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Behind a dominant start from senior right-hander Ruger Riojas, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns remained undefeated and notched their first ranked victory of the 2026 season with an 8-1 victory over the No. 9 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Friday night at Daikin Park in the BRUCE BOLT College Classic.
Riojas struck out a career-high 11 batters with the help of his overpowering fastball that reached 98 miles per hour, holding the Chanitcleers scoreless on one hit and one walk over five innings. In keeping with the early-season preferences of head coach Jim Schlossnagle and pitching coach Max Weiner, Riojas departed after throwing 71 pitches.
Through three starts, Riojas is now 3-0 on the season with a 1.13 ERA having allowed just two earned runs over 16 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts. Against Coastal Carolina, he threw six different pitches with his four-seam fastball and his sinker grading out at his best pitches even though he got an 84.6 percent whiff rate on his changeup, the pitch he threw most frequently.
In relief, senior right-hander Max Grubbs allowed one runs on two hits in 1.2 innings, giving up the only extra-base hit of the night for Coastal Carolina. Redshirt junior left-hander Ethan Walker struck out the batter he faced to end the seventh inning before freshman right-hander Brett Crossland and junior right-hander Hudson Hamilton each pitched around a walk in their inning of action.
Four home runs among the 12 hits by the Longhorns paced Texas at the plate, led by a 3-for-4 performance by junior center fielder Aiden Robbins, who led off the scoring in the third inning with a mammoth 466-foot, two-run home run that hit the train tracks in left field.
Redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra, who arrived at Texas with three home runs in 430 at bats at Stanford, left the field twice, driving in three runs.
Junior designated hitter Ashton Larson also hit his first home run in burnt orange and white, an opposite-field shot into the Crawford Boxes.
Texas also added runs on an RBI double by sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez and a sacrifice fly by Robbins.
On Saturday, Schlossnagle’s team tries to remain undefeated with a matchup against former Big 12 rival Baylor. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central on Astros.com and the Houston Astros YouTube channel. The Bears also notched a ranked win on Friday, upsetting the No. 11 Rebels, 6-5, in 10 innings.