The No. 25 Texas Longhorns (17-12, 7-2) finished the weekend off by winning their series against the Texas Tech Red Raiders (18-16, 3-9). The Longhorns and the Raiders split the first two games, but Texas claimed the final game with an offensive statement.

Texas got off to a slow start in the first game of the series, going hitless through the first four innings. The vacant offense left the door open for the Raiders to jump out to an early lead. Entering the sixth inning, the Longhorns sat behind Texas Tech 4-2.

Texas used the sixth inning to showcase their style of baseball, utilizing the mistakes the Red Raiders were making. After a walk to Mark Payton, the Longhorn’s Erich Weiss knocked a single past the infield to set up a first and second situation. A sacrifice bunt by Collin Shaw put both runners in scoring position, which allowed Brooks Marlow to get a two RBI single. Marlow’s single was followed by two doubles, giving the Longhorns a 6-4 lead at the end of the inning.

The Longhorns continued their game of small ball in the seventh inning and added an insurance run. Closer Corey Knebel pitched the final two innings to earn his sixth save of the season as the Longhorns took the first game of the series against the Raiders 7-4.

The second game of the series featured an extra inning thriller that saw the Longhorns fall in 14 innings 7-6.

Texas jumped out to a two run lead in the top of the fourth due to an errant throw by the Texas Tech defense. Yet the Raiders took no time in grabbing the lead from the Longhorns as the Tech posted a three run fourth inning.

Texas Tech extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI single from Scott LeJeune.

The Longhorns evened the score out in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Texas scored both of their runs thanks to a single by Tim Maitland and Payton’s triple to the right centerfield wall.

The game stayed tied until the 14th, when the Longhorns took a two run lead in the top of the inning.

Behind 6-4 in the bottom of the inning, the Raiders got their leadoff man aboard with a single down the first-base line. Tech’s next batter, Tim Proudfoot, struck out looking. A chance for a double play came off the bat of David Paiz, but Jordan Etier wasn’t able to come up with the outs leaving two runners on for the Raiders.

A single by LeJeune allowed a run to cross for the Raiders, putting them down by only one. After a groundout that advanced the runners to second and third, the Longhorns decided to intentionally walk a batter to load the bases.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Bryant Burleson served up the game ending single which plated two runs for Texas Tech giving them the win 7-6.

Knebel suffered the loss but pitched a career high 6.2 innings. He gave up three runs, with only one of them being earned.

In the rubber match of the series, the Texas Longhorns had an offensive explosion. The offense racked up 19 hits and 14 runs.

The Red Raiders took the lead early with a solo homerun in the bottom of the first inning, but the lead didn’t last long.

In the fourth inning, the Longhorn hitters had five consecutive batters reach base, with four of them coming off of base hits. The offense also benefited from an error by the Raiders, which allowed Texas to plate four runs in the inning.

After exchanging runs in the sixth inning, the Longhorns entered the seventh with a 5-2 lead. Texas scored another four hit inning in the seventh, and witnessed three more runs across the board.

The eighth inning proved to be more of the same. The Texas offense had three consecutive hits while two of them went for extra bases. The Red Raiders managed to score a run in the bottom of the inning, but things already seemed hopeless since Texas was leading 10-3.

Texas continued to add to their run total in a four run ninth that was highlighted by Weiss’ two run homer. The Raiders failed to score any runs in the bottom of the ninth giving Texas the 14-3 win and the series.

Texas will play its next nine games at home, which should bode well for the Longhorns since they are currently 8-3 in games played at Disch-Falk Field. Texas will have a three game series against both Oklahoma State and Kansas in this nine game span.

The Longhorns next game will be against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in Austin on April 10th at 6:00 p.m. CT.