ARLINGTON, Texas-On Friday, the Texas Longhorns kicked off the 2025 season against the Louisville Cardinals. Head coach Jim Schlossnagle and his Longhorn team started off the college baseball season with a 4-3 loss to Louisville in extra innings.
Will Gasparino got the scoring going for Texas in the second inning after Max Belyeu ripped a double. He hit a two-run home run that gave the Longhorns a 2-0 lead.
Belyeu, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, had two hits along with the run he scored off the home run by his teammate.
Louisville starting pitcher Patrick Forbes kept his head on straight after the Gasparino home run. In the five innings he pitched in, he finished with 11 strikeouts. His efforts kept the Longhorns’ lead right at 2-0.
However, in the ninth inning, Louisville strung three hits together. Courtesy of Toledo transfer Garret Pike, two runs came in to score for the Cardinals and it made it a 2-2 game. The two teams then went into extra innings.
Texas took the lead back in the top of the tenth inning. Adrian Rodriguez got a solo home run making it 3-2.
Then, the Cardinals had another response for Texas in the bottom half of that same inning as Zion Rose singled and scored his teammate Kamau Neighbors.
Andre Duplantier II came in to replace Will Mercer who gave up the run that was scored by Neighbors and a walk to Louisville catcher Matt Klein.
Both Rose and Klein advanced a base on a passed ball by Duplantier II. He then hit third baseman Jake Munroe to load the bases.
Then, Lucas Moore hit a line drive into the outfield for the walk-off win. The Cardinals completed the comeback and won 4-3.
The Longhorns were without two starting pitchers in Max Grubbs and Ace Whitehead to begin this season.
Thus, Indiana State transfer Jared Spencer got the start on the mound. In 5.2 innings of work, he finished with six strikeouts while giving up only four hits and one walk. It was an excellent start in his Texas debut.
It was a bright spot in an otherwise brutal start to the Jim Schlossnagle era for the Longhorns.