Carson Tinney unleashed two towering home runs, igniting a dominant Texas offense in their decisive victory over Lamar.
When Texas brought in transfer catcher Carson Tinney from Notre Dame, the expectation for him was pretty simple - hit bombs.
On Tuesday against Lamar, he did just that, hitting two home runs, leading the Longhorns to a 14-4 run-rule victory over the Cardinals.
"It's good to see Carson swing the bat. I love him drawing the walks and controlling the strike zone, but at the end of the day. We want him swinging," head coach Jim Schlossnagle said after the win. "If he just clips it a little bit, he can do a lot of damage."
Clip is selling Tinney short - he destroyed the baseball on Tuesday.
After starting pitcher Jason Flores was roughed up in the top of the second inning, allowing three runs, Tinney responded with a two-run blast, coming off the bat at around 116 MPH.
He said it was probably the hardest he's hit a ball in a game.
By the Sixth inning, Texas had already blown the game open, but that didn't stop Tinney from hitting his second home run of the night - a bomb to center field, making it 9-4 Horns.
"I'm just trying to do damage, get there on the ball and at the same time have some plate discipline," Tinney said after the game.
The Longhorns also had a standout performance from one of their freshman pitchers.
Sam Cozart got his first taste of collegiate action coming in for Ethan Walker in the fourth inning.
When he took the mound, Texas was still trailing 3-2, but his consistent, strike-heavy pitching style helped it keep Lamar relatively quiet for the rest of the night.
"What Kozart did is what he's done every day since he's been on campus - throw strikes," Schlossnagle said.
The 6-6, 260-pound right-handed pitcher finished the night with four innings pitched, four strikeouts, three hits allowed and just one earned run.
Most importantly, Cozart left his outing with the win.
"When everything's going well, I'm always consistent throwing strikes," Cozart said. "I'm always going to fill up the zone. There's never a day off."
Tinney highlighted two of Cozart's pitches that make him so hard to face.
"I like his cutter a lot," Tinney said. "As a hitter, I don't want to see his splitter."
It's easy for elite programs like Texas to overlook these midweek matchups against smaller schools, and that can come to bite you really fast.
However, the Longhorns took care of business and are now turning their focus to their first big series of the year against Michigan State this weekend.