MUSING FROM THE DISCH:
Woof – what a beating, literally and figuratively. The Horns absolutely got their butts handed to them this weekend and that is the first time that you can really state that this season.
For the first time all season, the Horns did not respond when punched in the face. They did not pitch well. They did not hit well. Hell, they committed an absurd base running error that immediately saw players benched for the rest of the game.
Overall, this weekend’s performance was about as bad as one could have envisioned. The number of free bases and lack of pitching execution was especially excruciating as the Horns never stood a chance on Thursday against the outstanding Zach Root. On Friday, the Horns likewise ran into the buzzsaw known as Gage Wood, who from an analytical standpoint, had as good of stuff since Paul Skenes. In addition to Root being really good on Thursday, the Horns also did not put together quality at-bats and according to Schlossnagle, did not necessarily follow the offensive game plan either. Against Wood, Schlossnagle stated that the team put together better at-bats but still had plenty of room for improvement.
The good news coming out of the weekend is that the Horns are still 19-5 in SEC play and have a two-game lead over second place Arkansas. The Horns have done such a good job leading up to this point that there is some room for error. The margin is obviously much smaller, but fans should not write off the team or discount what is still in front of them. While the teams below the Horns also lost, the Horns are still ranked #1 in the nation for a reason. They have been the most consistent team in the nation.
One interesting thing I heard from Schlossnagle this morning was when he mentioned that the Horns always get the best version of the other team. He acknowledged it sounds elitist or high minded, but they have looked at the analytics and it is true. The Horns have faced the best versions of the opposing team, and their stuff has played up. He went on to mention that it takes a special type of player to come to Texas. It should also be noted that despite this, the Horns have bested everyone, except Arkansas this season.
There are only 7 games left in the regular season, four of which will be played at Disch-Falk Field. After that, it is the SEC Tournament in Hoover, and then back to Austin for NCAA Regionals. Time is running out to get out to the Disch and support the team this season, so get your stuff in order and get to the Disch for another great weekend of baseball!
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Teams that impressed this weekend:
- Arkansas – swept #1 Texas in convincing fashion
- Auburn – Took the series against #12 Tennessee in Knoxville
- UC San Diego – Took the series against #8 UC Irvine
- Florida State – Took the series against #3 Clemson
- Miami – Took both games against #13 NC State as they continue their hot streak
Teams that disappointed this weekend:
- Texas – Horns went on the road and got swept by the Hogs
- LSU – Tigers went to College Station and lost the series
- Kansas – Jayhawks got swept by Cincinnati
- TCU – Lost two of three to Arizona
- UC Irvine – Lost the series to UC San Diego
- Iowa – Lost the series to Washington
Check out the latest episode of Around the Horns, as I sat down with Coach Schlossnagle to talk Texas Baseball
Link to YouTube video >> Around the Horns
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Useless Stat(s) of the Day:
- ONE – The Horns only committed one error the entire weekend. Always a bright side
- TWO – SEC series left in the 2025 season. Brace yourself!
- THREE – Wins needed to secure 2nd place in the SEC
Updates Rankings & RPI:
- RPI - #2
- D1Baseball - #1
- Baseball American - #2
- CBC - #1
- 64 Analytics - #1
Mid-Week Preview
Opponent: Lamar Cardinals
Date: Tues May
Time: 630pm
Where: Disch-Falk Field
TV: SEC Network+
History:
- First Met: 1970
- All-Time Record: 35-7
- Last Met: 2020 – Horns beat Lamar 6-1 during the ill-fated 2020 season
- The Horns are 34-5 at Disch-Falk Field against Lamar
- Horns currently have a 4-game winning streak dating back to 2016 when Lamar beat the Horns 4-2 in Austin
- Lamar picked to finish 1st in the Southland Conference
- This past weekend, Lamar lost the series against Southeastern Louisiana
- Cards are 5-5 over their last 10 games
- 2024 Record: 44-15 (17-7 Southland)
With Florida coming to town, I fully expect LHP Kade Bing to get the start and then have it turned over to the bullpen to get guys that did not pitch this weekend some work. Offensively, the Horns just need to get their minds right and put together quality at-bats, regardless of the outcomes.
