No. 6 Texas completed a convincing sweep of Missouri over the weekend, pairing a dominant pitching performance, a breakout offensive surge from Carson Tinney and a balanced lineup effort in a 12-7 regular-season finale win at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The Longhorns finished the weekend at 40-12 and 19-10 in SEC play, marking back-to-back 40-win regular seasons for the first time since 2010-11.
Volantis leads the opener
Texas opened the series with Dylan Volantis delivering a signature outing in a 6-3 win on Friday night. The left-hander struck out 11 over seven innings, allowed just one run on two hits and retired 21 of the final 24 batters he faced after surrendering a leadoff homer. Volantis’ command and strikeout pitch set the tone early, and he reached 100 strikeouts on the season before the second inning was complete.
The Longhorns backed him with timely offense in the middle innings. Ethan Mendoza broke a 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, Casey Borba followed with a two-run homer in the sixth, and Anthony Pack Jr. added an RBI single to widen the margin. Tinney later put the game away with a solo shot in the eighth, while Sam Cozart finished the night with a strikeout-filled ninth for his seventh SEC save.
Tinney powers the middle game
If the opener belonged to Volantis, the second game belonged to Tinney. The junior backstop delivered his seventh career multi-homer game and drove in a career-high six runs as Texas rolled to an 11-6 win. Tinney launched an opposite-field two-run homer in the third and then crushed a 456-foot grand slam to straightaway center in the fourth, becoming just the fifth Longhorn to reach 20 home runs in a season.
Texas broke the game open with three homers in the first four innings and built a 10-0 lead after four. Borba stayed hot with his 17th home run of the year, leading off the four-run third, and Pack Jr. followed Tinney’s second blast with a 426-foot solo shot on the next pitch. Luke Harrison earned the win despite allowing four runs over 6 1/3 innings, giving Texas enough length to keep control throughout.
Finale seals the sweep
Texas closed the series Saturday with another offensive outburst in a 12-7 win that completed the sweep. All 10 position players who appeared reached base, and the Longhorns scored six runs in the fourth inning and added four more in the eighth to pull away for good. Tinney and Pack Jr. again led the charge, combining for six hits and five RBIs, while Tinney finished the series with a .538 average, three homers, 10 RBIs and a 1.933 OPS.
The decisive fourth inning featured a string of productive at-bats after consecutive walks opened the frame. Pack Jr. delivered a run-scoring single, Tinney followed with a ground-rule double, Adrian Rodriguez added an RBI groundout and Temo Becerra and Josh Livingston kept the line moving with run-producing hits. Missouri briefly threatened with a five-run eighth, but Texas answered with four of its own to restore control.
Series significance
The sweep gave Texas a strong finish to the regular season and reinforced the depth that has carried the Longhorns through conference play. Volantis continued to look like one of the SEC’s top arms, Tinney turned in one of the best offensive series of his career and the lineup produced across the board when needed most. With 40 regular-season wins secured for the second straight year, Texas heads into the postseason with momentum and a complete resume.
