Jeff Howe

Ethan Mendoza stays hot. He pokes one through the right side into right field for a leadoff single.

M1: Texas 0, Michigan State 0

Larson makes a catch running in from left to end the inning. The two-out infield single is all the Spartans gets against Volantis in the top of the first.

Tough play for Becerra on a slow roller off the bat of Seymour. The throw doesn't get there in time. It's a two-out infield single for the Spartans.

Ryan McKay sends a bullet back to the mound. Volantis impressively gathers it and goes to first for the out.

Volantis gets Williams to pop an 0-2 pitch to center field. Robbins makes the grab for the first out of the game.

Dylan Volantis is on the mound with the Longhorns going for a series sweep of the Spartans and a 7-0 start.

My daughter is having her 8th birthday party today, so I won’t be on my usual play-by-play and analysis duties for the game. Here’s to a series win and a chance to sweep on Sunday!

The Longhorns are aiming for a 6-0 start to the 2026 season and a series win over the Spartans today at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. It’s a 2 p.m. start on SEC Network Plus.

Based on the early returns, Matt Couch has the inside track to be Team MVP.

The best thing he did last night was drawing a walk to set the table for Mendoza’s home run.

AUSTIN, Texas — The 20 pounds of muscle Texas second baseman Ethan Mendoza added to his frame in the offseason has helped fuel his early-season power surge, which continued in Friday’s 8-1 win over Michigan State. Entering the first game of a three-game series with the Spartans tied for the team lead with two home runs (6-for-15 at the plate with five runs scored through four games) while leading the Longhorns with seven RBI and 12 total bases, Mendoza launched his third long ball of the young season in the bottom of the second. The two-run opposite-field shot was one of three home runs Texas (5-0) pounded out in front of 7,808 fans at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, highlighting Mendoza's 3-for-4 night at the plate with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. “I just try to recommit every AB,” Mendoza said after recording a multi-hit game for the third time in five games. “It's really not like a hot streak or anything like that. I just take it one pitch at a time. If you have that mentality, I feel like you can do some pretty good things.” Although he slugged four home runs in his first 34 at-bats after transferring from Arizona State for the 2025 season, Mendoza tallied just one dinger the rest of the way. The difference in Mendoza's three home runs in his first 20 at-bats in 2026 is that the additional pop in the junior’s bat appears to be a sustainable source Texas can count on at the top of the order. “It's more true power this year,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I think last year, he hit some balls that got up in the wind when we had those early-season (games) like we'll have tomorrow — it's kind of a north wind that cuts across the field and the ball goes out to right (field).” Mendoza's ability to go the other way for his home run and use the whole field is part of what makes him the offensive catalyst in the leadoff spot. With the influx of talent the Longhorns brought in from the transfer portal, Schlossnagle said he’s told professional scouts that he can’t remember a time in his coaching career when he’s had three right-handed hitters who can hit to all fields the way Mendoza, catcher Carson Tinney and center fielder Aiden Robbins can. With switch-hitting shortstop Adrian Rodriguez, who went 2-for-5 with two doubles in Friday’s win, “taking a jump from the right side of the plate,” according to Schlossnagle, Texas has the potential to get on base and drive in runs in multiple ways. “I think those are the four guys,” Schlossnagle said. “You see why guys hit for a high average when they’re able to use the whole field.” *** A late-season sickness derailed Ruger Riojas’ first season in a Longhorn uniform. Determined to return to the mound and be someone Schlossnagle and pitching coach Max Weiner can count on from start to finish in 2026, Riojas looks like a different pitcher through his first two Friday starts. Riojas mowed down Michigan State (2-2) to the tune of a career-high 10 strikeouts. Scattering three hits and one walk over six innings against the Spartans, Riojas has fired 19 strikeouts against two walks while allowing six hits and two earned runs through 11 innings of work. “I feel stronger. I look a lot better,” Riojas said after picking up his second win in as many starts. “I look at myself in the mirror and I don't look like I'm a buck fifty anymore. Seeing the work I've put in at the TANC and the weight room is definitely paying off.” The staff wants to keep the 195-pound Riojas’ weight up and “keep him strong,” Schlossnagle said. While Riojas’ 97 mph fastball is the most noticeable sign of the strength gains he’s made, his seven-pitch repertoire allows him to toe the rubber confident that he can execute any pitch Weiner calls at any point in the game. “I think Ruger's beauty is that he can pitch in a variety of ways,” Schlossnagle said. “Tonight, he used his fastball a little more. That's a team that they like to swing and they don't swing and miss a ton, especially the guys at the top.” View full news story

FINAL: Texas 8, Michigan State 1

Bright strikes out looking and that's the ballgame. Texas takes the first game of the series.

The Longhorns are one out away from winning the opening game of the series.

Walls ties up Oliver, recording his first strikeout as a Longhorn.

In his Texas debut, Walls hits the leadoff batter to open the ninth.

Brodie Walls is out of the bullpen to work the ninth.

End of 8: Texas 8, Michigan State 1

Rodriguez grounds out to short and Robbins flies out to right to end the eighth.

Lefty Bobby Crane is on to work the eighth. He's the fourth pitcher Michigan State has used tonight.

Mendoza rips one down the line and legs out a one-out double.

M8: Texas 8, Michigan State 1

Crossland freezes Picot as he retires the Spartans in order in the eighth.