Freshman right-hander Sam Cozart struck out eight over four innings of his first start in burnt orange and white and the No. 3 Texas Longhorns used 15 hits, including two home runs, to bludgeon the UTRGV Vaqueros in a 14-0 run-rule victory in seven innings at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday.
Cozart, a 6’6, 260-pounder who gave up one run on three hits in four innings of relief in last Tuesday’s run-rule victory, was excellent as a starter, allowing a single up the middle on the first pitch of the game
before walking three batters during his outing, which lasted 73 pitches. Throwing strikes is typically a point of pride for Cozart, so issuing three walks is out of character for the big North Carolinian, but it’s a relatively small criticism for such a young pitcher already showing so much promise, and he still delivered plenty of strikes.
Eleven players received at bats for the Longhorns as junior catcher Andrew Ermis and freshman catcher Presley Courville both notched their first hits for Texas, including two for Ermis, the junior college transfer who drove in two runs.
The Horns scored at least one run in five of the six innings they batted with junior center fielder Aiden Robbins leading off the scoring by hitting a home run down the right-field line, his third of the season. At Seton Hall last year, Robbins didn’t hit his third homer until mid-April, finishing the season with six.
In the second inning, Ermis and sophomore second baseman Ethan Mendoza added RBI singles before scoring another run in the third on a single by junior left fielder Ashton Larson.
The Horns put up four runs in the fourth inning on run-scoring singles by Ermis and Robbins. Then junior designated hitter Carson Tinney hit a 445-foot bomb to over the batter’s eye in center field that left the bat with an exit velocity of 110 miles per hour.
Texas finished the game with six runs in the sixth inning on RBI singles by Robbins, Courville, and redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra. In an impressive, competitive at bat, freshman right fielder Anthony Pack Jr. fouling off a two-strike pitch and taking a ball before taking an outside pitch where it was thrown for a double into left-center field.
Robbins raised his batting average to .419 with a 3-for-3 performance with four runs, three RBI, a walk, and stolen base. In addition to Ermis, Becerra and junior first baseman Casey Borba also had two hits.
Texas leaves the comfort of UFCU Disch-Falk Field for the BRUCE BOLT College Classic at Daikin Park in Houston with matchups against No. 9 Coastal Carolina, Baylor, and Ohio State.
