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Texas rides 5-run inning to NCAA Tournament win over Houston Christian
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Texas is embarking on its first NCAA Tournament journey under head coach Jim Schlossnagle, and the Longhorns began their march to the College World Series in Omaha in strong fashion.
On Friday, Texas drew Houston Christian as the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament and host for the Austin Regional. It did not take long before the Longhorns began flexing their muscle in opening the regional with a 7-1 win.
Texas opened the scoring with 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd before Houston Christian answered back with a lone run in the top of the 4th. Fortunately, it would not take long before the Longhorns pulled away for good.
In the bottom of the 5th, Texas pushed across 5 runs, punctuated by an RBI double from Will Gasparino. A total of 5 Texas players ended the game with at least 1 RBI, including Kimble Schuessler, who drove in 2 runs to lead the Longhorns.
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On the mound, Texas used 3 pitchers to cover all 9 innings while limiting HCU to just 1 run in the 7-1 win. Hudson Hamilton was especially brilliant, covering 3.2 innings with just 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 4 batters.
With the win, Texas moves into the winner’s bracket for the regional round and will face the winner of Kansas State vs. UTSA on Saturday night. The start time for that game is currently set for 9 pm ET, with the Longhorns needing just 1 win to reach the regional finals.
Overall, Texas is in search of its first College World Series appearance since 2022. The Longhorns have not been to the CWS Finals since 2009 and have not won it all since 2005, but Schlossnagle led Texas A&M to the CWS Finals a season ago before taking the job in Austin.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
