Longhorns Notebook: No. 15 Texas Stays Hot, Beats St. John's 15-4

The Longhorns kept their winning ways going with a blowout of St. John's.

The Texas Longhorns (7-1) entered their Tuesday night midweek contest against the St. John's Red Storm (2-3) riding high on a five-game winning streak. Looking to extend that to six games, they came out firing on all cylinders. 

However, St. John's did not make things easy for the Longhorns early in the ballgame. They came out swinging, taking the early lead in the first inning and then did it again. Ultimately, though, the Longhorns overpowered the Red Storm in the blowout 15-4 win.

Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns' win over the Red Storm.

Gasparino's breakout

A highly touted freshman, Gasparino started the campaign strong but had his long awaited breakout performance at the dish against St. John's on Tuesday evening. Dialed in, the centerfielder was seeing a beach ball every time he stepped to the plate. 

He started off with an RBI single in the second, followed with another RBI single in the fourth and then added RBIs three and four with a two-run double in the fifth inning. 

Ending his night a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish, Gasparino is heating up as the Longhorns head into a gauntlet of a schedule.  

Bullpen coming together

Pitching has been the star of the show for the Longhorns so far this season, especially the bullpen. The weekend starters have done their job, too, but we have to give credit where credit is due to the bullpen. 

Boasting arms such as Gage Boehm, Max Grubbs, Hudson Hamilton, Grant Fontenot and the rest of the stable of guys have been stellar. That continued against the Red Storm, allowing just four runs and scattering eight hits across a solid nine innings of work. 

Brown, O'Dowd continue to struggle

We're only eight games into the season so any early struggles should without a doubt be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, though, they cannot be ignored either. For Porter Brown and Jack O'Dowd, they have had rough luck to start their respective seasons. 

Brown had a dash of success on Tuesday, recording a two out double in the fourth inning. His other three at-bats were not at pretty, going hitless with a pair of strikeouts. It wasn't much better for O'Dowd, who went 0-for-2 at the plate before being pulled for Dee Kennedy. 

Ultimately, both Brown and O'Dowd have time to get it going. If the Longhorns want to go far this season, them doing so is imperative. 

No. 15 Texas Blows Past St. John's 15-4: Live Game Log

What's next for Texas?

The Longhorns' eight-game home stand to open the 2024 season comes to an end after going 7-1 against their first crop of non-conference opponents. Next up, a trip down to Houston for the Astros Foundation College Classic where they'll take on LSU, Texas State and Vanderbilt.