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Texas sweeps Missouri with 12-7 win as Riojas exits in first inning

by: Evan Vieth05/16/26

While Texas fans loved to see their Longhorns complete a sweep on senior night, finishing the season strong against last-placed Missouri, the story of the day came after just one batter, despite Texas’ 12-7 win.

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Texas SP Ruger Riojas was one of the best in the nation in his first eight appearances, capped off by a complete game run-rule shutout against rival Oklahoma on Friday night.

But he struggled in his next two appearances, and hasn’t hit above the 100 pitch mark that he saw in Austin against the Sooners. Even in an elite five inning start against Mississippi State two weeks ago, he was taken out after just 71 pitches, and was scratched from his Saturday spot and moved to the Sunday role against Tennessee.

He kept that final starting spot this weekend in a short week, and took the bump for today’s game on Senior Send-Off Day, his final regular season start as a Longhorn.

But after taking his warmup and recording a lineout after five pitches, Jim Schlossnagle was out at the mound, and Brody Walls was entering the game.

“He didn’t feel like a 10, but didn’t feel worse than last week,’ Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle assured. “We really get him a chance to reset before the regional.”

Riojas will likely get the SEC Tournament off, and it seems like no one on this team could use the break more than him, and he’s a vital piece of this puzzle going forward.

Texas rested Aiden Robbins today, which gave Anthony Pack his first leadoff chance of the year, one he performed flawlessly in. Three hits in four ABs, two BBs and two RBI, adding more and more onto his already stellar true freshman season.

He now sits with an OPS north of 1.100, and an average sitting right at .400. It’s hard to think he’s not the SEC Freshman of the Year.

Carson Tinney also added three hits and three RBI, capping off an unreal weekend after a small slump leading up.

Texas saw five relievers come into this game, with Walls pitching 1 2/3, giving up a homer but generally solid otherwise.

Cal Higgins came in for the first time in over a month and surrendered a leadoff homer, but got three Ks over the next two innings of work, not allowing another run.

Cody Howard was once again solid in long relief, though he was left in one inning too long. Nine up, nine down thanks to a double play ending his third inning of work, but he was rocked for three runs in the eighth inning, prompting a Brett Crossland appearance with the game now within three runs.

“he showed us, what he’s been showing us,” Schlossnagle said about Howard. “He just did it with a with with the game on the line. The other times he’s pitched either been behind or maybe up by a bunch, I’m not sure, but that was really a time in which, you know, he was up 8-2,but we all know how this game goes, and look at how the ballpark is playing. So, I thought he did a really, really, really good job until he just kind of ran out of gas.”

The biggest surprise came in the top of the ninth with two outs, just a few pitches away from the end of the regular season. Thomas Burns got his second out of the inning with two runners on, and despite the five run lead, Schlossnagle made his way out to make a pitching change.

In came Kaleb Rogers, a true freshman who had yet to pitch all season. His one out burned his red shirt, but Schlossnagle is confident that should not be a factor later on.

“Kaleb has been pitching great all spring in the simulation games and has really taken a tick up in the last couple weeks, and then (Max) Grubbs going down, that created some space,” Schlossnagle said.

Schlossnagle believes that the five-for-five rule, one that abolishes the redshirt system and gives every student athlete a flat five years of eligibility, will be passed, claiming he’s been told that it will happen.

“If you have somebody on your team that can help your team, whether it’s for an at bat, a pinch run, or get an out, then we’re not gonna wait around, and certainly we ran that by Kaleb first, and he was all in, so excited to get him out there.”

Even with a bit of drama throughout, Texas ended the weekend in a fantastic spot heading into the SEC Tournament and postseason.

With UNC’s loss, Texas likely locks down the #4 RPI spot and the No. 2 record in the SEC to finish the regular season, the second top-two finish in two years for Jim Schlossnagle. Texas finishes the regular season 40-12, with a stellar 19-10 conference record.

For the Longhorns, the only goal in Hoover is to get healthy and stay healthy. They’ve locked in their spot as a top 8 national seed, and there are zero benefits to being the No. 2 seed compared to No. 4, and a marginal difference between No. 4 and No. 5.

“We all know what the standard is here, but I am proud of our team to win 19 games in this league. Is it 16 out of 20 series in two years, that’s pretty awesome,” Schlossnagle noted. “Win 40 games in the regular season, awesome. That’s hard to do, especially in today’s college baseball in this conference. So really proud of our team, but we have got to be better. We’ve got to play better. We got to get healthy.”

Riojas will rest, the other two starters will be limited, Texas will try to find more help in long relief and bats that need rest will take their spots in the dugout.

No matter what, the Longhorns exit the regular season as one of the best teams in the nation.

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