Carson Tinney didn’t just give the fourth-ranked Texas Longhorns the lead on Tuesday night; he launched a baseball into a different zip code.
Trailing by a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, Tinney crushed a 483-foot, go-ahead grand slam to power Texas to an 11-8 victory over UTSA at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The mammoth shot marked the junior’s second career grand slam and his 17th home run of the season, tying him for the 11th-most in a single campaign in Longhorns program history.
The late-game fireworks secured the Longhorns (36-10) their 12th comeback win of the year and their ninth midweek victory over their last 11 tries. They had to earn every bit of this one, battling out of multiple holes against a resilient Roadrunners (33-15) squad.
Texas initially looked poised to run away with the game after hanging a four-spot in the opening frame. Ethan Mendoza forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk, Ashton Larson brought another home on a sacrifice fly, and Casey Borba capped the early surge by ripping a two-run single through the left side.
UTSA quickly erased that early momentum, rattling off seven unanswered runs. Diego Diaz sparked the rally with a solo shot in the second inning before the Roadrunners exploded for six runs in the third, punctuated by a pinch-hit, three-run homer from Garrett Gruell. Diaz was a persistent thorn in the Longhorns’ side all night, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBIs.
Down 7-4, Texas answered immediately in the bottom of the third. Freshman Maddox Monsour connected on the first home run of his collegiate career, sending a 432-foot, two-run blast over the wall to level the score at 7-7. Monsour, Tinney, Larson, and Borba all finished the night with multi-RBI performances.
After Diaz roped a go-ahead double for UTSA in the top of the seventh, Texas leaned on its bullpen to keep the deficit manageable. Freshman reliever Brody Walls (2-0) delivered a standout performance, logging a co-career-long 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball and striking out a career-best five batters to earn the win. His stabilization set the stage for Tinney’s eighth-inning heroics.
Thomas Burns then slammed the door in the ninth. The closer needed just nine pitches to retire the side, securing his fifth save of the season and sealing the Texas victory.
The Longhorns will now pack their bags and head to Knoxville to face Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The three-game weekend series kicks off Friday at 5:30 p.m. CST.
