Texas Baseball: No. 7 Mississippi St downs Horns in season opener

The start to the regular season slate didn’t go as imagined for No. 9 ranked Texas baseball as they took on the No. 7 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs at a neutral site in Arlington, TX, over the weekend. Texas is taking part in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown at the home of the MLB’s Texas Rangers in Arlington this weekend. And they opened up their run in this showdown against Mississippi State on the afternoon of Feb. 20.

This will be a tough run for the Longhorns on the diamond, as they face three top eight ranked teams out of the SEC. Texas already faced No. 7 Mississippi State on Feb. 20, before they take on the No. 8 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks on Feb. 21 and then the No. 6 ranked Ole Miss Rebels on Feb. 22.

Since Texas and Mississippi State were both top 10 ranked teams heading into this game, it looked like it could be closer than it was in the end. The Bulldogs really controlled this game the entire way. The game was out of reach for Texas most of the afternoon.

Texas baseball’s struggles vs. Mississippi State

Moreover, it was not an easy start out of the gates for the Longhorns on this afternoon. They got behind the Bulldogs early, as they were already down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. By the time the middle of the ninth inning arrived, the Longhorns were already down by a score of 8-1.

Texas didn’t get their first run of the game until the bottom of the fifth inning, and only got one on the board. They ultimately wound up falling short to Mississippi State on this day by the convincing final score of 8-3.

The starter for the Longhorns in this game was junior right hander Ty Madden. It wasn’t an easy afternoon for Madden, though as he gave up three earned runs on four hits, in four innings on the mound. Madden wound up taking the loss in this season opener.

Pete Hansen came on in relief and didn’t do much better. He allowed three hits and one earned run in one inning on the mound. Six of the eight runs that Mississippi State scored in this game were earned for the Texas pitching staff. The defense did have two errors on the day.

Redshirt sophomore infielder Ivan Melendez came through for the offense. Melendez got hits on two of his four at bats, with two runs and two additional runs batted in. He was the best bat for the Longhorns in this five-run loss.

As a team, Texas was outhit by a margin of 12-9. And the Longhorns were the only side that registered an error in this game.

The now 0-1 Longhorns next take to the diamond in the State Farm College Baseball Classic on Feb. 21 against the No. 8 ranked Razorbacks, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. CT. Arkansas takes on the No. 3 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders on the night of Feb. 20 in their season opener.