Musings from the Disch -
Another weekend, another sweep!
The Texas Longhorns opened SEC play on the road at Mississippi State and did so in style, walking away with three wins over the weekend.
Texas fans got a good glimpse into what it takes to win in the SEC. The margins are razor thin and every bat and pitch matters. Free bases and extra base hits can haunt you, just a team not capitalizing on mistakes. A great example of that was on the failed pickoff move where a button was accidently pushed on the pitchcom device telling Max Grubbs to go to 1B. The issue was that Kimble Schuessler was not standing on 1B. Mississippi State sent their runner home, but Max Belyeu was johnny on the spot and made an outstanding throw home to Galvan to apply the tag. Absolutely wild play, but everything matters.
That is not to say that little things don't add up and compound in other conferences, just that the teams that Texas will be facing this year are much better all-around. Better pitching, better hitters, more power, and in order to win, it is the attention to detail that makes the difference. Example, you put the shift on a guy due to what the analytics say and he hits the ball where the defender should be, or a pitcher who is normally a ground ball guy, giving up hard hit ground balls that get through.
Baseball is a crazy sport at times that seemingly punishes and rewards on a whim. The Horns have not played perfect, but they have done the right things, believed in the approach, and made adjustments. As a result, they have a 17 game win streak, a Top 10 ranking, and are perfect to open up SEC play. As Coach Schlossnagle will tell you though, it is all fun until you get punched in the face and it is all about how you respond.
Texas has a very challenging week ahead against two tough opponents. UTSA is not a typical mid-week slouch. They have a really good hitting team and they have been tested against the likes of Baylor, Texas A&M, and Dallas Baptist. The Horns do not have the luxury of slacking off this week and instead have to get mentally prepared to face a battle before then welcoming the #2 team in the nation to Disch-Falk, as the LSU Tigers come to town this weekend.
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Teams that impressed this weekend: Alabama, Tennessee, Louisville, Wake Forest, Hawaii
- Bama went to College Station and swept Texas A&M
- Vols hosted Top 10 Florida and got the sweep, including a 10-0 run rule
- Louisville hosted Top 10 North Carolina and got the big series win
- Wake Forest swept Miami, a weekend after sweeping Notre Dame
- Hawaii hosted Top 20 UC Santa Barbara and came away with the series win
Teams that disappointed this weekend: North Carolina, Florida, Texas A&M, TCU
- UNC lost the series to Louisville and has lost back to back ACC series
- Patrick Forbes, who Texas faced has been absolutely diabolical this season so far on the mound
- Florida got swept by Tennessee, including a 10-0 run rule
- Texas A&M was preseason #1, but are 10-9 after getting swept at home by Alabama
- TCU had been trending up, but lost 2 of 3 to Arizona State this weekend, including a 9-26 loss
Around the Horns - Monday’s with Coach Schlossnagle
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Useless Stat(s) of the Day
- Max Belyeu, Jalin Flores, and Adrian Rodriguez went a combined 1-30 this weekend. The lone hit was Max Belyeu’s 2 run bomb to help win game two. The bottom of the lineup stepped up and performed when it was needed
- Despite playing on a natural surface this weekend, the Horns only committed two total errors and played really solid defense
- The Horns bullpen gave up just 3 runs this weekend over 9.2 innings
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Updated Rankings & RPI
Texas RPI - #10
D1Baseball - #8
Baseball America - #5
CBC - #7
64 Analytics - #10
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Mid-Week Preview:
- Opponent: UTSA Roadrunners
- Date: Tues March 17th
- Time: 630pm
- Where: Disch-Falk Field
- TV: SEC Network+
History:
- First Met: 1993
- All-Time Record: 26-6
- Horns are 21-4 at Disch-Falk Field
- Last Meeting: 2020 – Horns recorded a 6-2 win over the Meep Meeps with Tristan Stevens getting the win and Pete Hansen recording the save
- UTSA is picked to finish 5th out of 10 teams in the American Athletic
