolina.
“Thought he had his good fastball, but he didn’t have the same collection of off-speed pitches that he had last week,” Schlossnagle said.
Riojas helped make up for it with his athleticism on the mound, too, adding a pause to his delivery to throw off the timing of USC Upstate hitters, who had some competitive at bats that produced line drives right at Texas defenders.
“I love it. I love tormenting,” Riojas said, relishing his ability to dominate opponents.
The increase in his fastball velocity has made that possible without having to rely so heavily on his off-speed pitches and changes in arm slot.
Taken out after 80 pitches, Riojas is working hard to maintain his weight and strength to keep those velocity gains throughout the season.
The strength of the bullpen has helped reduce the pressure on starters like Riojas with senior right-hander Max Grubbs allowing one run on one hit in his one inning of work and junior left-hander Haiden Leffew striking out two in his scoreless inning.
“How many people are talking about Leffew?” Schlossnagle wondered. “I mean, that’s a real weapon.”
Rain forecast in the Austin area forced first pitch on Saturday back from 2 p.m. Central to 3 p.m. Central with the game airing on SEC Network+. Redshirt senior left-hander Luke Harrison (1-0, 2.77 ERA) is scheduled to start for Texas.
