The Red River Rivalry series will be donned in burnt orange as No. 2 Texas baseball clinches its third conference series victory of the season after winning 4-3 in an extra inning on Friday night over the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners.
The Longhorns take the rivalry series over the Sooners in a comeback extra-inning game, courtesy of a walk-off base hit in the 10th inning.
Etching his name into Red River Rivalry lore was junior outfielder Ashton Larson, who notched the walk-off victory with an RBI single down the left field line, which allowed redshirt senior infielder Temo Becerra to score from second base.
“It was awesome,” Larson said. “Being in that spot and to be able to come through, we fought so hard as a team throughout the entire night. … So coming up in that spot was awesome.”
Larson was a fresh face on the Forty Acres heading into the 2026 season, as the outfielder transferred but stayed within the Southeastern Conference, transferring from the LSU Tigers to the Longhorns.
In a night in which he didn’t start, the junior came into the ballgame as a pinch hitter, on top of the walk-off hit. Larson would end the night 2-2 at the plate and the game-winning RBI.
“Just really happy for him,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “He works really hard; he has been banged up big time most of his career. Gave him a chance to take some time off in the fall and try to get healthy, where he can move a little better.”
The Longhorns were down on the scoreboard throughout the night, going down a pair of runs early in the second inning, and as the ballgame headed into the middle innings, the Longhorns trailed 3-0 after a lone run from Oklahoma in the fifth.
Limiting the damage for the Longhorns was starting graduate pitcher Luke Harrison, who had another extended seven-inning start, in which he surrendered five hits and three earned runs, while striking out six batters. He also had just a pair of walks in 88 pitches of work.
“I thought (Harrison) did great,” Schlossnagle said. “He gave us life in the game, and for us to play 17 innings of baseball or so in two days, and we’ve only used three pitchers, that’s good for us.”
Last night, the Longhorns were explosive from the batter’s box, tallying 14 runs on 17 hits, and received a base-knock from the entire batting lineup. Friday night wasn’t that kind of game, as the Longhorns were held scoreless until the seventh inning.
And in that inning, giving the Longhorns life would be breaking the shutout with a run scored on a bases-loaded walk, and equalling that game would be junior Carson Tinney courtesy of a sacrifice-fly.
With the Longhorns down to their last three outs in the ninth inning, Tinney stepped up once more, pushing an RBI single right up the middle to even up the game at three, and gave the Longhorns life, pushing the game into extras to set up Larson to become the hero.
Texas will go for the series sweep over the Sooners on Saturday, with the third game of the series at 4 p.m.