The Texas Longhorns enter postseason play with their preseason goals still in front of them. They battled a tough Tennessee team in the SEC Tournament last week but fell short in 12 innings. The Longhorns were not too concerned with the SEC Tournament outcome, choosing to start Ethan Walker, who had thrown just over six innings on the year. Walker’s effort was a pleasant surprise, as the JUCO transfer went 4.1 innings and gave up just one hit. Walker is someone who certainly could be utilized more in the postseason.
Jim Schlossnagle’s club battled injuries throughout the last half of the season, but now the Longhorns are as healthy as they will be. That is despite losing ace Jared Spencer, and getting All-American Max Belyeu back. The bottom line is Texas has had a Top-8 seed locked up for a few weeks, and the game results over that period didn’t mean as much to them as they did for others. Now, every game matters, and if Texas wants to make it to Omaha and do damage there, they need to play better than they have recently.
Better At-Bats Are Needed
Texas has been striking out entirely too much the last six weeks or so. In their last ten SEC games, including the loss to Tennessee, Texas struck out 133 times. Those numbers are unacceptable, and if they do not get it fixed, Texas’s season will end in a hurry. Hopefully, the week-long break that the Longhorns received after losing to Tennessee will benefit the bats. Baseball is as much a mental sport as any other sport, and sometimes just getting away for a couple of days can greatly benefit hitters.
It’s not all bad news for the Texas bats. The SEC is loaded with elite pitching talent that you do not see as frequently in other conferences, if at all. Sure, Texas struggled offensively down the stretch, but they will not face that level of pitching until Omaha, should they make it that far. The Longhorns had one of the best offenses in the SEC most of the season. The talent is there – they just need to settle in and showcase it.
Ruger Riojas Must Perform
In his weekly interview with Mike Hardge and Mark Henry on AM 1300 The Zone, Schlossnagle declined to provide who will start against Houston Christian on Friday. Considering Texas beat the Huskies earlier this year, 12-2 in seven innings, they shouldn’t need to use Riojas or Harrison in the first game. Ethan Walker or Kade Bing will likely get the start. The hope is to win the game using minimal arms so that they can save them for weekend use.
That brings us to Ruger Riojas, who has had an up-and-down season. Riojas was tremendous before Spencer’s injury when he served as a reliever and the Sunday starter. Riojas has struggled in the Friday role after his first start against Texas A&M. In his last three starts, he hasn’t made it past four innings. That is not ideal for your Friday starter. Riojas has the stuff to be a Friday-level pitcher, but his command has been an issue.
Riojas is the single biggest x-factor in determining how far Texas can go. Harrison seems comfortable in the Saturday role, and Schlossnagle is unlikely to mess with something that is going well. That leaves Riojas as the likely starter against Kansas State or UTSA in game two of the regional. Riojas is a UTSA transfer who spent his previous two years with the Roadrunners. Not that anyone needs motivation in the postseason, but Riojas will want to perform well against his former team. After all, he did start the midweek game this year against UTSA and went four innings, giving up one run while striking out five. This would be a great chance for Riojas to get some confidence back while also saving Harrison for what would hopefully be a regional championship game on Sunday.