Game Prediction:
- Texas wins the game
- On the season, I am 33-13
Records:
- Texas: 38-8 (19-5 SEC)
- Lamar: 37-14 (17-10 Southland)
RPI/SOS:
- Texas: 2 / 16
- Lamar: 58 / 207
Probable Pitching Matchups:
- Texas LHP Kade Bing (3-0, 2.91 ERA, 10 apps, 8 starts, 34 IP) v. Lamar RHP Carter Sutton (5-2, 4.68 ERA, 12 apps, 11 starts, 42.1 IP)
Bullpen Leaders:
Austin Neal (1-1, 2 saves, 2.65 ERA, 19 apps, 34 IP)
Fabian Ramriez (2-1, 1 save, 3.27 ERA, 21 apps, 1 start, 33 IP)
Luke Krkovski (3-0, 2 saves, 3.99 ERA, 18 apps, 38.1 IP)
Jayden Shertel (2-0, 1 save, 4.79 ERA, 14 apps, 4 starts, 20.2 IP)
Hayden Stallings (3-1, 6.45 ERA, 15 apps, 3 starts, 22.1 IP)
Offensive Leaders:
- Damian Ruiz (.402 BA, 1.162 OPS, 7 HR, 41 RBI, .635 SLG%, .527 OB%, 12-13 SB)
- Heladio Moreno (.332 BA, .809 OPS, 29 RBI, .405 SLG%, .404 OB%, 11-12 SB)
- Zane Spinn (.317 BA, .849 OPS, 4 HR, 43 RBI, .446 SLG%, .403 OB%, 7-9 SB)
- Tab Tracy (.317 BA, .801 OPS, 35 RBI, .372 SLG%, .429 OB%, 13-16 SB)
Stats Comparison:
| STAT | TEXAS | LAMAR |
| Batting Average | .283 | .299 |
| OPS | .891 | .849 |
| Runs | 331 | 394 |
| Hits | 439 | 522 |
| 2B | 112 | 95 |
| 3B | 7 | 11 |
| Home Runs | 73 | 39 |
| RBI | 311 | 352 |
| SLG% | .505 | .434 |
| BB | 230 | 300 |
| K | 420 | 348 |
| OB% | .386 | .415 |
| SB-ATT | 53-71 | 52-60 |
| ERA | 3.51 | 4.08 |
| WHIP | 1.21 | 1.35 |
| Saves | 20 | 12 |
| BB | 171 | 175 |
| SO | 419 | 452 |
| B/Avg | .217 | .248 |
| Errors | 34 | 51 |
| Fielding% | .980 | .972 |
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Weekend Predictions:
- On the season, I am 58-36 for non-conference games:
- Week One: 5-3
- Week Two: 6-2
- Week Three: 5-3
- Week Four: 7-1
- Week Five: 4-4
- Week Six: 5-3
- Week Seven: 5-3
- Week Eight: 4-4
- Week Nine: 5-3
- Week Ten: 5-2
- Week Eleven: 4-3
- Week Twelve: 3-5
- On the season, I am 43-21 for SEC games:
- Conf Week One: 6-2
- Conf Week Two: 5-3
- Conf Week Three: 7-1
- Conf Week Four: 5-3
- Conf Week Five: 4-4
- Conf Week Six: 3-5
- Conf Week Seven: 7-1
- Conf Week Eight: 6-2
SEC Weekend Recap:
- Alabama: Tide lost the series to Vandy. Had a 7-2 lead late in the finale but lost due to a walk-off two run bomb to CF
- Arkansas: Razorbacks swept the #1 Horns in Fayetteville
- Auburn: Tigers won the series against the Vols in Knoxville
- Florida: Gators swept the hapless Cocks
- Georgia: Bulldogs swept Missouri, though it was tied in the 9th inning of the series finale
- Kentucky: Wildcats were swept by Mississippi State team who fired their head coach last week
- LSU: Tigers lost a series on the road to the Aggies
- Mississippi State: Bulldogs swept Kentucky, breathing some life into a season in which the head coach has already been fired
- Missouri: Tigers were swept by Georgia, though they did go into the 9th inning with the game tied up
- Oklahoma: Sooners won the series against Ole Miss, but dropped the finale
- Ole Miss: Rebels lost the series to OU, but won the series finale to salvage a game
- South Carolina: Gamecocks were swept by Florida. Could we see another coach fired in the season?
