Jim Schlossnagle: What to know about Texas baseball coach
Four things to know about Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle
A reminder of the rich history of Texas baseball greets those who walk through the glass door into the bowels of UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
There, a display on the wall commemorates the Longhorns‘ 38 appearances in the College World Series — 13 more than any other program.
Texas hopes that display will need a revision at the conclusion of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, which begins for the Longhorns with a home game against Houston Christian on Friday at 1 p.m. in Austin.
What needs to break right for the Longhorns to reach Omaha — and win when they get there?
Here’s a look at three factors.
A resurgence from Ruger Riojas
On April 25, Ruger Riojas met the moment.
The Longhorn righthander kicked off arguably the most anticipated series of the 2025 season with 5â…” scoreless innings against Texas A&M in a 2-1 Texas victory.
That performance lowered his season ERA to 2.98 and marked a sixth consecutive start in which he’d allowed three or fewer runs.
Since then, Texas has not won a Riojas start. Arkansas clobbered him for nine runs in 3â…” innings. Florida plated six runs against him a week later as he recorded just one out. He was better on May 16 against Oklahoma, but still allowed three earned runs in 3â…“ innings.
Control issues rank among the chief causes for the sudden downturn. Riojas entered the month of May walking 1.99 batters per nine innings. In his last three starts, he’s walked 8.59 batters per nine innings.
It’s obvious, but the Longhorns need more from him — especially considering their diminished starting pitching depth. Texas lost ace Jared Spencer for the season back in mid-April, leaving Riojas and Luke Harrison as the only regular weekend starters left standing.
A power injection from Max Belyeu
There’s a trend emerging in Omaha. The last teams standing tend to be those who are prolific at hitting the ball out of the ballpark.
Ole Miss won its national title in 2022 by ranking 22nd nationally in home runs per game. A year later, LSU lifted the trophy with the fourth-most powerful offense in the game. Last season, Tennessee claimed its title by slugging the second-most homers per game in the country.
The previous seven national champions were far less dependent on the longball. They finished, on average, 74th in the country in home runs per game. In 2014, Vanderbilt ended up 168th in the country in that category on its way to a championship.
But if top-tier power is the new way forward, the Longhorns have a little bit of ground to cover. They rank 45th with 1.46 home runs per game heading into NCAA Tournament play.
Texas achieved that, though, with its top power bat from last year sidelined for roughly half of the regular season. Max Belyeu launched 18 home runs on his way to Big 12 Player of the Year honors in 2024.
He returned from a thumb injury on May 15 and launched a three-run home run against Oklahoma in the ninth inning to help the Longhorns secure the regular-season SEC title. If Texas is to lift another trophy this season, Belyeu will have to provide some more thump over the next few weeks.
An upset or two elsewhere in the NCAA Tournament bracket
Texas’ path to the College World Series looks tame enough.
The oddsmakers at DraftKings give the Longhorns an implied probability of 69.2% to win their regional. They have the seventh-shortest odds to make it to Omaha, with a 40.8% implied probability of qualifying for the College World Series.
But both LSU and Arkansas, the two betting favorites to win the College World Series, reside on Texas’ side of the bracket — meaning the Longhorns could have to play themselves out of a brutal pool in Omaha if they get there.
If the highest-seeded teams all advanced to the College World Series, Texas’ side of the bracket would include four of the top five teams in the SEC standings.
That’s a gauntlet. The Longhorns would benefit from some upset chaos to make that look a little less daunting, as long as it doesn’t take place in Austin.
Reach Texas Insider David Eckert via email at deckert@gannett.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Access all of our best content with this tremendous offer.