No. 16 Texas defeats Dartmouth in home opener

It wasn't easy, but No. 16 Texas baseball came out on top in the series and home opener vs. Dartmouth on Friday afternoon.
Kimble Schuessler, Texas baseball
Kimble Schuessler, Texas baseball | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

No. 16 Texas baseball (3-1, 0-0 SEC) and first-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle opened up the 2025 regular season home slate at the Disch on Friday afternoon with a 4-3 win over the Dartmouth Big Green (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League).

Two combined runs batted in from Kimble Schuessler and Tommy Farmer IV leads No. 16 Texas baseball past Dartmouth in the home opener

The game was a bit closer than expected for the Longhorns, which came out swinging this afternoon by building a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Jalin Flores knocked in Kimble Schuessler on a sacrifice fly, and Max Belyeu scored on a Tommy Farmer IV double to give the Longhorns a multi-run lead that lasted until the top of the fourth inning.

Starting pitcher Jared Spencer was steady on the mound until the fourth and fifth innings. Spencer pitched 4.1 innings with three hits allowed, one earned run, and six strikeouts. But he did look shaky with zone control at times in this game, allowing five walks against the Dartmouth bats.

Ruger Riojas earned his first win of the season, pitching three innings out of the bullpen with two earned runs and four hits allowed for the Longhorns. Riojas had set down eight batters in a row at one point of this game, but Dartmouth did get to him for a couple of runs in the top of the eighth inning.

Texas got what would be the eventual game-tying and game-winning runs to the plate in back-to-back frames in the middle innings.

Schuessler drove one run home on a sacrifice fly to score Ethan Mendoza in the bottom of the fifth. Then, Rylan Galvan scored Farmer on a ground out to second in the bottom of the sixth inning that plated the eventual game-winning run for the Longhorns.

Schuessler and Farmer were two of the MVPs with the bats for the Longhorns in this tight one-run win over Dartmouth to open up a three-game series at the Disch this weekend. Schuessler was 3-for-3 at the plate, with one RBI, a double, and one run scored.

He gave credit to the Dartmouth pitching staff after the game for really challenging the Texas bats this afternoon at the Disch.

"It’s definitely tough. Opening weekend, we’re facing some really good pitchers, maybe upper 90s guys, and really have the velocity, but, you know, they have the pitch ability. But we’re all good hitters, so we’re good enough to make that adjustment."
Kimble Schuessler

Farmer, meanwhile, was the Longhorns' only batter with multiple extra-base hits against Dartmouth, including two doubles, one run scored, and one RBI.

The Longhorns are back in action at the Disch tomorrow afternoon (Feb. 22) for the second of three games this weekend against the Big Green. Left-hander Luke Harrison makes his second start of the regular season in Game 2 against Dartmouth at 12 noon CT on Feb. 22 in Austin.

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