Texas baseball starts NCAA regional with win over HCU

AUSTIN (KXAN) - In the opening game of the Austin Regional in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, the Longhorns rolled past Houston Christian 7-1 to advance in the winner's bracket.

Texas and the fourth-seeded Huskies were in a close game until the fifth inning where the Longhorns offense came alive. Texas notched five runs, all with two outs, to take a 7-1 lead.

The Longhorns managed all that offense without and home runs on the day, and tallying just one extra base hit coming courtesy of a Will Gasporino double. Texas notched seven hits on the day with Kimble Schuessler the lone Longhorn with multiple runs batted in.

"Early on, everybody feels it," said Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle about nerves in the postseason. "You haven't played in a week and want to score nine runs...we put together some good swings."

On the mound for Texas, Ethan Walker made the start and recorded five outs of scoreless baseball. Grayson Saunier came in relief and brought things to the sixth inning to earn the win before Hudson Hamilton came in to finish the win with 3.2 innings pitched.

The Longhorns were able to keep many of their key pitchers like Max Grubbs and Luke Harrison off the mound and fresh for the rest of the regional.

The Longhorns will face UTSA, who took down Kansas State Friday night for their first ever NCAA Tournament win. That game for Texas and the Roadrunners will be at 8:00 p.m. Saturday night. Houston Christian will face Kansas State Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in an elimination game.