MUSING FROM THE DISCH:
My goodness. Another weekend, another sweep!
I will repeat what one of the coaches on the staff told me Sunday after the game. “It’s not normal.” The thing is, he is absolutely right. Winning in the SEC is tough. Winning in the SEC in your first year is even tougher. Winning in the SEC by out pitching everyone after having a very short time span in which to build a roster is flat out incredible. No one in their right mind expected Texas to be in the position they currently are this early.
As a reminder, the Horns were picked to finish 8th by many national pundits and by the SEC coaches. That is not to say folks thought the roster was devoid of talent, far from it, but everyone, including the coaches themselves knew that pitching would be the biggest question mark coming into the season.
The job that this coaching staff has done in such a short time is incredible. The buy in is across the board. The team believes they can win and are never out of the game. The team believes in what they are doing, and it resonates with everyone, not just the guys in the lineup, but throughout the entire clubhouse. There is an alignment with the players and staff that I have not seen in a long time. Maybe most importantly, they are having fun together.
Despite not having two key offensive cogs in the lineup, the Horns found a way to not just win a game, not just win a series, but to sweep the #3 team in the nation.
Since 2018, the Longhorns have swept a ranked team just four times. In 2023, they swept #14 Texas Tech and #6 West Virginia. In 2021 they swept #12 South Carolina and in the ill-fated 2019 season, they swept #2 LSU.
On paper, there is no reason that the Horns should have won this series, much less swept. Georgia came into the game ranked fifth in walks, second in hits, first in home runs, second in OB%, second in runs, and second in scoring. They have been an offensive juggernaut that had all the pundits, including yours truly, wondering what pitching staff could not stop them, but merely slow them down.
Coach Max Weiner and his pitching staff did not just slow them down. His staff didn’t just stop them. His staff threw a metal pipe through the spokes of the Georgia bicycle tire and flipped them upside down.
Over the three games this weekend, the Horns collectively struck out 38 Georgia hitters, while giving up just 10 walks. During the three games, the Horns gave up just 15 hits, meaning that Georgia struck out over twice as much as they got a hit. Georgia entered the series hitting nearly 3 home runs per game, and yet, they hit just 3 total over the entire weekend.
Chapeau Max, Chapeau!
While this is not a season defining series sweep for the Horns, it absolutely is another data point that suggests Texas doesn’t just have a good team or a solid team, they have some special brewing on the 40 acres. They are now 26-4 overall and 11-1 in conference play. With six conference series left to play, short of being swept every single weekend hence forth, the Horns will absolutely get 15 conference wins and its possible they might get to 20 wins.
For reference, only three teams got to 20 wins in SEC play season. Kentucky was 22-8, Tennessee was 22-8, and Arkansas was 20-10. Kentucky was the #2 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, Tennessee was #1 overall seed, and Arkansas was the #5 overall seed. The other two teams of note last season were Texas A&M who went 19-11 and were the #3 overall seed and Georgia, who went 17-13 and were the #7 overall seed.
Since 2017, the Horns have been a national seed three times. In 2022, they were the #9 national seed. In 2021, they were the #2 national seed, and in 2018, they were the #13 national seed.
Being a national seed is incredibly important because it means you get the play post season baseball in the friendly confines of your own ballpark, unless of course, you are Indiana State.
I do urge caution though. Before anyone can and should think about seeding in the NCAA tournament or whether Texas should be ranked #1 or #2 in the polls, things can change in a hurry. Baseball is a fickle mistress, and she will turn on you at moment’s notice. The Horns still have six SEC series remaining and not a single one of them is a gimme, regardless of the opponent’s current record. A great example of that is this weekend in Knoxville. The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t just run rule Texas A&M on Friday, but they also no hit them, only to have the script completely flipped on Saturday when they were beaten like a rented mule in both games of the double header to lose their first SEC series out of the last twelve.
Texas has proven their mettle and their mentality of playing to a standard, not a scoreboard. They have proven that the pitching staff can go toe to toe with the biggest teams in the nation. Now, they have to continue proving that every weekend. As the US Navy SEALs state, the only easy day was yesterday.
Speaking of the mentality. During my conversation with Coach Schlossnagle this morning he really emphasized the importance and amount of time that the staff spends on the mental side of the game. Hitting coach Troy Tulowitzki has always been a big proponent, as has pitching coach Max Weiner, but Coach Schlossnagle takes it to the next level.