- Tennessee: Vols lost a series at home to Auburn
- Texas: Horns were swept on the road at Arkansas
- Texas A&M: Aggies won a big series against LSU, increasing their odds of making the NCAA tourney drastically
- Vanderbilt: Commodores got a big series win over Alabama which included a walk-off 2 run HR to CF
Current SEC standings:
- Texas 19-5
- Arkansas 17-7
- Georgia 15-9
- LSU 15-9
- Tennessee 14-10
- Vanderbilt 14-10
- Alabama 13-11
- Oklahoma 13-11
- Auburn 13-11
- Ole Miss 13-11
- Florida 11-13
- Mississippi State 10-14
- Texas A&M 10-14
- Kentucky 10-14
- South Carolina 5-19
- Missouri 0-24
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SEC Standings Evaluation
The magic number is still 5 games.
Texas (19-5): Two wins means the Horns will finish no worse than 3rd in the SEC. Three wins will ensure the Horns finish 2nd in the SEC.
>> Remaining Series: Florida (11-13), at Oklahoma (13-11)
Arkansas (17-7)
>> Remaining Series: at LSU (15-9), Tennessee (14-10)
LSU (15-9)
>> Remaining Series: Arkansas (14-7), at South Carolina (5-16)
Tennessee (14-10)
>> Remaining Series: Vanderbilt (14-10), at Arkansas (17-7)
Vanderbilt (14-10)
>> Remaining Series: at Tennessee (14-10), Kentucky (10-14)
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SEC RPI Rankings:
- Georgia – 1
- Texas – 2
- Vanderbilt – 3
- Auburn – 4
- Arkansas – 5
- LSU – 8
- Alabama – 13
- Tennessee – 14
- Florida – 15
- Ole Miss – 17
- Oklahoma – 22
- Mississippi State – 33
- Texas A&M – 35
- Kentucky – 41
- South Carolina – 62
- Missouri – 155
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Zach’s Power Rankings:
- Arkansas (+3)
- Georgia (+3)
- Texas (-2)
- Vanderbilt (+3)
- Auburn (+6)
- Oklahoma (+4)
- Texas A&M (+2)
- Alabama (-2)
- LSU (-7)
- Tennessee (-7)
- Ole Miss (-3)
- Florida (+1)
- Mississippi State (+1)
- Kentucky (-2)
- South Carolina (+0)
- Missouri (+0)
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Top 25 Rankings (per D1Baseball.com):
- Texas (38-8)
- Florida State (33-10)
- LSU (38-11)
- North Carolina (35-10)
- Oregon (33-13)
- Georgia (39-11)
- Arkansas (40-9)
- Auburn (33-15)
- Clemson (37-12)
- Oregon State (34-12)
- Vanderbilt (34-14)
- West Virginia (39-7)
- UC Irvine (34-11)
- Coastal Carolina (37-11)
- Tennessee (37-11)
- NC State (30-15)
- Oklahoma (32-14)
- UCLA (34-13)
- Troy (34-14)
- Louisville (32-15)
- Southern Miss (35-13)
- Arizona (33-14)
- Alabama (36-12)
- Ole Miss (33-15)
- Southern California (32-15)
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As we get closer to the end of the regular season, more attention is paid to the RPI, Conference Standings, and other metrics to see how the post season might shake out.
Conference Leaders:
- ACC – North Carolina State / Florida State
- America East – Bryant
- American Athletic – UTSA
- ASUN – Austin Peay
- Atlantic 10 – George Mason / Rhode Island
- Big 12 – West Virginia
- Big East – Connecticut
- Big South – High Point
- Big Ten – Iowa
- Big West – UC Irvine
- Coastal Athletic – Northeastern
- Conference USA – Dallas Baptist
- Horizon League – Wright State
- Independent – Oregon State
- Ivy League – Columbia
- MAAC – Fairfield
- Mid-American – Ball State / Kent State / Miami (OH)
- Missouri Valley – Missouri State
- Mountain West – New Mexico / Nevada / Fresno State
- Northeast – Central Connecticut / Long Island
- Ohio Valley – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- Patriot League – Holy Cross
- SEC – Texas
- Southern – East Tennessee State
- Southland – UTRGV
- Sun Belt – Coastal Carolina
- SWAC – Bethune-Cookman
- The Summit League – Saint Thomas
- West Coast – San Diego
- Western Athletic – Sacramento State
