MUSING FROM THE DISCH:
There is a new #1 team in the nation. There is also a single team at the top of the SEC standings.
Meet the 2025 Texas Longhorns.
34 games into the season last year, the Horns were 20-14 and consistently struggled to be consistent. They got solid pitching at times from the frontline guys, but then the bullpen would falter, or the offense would fail to show up and struggle. They unfortunately just didn’t do anything well all the time.
This 2025 team continues to compete at a high level and doesn’t back down. Whether they are up 10 runs or down 10 runs, the 2025 version of the Longhorns continue to grind and compete every inning. You hear it all the time, but the kids truly believe in the process and playing to their standard.
Additionally, and I have said this before, but coaching matters. Turnarounds don’t happen in a vacuum and this coaching staff has not just shown that they are good at what they do, they have shown that they are elite.
Look at pitching for example. Going into the 2025 season, the biggest question for the Horns was pitching. Who would start, who would close, who would fill the innings in between. Schlossnagle and staff took over a relative unknown as it relates to pitching. Outside of Max Grubbs, who missed the entire Fall, and Andre Duplantier, the only returning pitchers were Luke Harrison, Hudson Hamilton, Will Mercer, Cody Howard, and Ace Whitehead.
Harrison was limited in pitching last year as he was still coming off injury, Will Mercer missed all last year as he got injured in Fall practice, and Cody Howard and Hudson Hamilton did not play big roles. In addition, as mentioned above, Max Grubbs missed all of the Fall, as did Ace Whitehead as he had off season surgery.
The Longhorns certainly brought in some talented arms, but only one of them had real starting experience (Thomas Burns), while the rest of them were primarily relievers.
The job that Max Weiner and staff have done is nothing short of extraordinary. A 3.03 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP and a .212 Batting Average Against. WOW.
Now, about that #1 ranking. This is going to be controversial, but I absolutely hate it. Do I think the team has earned it and deserves it? ABSOLUTELY. Let me be clear, to this point, there are very few if any teams that can put their resume next to Texas and say that they deserve it more. Do the Horns lead the nation in the sexy categories like home runs, triples, most runs batted in or slugging percentage? No, they do not.
The Horns are #2 in the nation in ERA, they are tied for first with 11 Quadrant 1 wins. They have yet to lose a series in non-conference or SEC play, and they suffered their first true road loss of the season this past weekend at Kentucky.
So yes, I do think the team has earned the right to be #1 in the nation. That said, I hate that the team is ranked #1 because it puts an even larger target on their backs and provides a little more motivation to opposing staffs.
At the end of the day though. I have full faith in the coaching staff to ensure that the Horns mentally are not looking at the rankings the same way that they don’t look to the scoreboard to define themselves. Play to the STANDARD, the Texas standard and let things sort themselves out.
Enjoy the highs, appreciate and learn from the lows, and have fun with this team as they are a special group of guys that continue to grind and put themselves in position to make a deep post season run.
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Teams that impressed this weekend:
- Auburn – swept #3 LSU as they continue to surge in the SEC
- Oklahoma – took two of three from #17 Vanderbilt bouncing back from getting swept by LSU and losing to DBU
- Florida State – swept #25 Virginia Tech bouncing back after losing to Wake Forest and rival Florida
- North Carolina – swept Wake Forest
- TCU – swept #22 Kansas, making a statement in the Big 12 race
Rice – took two of three from South Florida as David Pierce gets his first series win
Teams that disappointed this weekend:
- LSU – got swept by #11 Auburn
- Arkansas – lost two of three to #7 Georgia
- Vanderbilt – lost two of three to #19 Oklahoma
- Louisville – lost two of three to unranked NC State
- Wake Forest – got swept by North Carolina
- Kansas – got swept by TCU
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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 >> Around the Horns
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Useless Stat(s) of the Day:
- ONE - #1 in the nation. That is who the 2025 Texas Longhorns are.
- TWO – The Horns only allowed two stolen bases over the three-game series against Kentucky, which came into the series leading the SEC in that category.
- THREE – Texas has a 3.20 ERA in SEC play. That is best in the conference by almost a point and with an overall ERA of 3.03, that is good for second best in the nation.
Updates Rankings & RPI:
- RPI - #3
- D1Baseball - #1
- Baseball American - #1
- 64 Analytics - #2
- NCBWA - # TBA
Mid-Week Preview
Opponent: UTRGV
Date: Tues April
Time: 630pm
Where: Disch-Falk Field
TV: SEC Network+
History:
- First Met: 1968
- All-Time Record: 54-7
- Last Met: 2024 – UTRGV beat the Longhorns 17-9 in Jared Thomas lone start and appearance on the mound of the season. That night, the Horns used 10 pitchers but could not keep the Vaqueros from scoring as UTRGV scored 17 runs on 11 hits, plating a run in each inning except for the 9th.
