Schuessler smashes two homers, No. 1 Texas run-rules, sweeps No. 8 Auburn

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas first baseman Kimble Schuessler sent everyone home early Saturday.

He blasted a 3-run home run to enact the 10-run rule in a 14-2 victory in seven innings for the No. 1 Longhorns over No. 8 Auburn on Saturday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Texas swept the series, winning Thursday's opening game 3-2 and taking Friday's game 8-3.

Schuessler's game-ending blast capped a career day, driving in eight runs with three hits, two of which were home runs. He belted his first 3-run homer in the first inning to propel the Longhorns to a 5-1 lead after the frame.

"I guess it just clicked this weekend," he said. "My approach was to stay on the heater, so I was hunting it that last at-bat. I knew we needed one more to go home early, and I put a good swing on it."

He's "tweaked" his swing, he said, working with 5-time MLB all-star and Longhorns assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki. He's added a stride to his swing that has helped "tap into a little more power." It's showing since he's hit all his homers within the past month and three came in the series. He needs four more to match last season's total of 10.

"What a day for Kimble Schuessler," Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "What an incredible leader, baseball players ... one of the top four or five pure competitors I've ever coached."

Adrian Rodriguez and Casey Borba also hit home runs for the Longhorns. Rodriguez blasted a solo shot in the first, and Borba hit a towering 2-run homer over the left-field bullpen in the seventh. The Longhorns out-hit the Tigers 15-4. Freshman Jonah Williams went 3-for-3 with two runs scored from the No. 8 spot in the order, building off his terrific debut Friday with three RBIs. He's also a defensive back on the football team.

Tommy Farmer IV, Rylan Galvan and Jalin Flores all had two hits. Galvan drove in two runs with a single in the fifth.

"Another great day for us. You couldn't have scripted it any better," Schlossnagle said. "We got a cushion early, and we were able to do what we wanted to on the mound."

With a heavy workload and uncertain about the health of Jared Spencer, Schlossnagle didn't want starting pitcher Ruger Riojas on the hill for too long. Schlossnagle wanted to "get Ruger some work," and then have the freedom to use Jason Flores. After Texas scored five runs in the first inning, the plan came together.

Riojas threw 38 pitches in three innings before Flores came in. Both allowed one earned run on two hits, with Flores throwing 3.2 innings in relief. Aiden Moffett got the final out in the top of the seventh for the Longhorns.

Spencer left Thursday's game after 2.2 innings with a sore arm, so Schlossnagle will have to shuffle his pitching rotation around for the big series against the team he used to coach, Texas A&M, starting Friday. Schlossnagle said Spencer is "going through all the testing and trying to get different opinions with what's going on with him."

"We won't know what's going on with Jared for a while," he said. "I can't envision him pitching next weekend, so we wanted to have options for Friday and Saturday."

Texas (33-5, 16-2 SEC) has a Tuesday game against Texas State in San Marcos before the highly anticipated 3-game set with the Aggies (23-16, 8-10 SEC), the preseason No. 1 team in the country. It would have been enough for the Longhorns and Aggies to rile everyone up just by playing each other, but with how Schlossnagle took A&M to the College World Series championship series last year and is now the head coach for the Longhorns, fans on both sides will be boisterous.

"That's the kind of series that is way bigger than any coach or player," he said. "It's been going on for a long time, and it'll go on long after everyone in this room is gone. It's going to be a good time."