Texas baseball: How Carson Tinney's 'weirdest' at-bat as a Longhorn set up a walk-off win

Tinney struck out on the third pitch he saw from Murphy. Tinney told reporters that the foul balls were a result of "swinging at the wrong pitches." He also admitted that he got into his own head after worrying that his first foul ball might have injured a Bearkat, but a chat with Texas assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki helped settle his nerves.

"He was just letting me know that I can go out there, I can use time. If I need a second, I can take it," Tinney said. "But also, just like the maturity aspect of things. Like, that's gonna happen. There's going to be times where I might hit a foul ball down the line and it might injure a fan, unfortunately, but that's just part of the game. So being able to reset and refocus (was key)."

Texas Longhorns catcher Carson Tinney (8) watches his home run hit for a second before taking off to runt the bases in the first inning as the Texas Longhorns play their first game of a three-game series against the Alabama Crimson Tide, April 17, 2026. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)

After Sam Houston game, Carson Tinney ranks among UT's HR leaders

That pep talk between Tinney, a Colorado native, and Tulowitzki, who rose to  prominence as an all-star shortstop for the Colorado Rockies, set the stage for some late-game heroics. Texas entered the ninth inning facing a 14-12 deficit, but the Longhorns chipped into that lead with Aiden Robbins' RBI single. With Robbins on first base and one out, Tinney turned a Kendrick slider into a souvenir for a fan that stuck around for a four-hour game that featured seven home runs and a six-run lead for the Bearkats.

"My approach was really just to put the barrel on the ball," Tinney said. "I wanted to reconnect with my plan, which was putting the barrel on the ball. They threw me two (sliders) in a row, and I got a good barrel to it."

More: Carson Tinney etching name in Longhorns record books with 'monster shots'

Tinney is normally UT's catcher but he was used as a designated hitter in Tuesday's midweek game. He went 2-for-4 against the Bearkats with two homers and two drawn walks. He scored four times and drove in three runs.

For the season, Tinney is hitting .338. His 16 home runs rank second among the Longhorns behind just Robbins' 18, which are tied for the eighth-most in a single season at Texas.