- Texas is 45-2 at Disch-Falk FIeld
- UTRGV picked to finish 3rd out of 11 teams in the Southland
- In 2024, UTRGV went 29-25, 15-15 in the WAC
- This past weekend, UTRGV swept Stephen F. Austin
Game Prediction:
- Texas wis the game
- On the season I am 24-10
Records:
- Texas: 29-5 (13-2 SEC)
- UTRGV: 25-10 (16-5 Southland)
RPI/SOS:
- Texas: 3 / 34
- UTRGV: 35 / 94
Probable Pitching Matchups:
- LHP Kade Bing (1-0, 3.12 ERA, 0.81 WHIP) v. Jacob Limas (1-1, 4.68 ERA, 1.72 WHIP)
Bullpen Leaders:
- Anthony Tejada (2-0, 3.24 ERA, 1.32 WHIP)
- Steven Oliva (0-1, 3.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP)
- Kike Cienfuegos (1-0, 4.15 ERA, 1.38 WHIP)
- Harrison Thayer (2-1, 3.34 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)
- Darren Barrera (1-0, 2.87 ERA, 1.60 WHIP)
- Nick Nolan (0-1, 4.85 ERA, 1.08 WHIP)
Offensive Leaders:
- Armani Raygoza (.382 BA, 1.159 OPS, 10 HR, 40 RBI, .695 SLG%, .464 OB%, 1-1 SB)
- Jacob Sanchez (.368 BA, 1.036 OPS, 7 HR, 23 RBI, .584 SLG%, .452 OB%, 1-1 SB)
- Isaac Lopez (.360 BA, .991 OPS. 6 HR, 30 RBI, .566 SLG%, .425 OB%, 6-10 SB)
- Steven Lancia (.339 BA, .899 OPS, 2 HR, 25 RBI, .470 SLG%, .429 OB%, 2-2 SB)
Stats Comparison
| STAT | TEXAS | UTRGV |
| Batting Avg | .286 | .314 |
| OPS | .906 | .868 |
| Runs | 250 | 284 |
| Hits | 332 | 370 |
| 2B | 85 | 71 |
| 3B | 7 | 3 |
| Home Runs | 55 | 29 |
| RBI | 233 | 256 |
| SLG% | .514 | .453 |
| BB | 177 | 172 |
| K | 312 | 236 |
| OB% | .392 | .415 |
| SB-ATT | 41-56 | 30-47 |
| ERA | 3.03 | 4.17 |
| WHIP | 1.16 | 1.44 |
| Saves | 15 | 10 |
| BB | 120 | 133 |
| SO | 316 | 294 |
| B/Avg | .212 | .263 |
| Errors | 30 | 16 |
| Fielding% | .975 | .987 |
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Weekend Predictions:
- On the season, I am 46-26 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
- On the season, I am 27-13 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
SEC Weekend Recap:
- Alabama: Tide dropped their second straight series, this time to Mississippi State
- Arkansas: Razorbacks dropped their first SEC series as they lost the rubber match to Georgia
- Auburn: Tigers swept LSU, scoring a huge series win
- Florida: Gators swept Missouri giving them a much needed series win
- Georgia: Bulldogs won Sunday to take the series over #1 Arkansas
- Kentucky: Wildcats lost Sunday, dropping the series to Texas
- LSU: Tigers could not get any offense going and got swept by Auburn
- Mississippi State: Bulldogs scored a huge series win over Alabama
- Missouri: Tigers are not 0-15 in conference after getting slept by Florida
- Oklahoma: Sooners won a big series over Vanderbilt, dropping the Sunday finale
- Ole Miss: Rebels took Sunday to extra innings, but lost the game and series
- South Carolina: Gamecocks were swept by Texas A&M, including giving up two 9th inning grand slams to lose the series finale
- Tennessee: Vols won the Sunday series finale in extra innings to win the series over Ole Miss
- Texas: Horns hung on to win the Sunday series finale to win the series
- Texas A&M: Aggies swept South Carolina, run ruling them on Saturday and then hitting two 9th inning grand slams on Sunday
- Vanderbilt: Commodores run ruled Oklahoma on Sunday, but it was too little too late as they lost the series
Current SEC standings:
- Texas 29-5 (13-2 SEC)
- Arkansas 32-5 (12-3 SEC)
- Tennessee 31-5 (11-4 SEC)
- Georgia 32-6 (10-5 SEC)
- LSU 31-6 (10-5 SEC)
- Auburn 26-10 (9-6 SEC)
- Ole Miss 27-9 (9-6 SEC)
- Alabama 29-8 (8-7 SEC)
- Vanderbilt 26-10 (8-7 SEC)
- Oklahoma 25-10 (7-8 SEC)
- Kentucky 19-14 (6-9 SEC)
- Texas A&M 20-15 (6-9 SEC)
- Mississippi State 22-14 (5-10 SEC)
- Florida 24-14 (4-11 SEC)
- South Carolina 20-17 (2-13 SEC)
- Missouri 12-22 (0-14 SEC)
SEC RPI Rankings:
- Arkansas – 1
- Georgia – 2
- Texas – 3
- Tennessee – 4
- Auburn – 5
- Vanderbilt – 7
- LSU – 9
- Alabama – 11
- Ole Miss – 12
- Oklahoma – 25
- Florida – 31
- Mississippi State – 37
- Kentucky – 41
- Texas A&M – 49
- South Carolina – 54
- Missouri – 156
Zach’s Power Rankings:
- Texas (+1)
- Georgia (+3)
- Tennessee (+1)
- Auburn (+3)
- Arkansas (-4)
- Oklahoma (+4)
- Alabama (-1)
- LSU (-5)
- Mississippi State (+2)
- Ole Miss (-1)
- Vanderbilt (-3)
- Texas A&M (+0)
- Kentucky (+0)
- Florida (+1)
- South Carolina (-1)
- Missouri (+0)
Top 25 Rankings (per D1Baseball.com):
- Texas: 29-5
- Arkansas: 32-5
- Clemson: 33-6
- Tennessee: 31-5
- Georgia: 32-6
- Oregon State: 26-7
- Florida State: 28-7
- Auburn: 26-10
- LSU: 31-6
- UCLA: 28-7
- Ole Miss: 27-9
- North Carolina: 28-8
- UC Irvine: 25-8
- Georgia Tech: 29-7
- Alabama: 29-8
- Oregon: 24-10
- Louisville: 26-9
- Oklahoma: 25-10
- Vanderbilt: 26-10
- Troy: 26-11
- Coastal Carolina: 27-9
- Arizona: 25-10
- Southern Miss: 24-12
- West Virginia: 30-4
- TCU: 28-9
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