- This past weekend, UTSA lost two of three to Dallas Baptist
- RHP Ruger Riojas led UTSA in wins (10), appearances (26), saves (7), and ERA (3.25) during the 2024 season before transferring to Texas
Records:
- Texas: 17-1 (3-0 SEC)
- UTSA: 16-6 (0-0 American Athletic)
Pitching Matchups:
- Texas TBA v. UTSA RHP James Hubbard (1-2, 4 apps, 5.02 ERA, 14.1 IP)
- My expectation is that RHP Drew Rerick will get the nod
Bullpen Leaders:
- Connor Kelly (6 apps, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 IP)
- Christian Okerholm (4 apps, 0-0, 1.59 ERA, 5.2 IP)
- Kendall Dove (8 apps, 1-0, 4.05 ERA, 13.1 IP)
- Robert Orloski (6 apps, 6-0, 4.44 ERA, 24.1 IP)
Offensive Leaders:
- Mason Lytle (.400 BA, 1.003 OPS, 2 HR, 31 RBI, .579 SLG%, .425 OB%, 5-5 SB)
- Named American Athletic Player of the Year by D1Baseball.com
- Drew Detlefsen (.390 BA, 1.159 OPS, 5 HR, 33 RBI, .659 SLG%, .500 OB%, 6-7 SB)
- James Taussig (.372 BA, 1.123 OPS, 4 HR, 18 RBI, .674 SLG%, .449 OB%, 2-2 SB)
Prediction:
- Texas wins to extend the win streak to 18 games
- I am now 16-2 on the season after having predicted that the Horns would go 2-1 over the weekend, but instead they went 3-0
Stats Comparison
| STAT | TEXAS | UTSA |
| Batting Average | .300 | .338 |
| OPS | .933 | .939 |
| Runs | 136 | 189 |
| Hits | 180 | 242 |
| 2B | 47 | 44 |
| 3B | 6 | 5 |
| HR | 26 | 18 |
| RBI | 126 | 172 |
| SLG% | .527 | .490 |
| BB | 94 | 100 |
| K | 157 | 121 |
| OB% | .406 | .449 |
| SB-ATT | 22-31 | 34-37 |
| ERA | 3.06 | 5.25 |
| WHIP | 1.17 | 1.35 |
| Saves | 9 | 1 |
| BB | 67 | 56 |
| SO | 153 | 188 |
| B/Avg | .205 | .260 |
| Errors | 18 | 15 |
| Fielding% | .973 | .979 |
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Weekend Prediction:
- On the season for non-conference games, I am 27-13
- Week One: 5-3
- Week Two: 6-2
- Week Three: 5-3
- Week Four: 7-1
- Week Five: 4-4
- On the season for SEC games, I am 6-2
- Conf Week One: 6-2
SEC Weekend Recap:
- Alabama: Tide went 3-0, sweeping the Aggies in College Station
- Arkansas: Razorbacks won 2 of 3 against Ole Miss in Oxford
- Auburn: Tigers won 2 of 3 against Vanderbilt
- Florida: Gators got swept by a scorching hot Tennessee team
- Georgia: Bulldogs won 2 of 3 against Kentucky in a run filled weekend
- Kentucky: Wildcats lost 2 of 3 against Georgia in a weekend run fest
- LSU: Tigers swept Missouri
- Mississippi State: Bulldogs got swept by Texas at home
- Missouri: Tigers got swept by LSU Tigers
- Oklahoma: Sooners wont 2 of 3 against South Carolina
- Ole Miss: Rebels lost 2 of 3 against Arkansas at home
- South Carolina: Cocks lost 2 of 3 to Oklahoma
- Tennessee: Vols stay red hot in sweeping Florida
- Texas: Horns swept Mississippi State on the road
- Texas A&M: Aggies were swept by Alabama at home
- Vanderbilt: Commodores lost 2 of 3 to an improved Auburn squad
SEC Standings:
- Tennessee 20-0 (3-0 SEC)
- Alabama 20-1 (3-0 SEC)
- LSU 19-1 (3-0 SEC)
- Texas 17-1 (3-0 SEC)
- Georgia 21-2 (2-1 SEC)
- Arkansas 18-2 (2-1 SEC)
- Oklahoma 17-2 (2-1 SEC)
- Auburn 16-4 (2-1 SEC)
- Ole Miss 15-4 (1-2 SEC)
- Kentucky 14-4 (1-2 SEC)
- South Carolina 16-5 (1-2 SEC)
- Vanderbilt 15-5 (1-2 SEC)
- Florida 16-5 (0-3 SEC)
- Mississippi State 13-7 (0-3 SEC)
- Texas A&M 10-9 (0-3 SEC)
- Missouri 8-11 (0-3 SEC)
SEC RPI Rankings
- Tennessee #1
- Georgia #7
- Ole Miss #8
- Oklahoma #9
- Texas #10
- Arkansas #11
- Alabama #12
- Vanderbilt #16
- South Carolina #21
- Florida #23
- Auburn #24
- Kentucky #27
- LSU #58
- Mississippi State #86
- Texas A&M #118
- Missouri #222
Zach’s SEC Power Rankings
- Tennessee (+0)
- LSU (+0)
- Arkansas (+0)
- Alabama (+0)
- Texas (+1)
- Georgia (+1)
- Auburn (+4)
- Oklahoma (+1)
- Ole Miss (+1)
- Florida (-5)
- Vanderbilt (-3)
- South Carolina (+1)
- Mississippi State (-1)
- Kentucky (+0)
- Texas A&M (+0)
- Missouri (+0)
Top 25 Rankings (per D1Baseball.com)
- Tennessee 20-0
- LSU 20-1
- Arkansas 18-2
- Georgia 21-2
- Florida State 18-1
- Oregon State 15-3
- Clemson 19-2
- Texas 17-1
- Oregon 17-4
- Oklahoma 17-2
- Wake Forest 18-3
- Alabama 20-1
- Florida 16-5
- Stanford 15-3
- Dallas Baptist 14-5
- Louisville 16-3
- North Carolina 16-4
- Ole Miss 15-4
- Southern Miss 14-6
- Auburn 16-4
- UC Santa Barbara 15-4
- Vanderbilt 15-5
- Virginia 12-6
- Coastal Carolina 15-5
- Troy 15-5
