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Texas Longhorns throttle Texas Tech in Big 12 baseball opener 22-8
AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 24 Texas smacked 20 hits, including two grand slams, to knock off No. 17 Texas Tech 22-8 in the opening game of Big 12 Conference play Friday in Lubbock.
Freshman center fielder Will Gasparino smashed a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning to punctuate the big victory for the Longhorns. Max Belyeu belted a 3-run home run in the first inning to help the Longhorns build a quick 4-0 lead, then Porter Brown proved another 3-run blast in the fourth. Texas (8-5, 1-0 Big 12) scored seven runs in the frame, then tacked five more on in the fifth to lead 16-5. Rylan Galvan clobbered a grand slam in the fifth inning after Jared Thomas plated a run with a double.
Gasparino broke out in a huge way for the Longhorns with five hits including two doubles to go with his grand slam. Peyton Powell had four hits while Brown, Galvan and Belyeu had two hits each. Brown and Galvan also drove in five runs apiece and Jalin Flores had two hits.
Ace Whitehead picked up the pitching win in relief of Lebarron Johnson Jr. Whitehead tossed 4 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks, allowing three earned runs on five hits. Johnson left the game in the fifth and wasn't his sharpest with six walks and a pair of wild pitches. He allowed four earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts.
Texas Tech (10-3, 0-1) used six pitchers and hit just .133 with runners in scoring position. Texas hit .391 with runners in scoring position.
The teams continue the series at 2 p.m. Saturday.