AUSTIN, Texas – Led by five scoreless innings pitched from starter Matteo Bocchi, Texas Baseball rebounded with a 7-2 win over Lamar on Tuesday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Longhorns (24-15, 5-6 Big 12) scored four runs in the third inning and rode Bocchi’s season-long start to victory. Tristan Stevens, Coy Cobb and Kolby Kubichek combined to pitch the final 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Bocchi allowed just three hits and struck out three batters to pick up the win.
Playing in his first career game, catcher Turner Gauntt provided a spark for the Longhorns in the third inning. Gauntt lined a single into left field in his first career at-bat to start a four-run outburst for Texas.
Duke Ellis followed Gauntt with a single to put two runners on before the pair moved into scoring position on an errant pickoff attempt. An RBI groundout by Austin Todd drove in Gauntt for the first run of the game.
With two outs in the third, Zach Zubia walked and Ryan Reynolds was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Tate Shaw then cleared the bases with double to right field to make the score 4-0.
Gauntt was involved in another big moment in the fifth inning, tagging a runner out at the plate to prevent a run from scoring. After double into the gap, Ellis made a great throw to the infield and Masen Hibbeler’s relay to the plate was caught by Gauntt, who held on for the out at home.
The Longhorns stole a run in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 5-0. Reynolds got himself into a rundown, which allowed Todd to scamper home from third base without a throw.
Lamar got on the board in the sixth and added another in the seventh to trim the Texas lead to 5-2. Both runs were scored off of reliver Donny Diaz. Texas got one of the runs back in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by Zubia to go up 6-2.
Michael McCann took advantage of his one plate appearance of the game, smashing a solo homer to left-center field in the bottom of the eighth inning. McCann caught the final two innings of the game.
UP NEXT
Texas hits the road for a three-game series at Oklahoma State. The teams will get the series started on Thursday at 7 p.m. on FS1, with Friday’s game at 6:35 p.m. on FSSW+ and Saturday’s series finale on ESPNU at 3 p.m.
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