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Teams that impressed this weekend:
- Wake Forest – after losing the first game to Florida State, beat them senseless the next two
- Western Kentucky – took two of three from previously ranked Dallas Baptist
- Arizona – took two of three from previously ranked and rivals Arizona State
- Oklahoma State – bounced back with a huge series sweep over Kansas State
- Texas A&M – got run ruled and no-hit on Friday, but battered #1 Tennessee to win the series
- LSU – swept a ranked Oklahoma squad, completely shutting down their offense
- Oregon State – got a big series win over ranked UC Irvine
- Georgia Tech – continues to stay hot and swept Stanford
- Teams that disappointed this weekend:
Dallas Baptist – salvaged a Sunday win but lost the series to Western Kentucky - Arizona State – lost the series to rival Arizona, salvaging a Sunday series finale
- Kansas State – the previously red hot Wildcats got swept by a mercurial Oklahoma State
- Tennessee – from the high of a run rule no-hitter to getting blasted at home and losing the series
- Florida State – won the first game against Wake and then got battered to lose the series
- Oklahoma – Sooners pitching did well for two games, but the offense completely stalled, getting swept by LSU
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Check out the latest episode of Around the Horns, as I sat down with Coach Schlossnagle to talk Texas Baseball
Link to youtube video >> Monday's with Coach Schlossnagle
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SEC Freshman of the Week – LHP Dylan Volatnis
The southpaw earns his second recognition this season from the SEC as he had himself a weekend against the top offense in the nation.
Across two appearances, he went 5.1 IP, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, 9 Ks and earned himself his 7th save and 3rd win of the season.
On thing that Dylan Volantis did not do this weekend was see the walk-off home run by Rylan Galvan as he was actually back in the locker room using the restroom.
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Useless Stat(s) of the Day:
- ONE - Freshman LHP Dylan Volantis has given up just one run in his last 10 appearances You are watching a remarkable young pitcher, so take notice as he is a very special player
- TWO – The polls now have Texas as the #2 team in the nation. From getting bounced in the College Station Regional last season to the #2 team in the nation. Unbelievable turnaround by this staff and players
- THREE – That is the number of home runs the Horns gave up the entire weekend. This against a Georgia team that came in averaging nearly 3 HRs a game and lead the NCAA in home runs.
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Updates Rankings & RPI:
- RPI - #4
- D1Baseball - #2
- Baseball American - #2
- CBC - #2
- 64 Analytics - #3
- NCBWA - # TBA
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Mid-Week Preview
Opponent: Houston Christian Huskies
Date: Tues April 8th
Time: 630pm
Where: Disch-Falk Field
TV: SEC Network+
History:
- First Met: 1969
- All-Time Record: 8-0
- Last Met: 2024 – Horns battered HCU in their first midweek game of the season last year, scoring 20 runs on 24 hits.
- Texas is 8-0 at home against HCU
- HCU picked to finish 10th out of 11 teams
- In 2024, HCU went 18-31 (9-15 Southland)
- This past weekend, Houston Christian won their series against Nicholls as they continue to surprise folks with the season that they are having.
Houston Christian is much improved from last year as they have already hit the 20 win mark this season. The hitting has improved and the pitching is MASSIVELY improved. HCU is not a team that is going to over power anyone as they only have 16 home runs on the season, so they are going to rely on a more station to station offense with opportunistic base running. The Huskies do have a decent number of extra base hits in doubles and triples, but their slugging percentage is still quite low. On the pitching front, the Huskies rely a lot on their three front line starters, but do have a few bullpen arms that they have relied upon heavily to get outs. In the big mid-week games against teams like Baylor, Texas A&M, and UTSA, the Huskies have not been afraid to use weekend starters for an inning to piece together games. That can definitely make it tough on offense at times as you have to get use to different arm slots, different pitch shapes, and velocities.
