The Longhorns are coming off a much-needed series victory against the Oklahoma Sooners. In doing so, they clinched the SEC regular season championship in their inaugural year. That is an incredible accomplishment, and Texas fans shouldn’t look past that regardless of how the season ends. It is hard to believe, but Longhorns were picked 8th in the SEC preseason poll. They begin play in the conference tournament against Tennessee on Thursday at 3:00 pm, but the outcome in Hoover, Alabama should not have much to do with seeding in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Monday. It’s hard to imagine that the regular season SEC champions will not be the #1 overall seed.
Tennessee, on the other hand, has a lot to play for. The Volunteers had a rough last six weeks of the season after being ranked #1 in the country, losing their last five SEC series. Tennessee will need to do some damage in the SEC tournament in order to secure a top 16 seed and host a Regional. They are a very difficult team to beat at home, meaning they will go all out to make a run in the SEC tournament and secure the seeding they need.
Texas Bats Have Another Big Test
Tennessee is throwing their ace, Liam Doyle, against the Longhorns, who is expected to be the first pitcher selected in the upcoming MLB Draft. Once again, Texas struggled against elite pitchers last week when they faced Kyson Witherspoon of Oklahoma. Witherspoon struck out eight over 6.1 innings against the Longhorns. The Texas bats are striking out entirely too often, plain and simple. That needs to improve in a hurry, or Texas’ season will end prematurely.
Liam Doyle will be by far the best pitcher Texas has faced this season. In 79.1 innings pitched, Doyle has 137 strikeouts with just 25 walks and a 2.72 ERA. He will be a great challenge for the Texas lineup, but they have the talent to hold their own, even against an elite pitcher like Doyle. The Longhorns may not face another pitcher as good as Doyle this year, but it will be mostly elite pitching from here on out. Texas does not need to hang 10 runs on everyone, but striking out less and putting balls in play would be a much-needed improvement. The team was led by the pitching staff most of the year, but now they need the bats to pick them up. That has not happened yet, but it needs to in order for Texas to have a chance at long postseason success.
Texas Pitching Must Reset
The resurgence of the Texas pitching staff under Max Weiner in year one has been one of the best stories in college baseball this season. Nothing can take away the job Weiner has done, even with the recent slump. The options were very limited, and Weiner has worked with what he has at his disposal. Pitching has been pretty good given the circumstances, and it needs to continue to be as the ‘Horns prepare for a postseason run.
Since the injury to Jared Spencer, the pitching staff as a whole seems to have hit a bit of a wall. That’s understandable, as everyone has had to move around and take on more innings. Possibly the best thing the pitching staff can do heading into regional play is have their arms well-rested. With not much to play for, Schloss looks to be doing just that. Texas will be starting Ethan Walker against Tennessee. Walker has only pitched 6.2 innings this year, but all have come since April 15th. Most recently, Walker pitched against Oklahoma, going two innings and not allowing any baserunners and striking out three. Should Walker have a similar showing against Tennessee, he will give Texas another trustworthy arm out of the bullpen.
