ARLINGTON | Texas scored seven runs in the fourth inning. That’s the lede, the highlight, and the reason Ole Miss wasn’t in a competitive game past the first third of the game.
The Longhorns coasted the rest of the way to the 10-0 seven-inning, run-rule victory to make both teams 1-1 on the young season with Sunday remaining in the Metroplex. The Rebels close the tournament at 2:30 p.m. against Clemson.
The particulars of that blow-up frame are notable, but Ole Miss’ lack of offense is the bigger lingering story through two games. The Rebels scored two runs on Friday and Texas starter Luke Harrison smothered Ole Miss with the best outing of his career.
Harrison had Tommy John surgery and missed the 2023 season after 35 innings as a freshman in 2022. The injury kept him to only 10 innings last season, when he had an ERA over 9 and 13 walks.
The lefty couldn’t do wrong against the Rebels. He allowed two hits and one walk in 6.1 innings, striking out six and throwing only 71 pitches – 44 strikes. Harrison’s career long was three innings, and he’d only done that once.
“Really keeping us off balance, and the breaking ball was tough on the left-handers,” Mike Bianco said of the Texas starter. “We knew it was going to be a good pitch but didn’t know it was going to be that good of a pitch. They had bad swings and weren’t very comfortable, especially against the breaking ball. The fastballs early kept them honest.”
Using a fastball around 90 and a breaking ball for strikes and swing and miss, Harrison yielded only one good opportunity for Ole Miss on the night. Judd Utermark doubled with one out in the second but was left at third after a ground out and strikeout. The Rebels put two on with two outs in the seventh to end Harrison’s night.
“The heater, he was dominating us with it,” Utermark said. “It’s never good news when he’s blowing it by you or mixing us up. He used it, and the breaking balls were plus pitches. He’d improved on them.”
Ole Miss went 0-for-7 with runners on base and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Through two games, the Rebels are 1-for-20 and 0-for-12 in those categories, respectively. The lead off batter never reached on Saturday.
“He was really good but disappointed we didn’t compete better offensively,” Bianco said.
On Friday, Arizona starter Collin McKinney threw only 60 pitches into the fifth inning. The Rebels aren’t seeing many pitches and aren’t capitalizing on the limited chances. The Longhorns needed just 77 pitches in the game.
On the other side, a would-be pitcher duel turned into a rout quickly.
Riley Maddox struck out the side in the first and third innings, dominating Texas with his fastball. He’d faced one over the minimum when the Longhorns exploded for a seven-fun fourth. Texas put six of seven runners on base against Maddox in the inning with two doubles, three singles and a hit by pitch.
After a leadoff double, Ole Miss didn’t come down with a pop up that fell between the infield and outfield. It broke open from there.
“We have to learn to get off the field,” Bianco said. (Maddox) has to learn, and that’s part of what aces do. It looks like it’s a pop up, and it blows up the inning. You have to credit them. They got a bunch of base hits. Riley was really cruising.”
Sam Tookoian walked three of the four batters he faced and the other one doubled during his short stint before Walker Hooks ended the inning with two straight outs.
Hooks, in his collegiate debut, threw 2.2 perfect innings with four strikeouts.
“Any time a freshman can come in with this type of atmosphere and the situation with everyone else getting beaten up and throw it in the strike zone, I’m really proud of him,” Bianco said. “He was terrific.”
Texas ended it with a home run, triple and single off Landon Waters and Gunnar Dennis in the seventh inning.
The Longhorns were 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