Game Prediction:
- Texas wis the game
- On the season I am 20-10
Records:
- Texas: 26-4 (11-1 SEC)
- Houston Christian: 20-10 (12-3 Southland)
RPI/SOS:
- Texas: 4 / 28
- Houston Christian: 100 / 212
Probabl Pitching Matchups:
- LHP Kade Bing (1-0, 3.28 ERA, 0.77 WHIP) v. HCU TBA
Bullpen Leaders:
- Louis Castano (3-0, 2 saves, 1.59 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 11 apps, 1 start, 28.1 IP)
- Ben Norton (1-1, 4 saves, 1.59 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 13 apps, 17 IP)
- Nick Ferazzi (1-1, 4.22 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 9 apps, 10.2 IP)
Offensive Leaders:
- Jack Walker (.364 BA, .891 OPS, 19 RBI, .439 SLG%, .452 OB%, 4-5 SB)
- Parker Edwards (.320 BA, .936 OPS, 6 HR, 26 RBI, .573 SLG%, .363 OB%, 3-3 SB)
- Kenneth Dutka (.307 BA, .774 OPS, 11 RBI, .394 SLG%, .380 OB%, 7-10 SB)
Stats Comparison
| STATS | TEXAS | HOUSTON CHRISTIAN |
| Batting Average | .291 | .286 |
| OPS | .926 | .776 |
| Runs | 223 | 193 |
| Hits | 295 | 279 |
| 2B | 71 | 57 |
| 3B | 7 | 6 |
| Home Runs | 52 | 16 |
| RBI | 207 | 174 |
| SLG% | .529 | .406 |
| BB | 156 | 118 |
| K | 273 | 205 |
| OB% | .397 | .370 |
| SB-ATT | 37-51 | 39-51 |
| ERA | 3.04 | 4.90 |
| WHIP | 1.16 | 1.41 |
| Saves | 13 | 7 |
| BB | 107 | 88 |
| SO | 277 | 228 |
| B/Avg | .209 | .271 |
| Errors | 28 | 36 |
| Fielding% | .975 | .966 |
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Weekend Predictions:
- On the season, I am 41-23 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
- On the season, I am 23-9 for SEC games:
- Conf Week One: 6-2
- Conf Week Two: 5-3
- Conf Week Three: 7-1
- Conf Week Four: 5-3
SEC Weekend Recap:
- Alabama: Tide lost the series to Auburn. They got run ruled on Friday, bounced back with a win, and then lost a close one on Sunday
- Arkansas: Razorbacks swept Missouri with three straight run rules. 21-3, 14-4, and 16-2. Oh my!
- Auburn: Tigers got a huge series win over rival Alabama at home
- Florida: Gators misery continues as they were swept at home by Vanderbilt
- Georgia: Bulldogs hot start came to an end as they were swept by Texas in Austin
- Kentucky: Wildcats took game one against Ole Miss, but then drop two close ones to lose the series
- LSU: Tigers swept the Sooners in Norman as they gave up just 4 runs total over the weekend
- Mississippi State: Bulldogs got a much-needed series win over South Carolina
- Missouri: Tigers got physically and probably mentally abused by Arkansas. It was ugly
- Oklahoma: Sooners pitching was good for two games, but they got owned by LSU pitching as they were swept
- Ole Miss: Rebels won a tough series against Kentucky to keep their resurgence going
- South Carolina: Gamecocks lost a tough series to Miss State as they continue their struggles under new coach Mainieri
- Tennessee: Vols run-ruled and no-hit Texas A&M on Friday, only to lose both games of the Sat DH, including giving up 7 home runs in a game as they were run-ruled.
- Texas: Horns made a statement this weekend in sweeping Georgia, the hottest hitting team in the nation
- Texas A&M: Aggies were run-ruled and no-hit on Friday then put on a hitting showcase winning both games of the DH for a series win over #1 Tennessee
- Vanderbilt: Commodores swept Florida for the first time ever as continue to improve
Current SEC standings:
- Arkansas: 30-3 (11-1 SEC)
- Texas: 26-4 (11-1 SEC)
- LSU: 30-3 (10-2 SEC)
- Tennessee: 28-4 (9-3 SEC)
- Georgia: 29-5 (8-4 SEC)
- Ole Miss: 24-7 (8-4 SEC)
- Alabama: 28-5 (8-4 SEC)
- Vanderbilt: 24-8 (7-5 SEC)
- Auburn: 24-8 (7-5 SEC)
- Kentucky: 18-11 (5-7 SEC)
- Oklahoma: 23-8 (5-7 SEC)
- Mississippi State: 19-13 (3-9 SEC)
- Texas A&M: 16-15 (3-9 SEC)
- South Carolina: 19-14 (2-10 SEC)
- Florida: 20-14 (1-11 SEC)
- Missouri: 11-20 (0-12 SEC)
SEC RPI Rankings:
- Arkansas - 1
- Georgia - 3
- Texas - 4
- Tennessee - 5
- LSU - 6
- Ole Miss - 7
- Vanderbilt - 8
- Alabama - 9
- Auburn - 15
- Oklahoma - 19
- Florida - 37
- South Carolina - 39
- Kentucky - 44
- Mississippi State - 52
- Texas A&M - 60
- Missouri - 151
Zach’s Power Rankings:
- Arkansas
- Texas
- LSU
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Auburn
- Vanderbilt
- Ole Miss
- Oklahoma
- Mississippi State
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Missouri
Top 25 Rankings (per D1Baseball.com):
