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Borbombs help Texas trounce Kansas State in elimination game, will face UTSA to cap off double-header

by:Evan Vieth•06/01/25
Casey Borba
Casey Borba (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

It was a great afternoon to be a Casey Borba fan in Austin.

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Faced with the prospect of elimination in the Austin Regional, Texas baseball first had to overcome the Kansas State Wildcats before even thinking about winning two games against the UTSA Roadrunners, the team that handed Texas an embarrassing loss the night before.

That game featured defensive mishaps, horrible situational hitting, and an overall lack of intensity from the Longhorn batters. Today, the team woke up and looked reignited off the back of Borba’s bat, defeating the Wildcats 15-8 thanks to Borba’s two home runs and eight RBIs.

The first inning saw early runs from a player who needed a big swing. Despite hitting the clutchest home run of the season for Texas against Oklahoma in his first full series back, Max Belyeu was batting just .111 since returning to the Texas lineup. Today, Belyeu wasted no time, taking the first pitch he saw to the opposite field, where it soared over the fence and scored Ethan Mendoza, who had led off the game with a double.

Texas was actually the away team in this one, despite playing at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, as NCAA rules dictated that a team like Kansas State, which hadn’t yet been the home team and wouldn’t have another chance to be, would act as one.

Later in the first, Borba stepped into the box with a great view in front of him: just one out on the scoreboard, already up two runs, and the bases loaded. On just his second pitch, Borba launched a ball the other way, this time up and over the right-field fence. It was 6-0 Texas before Kansas State could even register an out.

Just two innings later, Borba stepped up again with multiple runners on base. First-pitch swinging, the third baseman nuked a ball to left field. Absolutely no doubt about it. The three runs he brought in added up to seven on the day in just three innings. Texas was already up 10-3.

The Longhorns then rode the momentum of Ruger Riojas to keep the game firmly in control. Riojas gave up his own three-run home run in the first inning, but he followed that by retiring 12 straight batters until a hit-by-pitch in the fifth. That would be the only baserunner he allowed from the home run until the start of the seventh inning, when Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle let him empty the tank.

“I just wanted that ball for as long as I could have it,” Riojas said. “You know, whatever Coach needed from me, that’s exactly what I was going to do.”

Despite giving up two runs in the seventh, it really didn’t matter. Texas was still up by nine. The five runs given up by Riojas don’t accurately reflect just how important he was to Texas in this win.

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Texas will face UTSA almost immediately after the end of this Kansas State game. First pitch is officially scheduled for 7:06 p.m. Central Time. Texas needs a win tonight and another tomorrow to win the regional.Tools

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