Both the Texas Longhorns and Tanner Witt earned a win on Saturday afternoon.

Texas overcame an early deficit and cruised to a run-ruled win over San Jose State at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In the 18-6 triumph, UT scored 15 of its runs over the first four innings.

With the end of the regular season set for next week, Texas is now 35-18. San Jose State, which is currently contending for a title in the Mountain West Conference, is 24-24. The two teams split a doubleheader on Friday.

"Really a great approach today, I thought our guys were ready to go," Texas coach David Pierce said. "Sometimes you look back at losses and do you really learn anything, and I really felt like we did in (Friday's 6-4 loss)."

For Texas, the pitcher of record on Saturday was Witt. The third-year right-hander only worked a three-inning shift but he was announced as a designated starter before the game, which means he did not have to pitch five innings to qualify for the win.

Witt was making his third appearance since having Tommy John surgery last year. Assigned a low pitch count, Witt respectively threw 23 and 31 pitches in his first two games at TCU and Kansas. Witt, however, struggled over those 1 2/3 innings and entered this weekend with a 21.60 ERA.

Against San Jose State, Witt threw 40 pitches. He retired the Spartans in order in the first inning but was tagged for two hits and a walk during a second session that featured a three-run homer.

Witt saved his best for the third inning. Ten of Witt's 12 pitches during that frame were for strikes, and the Spartans swung and missed twice. Witt struck out Theo Hardy and Charles McAdoo − the second and third batters in the SJSU lineup − to end the inning.

Witt was replaced after the third inning by Travis Sthele, who pitched the final four frames. Afterwards, Witt said that working with that pitch count was "the hardest part."

"Obviously I'd love to go back out there, but it is a process, there's stepping stones you've got to get to," Witt said. "It's little steps at a time, and that was a good step in the right direction. Obviously I'd love to get back out there, but I understand I've got a pitch count. I have these things, the guidelines I gotta stay within. It's alright, I understand it. The biggest thing is we got the win."

For Witt, the win was his first since the Feb. 27, 2022. He was also pitching at UFCU Disch-Falk Field for the first time since that 6-1 win over Alabama.

"It's been a roller coaster. People say that and it really is," reflected Witt. "There's days you wake up and feel great, days you wake up and you don't feel as good. I've learned a lot about my body, a lot about my arm, a lot about the game taking that step back, all that time.

"I've been able to step back and coach, help guys whenever I can. I've made a lot of perspective moments for me where It's like, okay, you realize you got this game taken away from you. We take it for granted. Win or lose, to be able to go out there and compete, that's a win in itself."

Going forward, Pierce said that Texas will continue to use Witt in an "opener" role. Witt will likely see his pitch count increase and may even shift into the No. 2 slot in the rotation, which will give UT more flexibility with how it employs Lebarron Johnson Jr., and Sthele.

Key play: Facing four San Jose State pitchers, Texas collected 14 hits. The first swing of significance for the Longhorns belonged to Dylan Campbell, who hit a two-run homer to right field in the opening inning.

With that home run, Campbell extended his school-record hitting streak to 30 games. He is just the fifth player in the Big 12's history to record a hit in 30 straight games. The conference record is former Oklahoma State outfielder Ty Wright's 35-game string during the 2007 season.

Notable number: 7. Texas outfielder Eric Kennedy hit a two-run homer in the fourth frame and now has seven home runs over his last 10 games. Over his first 42 games this season, Kennedy went deep eight times.

Up next: Texas will close out its regular season next week with a three-game series against conference-leading West Virginia. The Longhorns and Mountaineers will play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Tanner Witt, Texas Longhorns beat San Jose State baseball team