Texas welcomes Missouri to town for the final series of the regular season. It’s been an up-and-down year for the Longhorns, but now it’s time to put their best foot forward. They’re coming off a disappointing weekend in Knoxville for a number of reasons. The Longhorns avoided the sweep with a win on Sunday, but overall they just didn’t play well. For whatever reason, Texas has struggled on the road in 2026.
The good thing for Texas is they shouldn’t have to leave home again unless it’s for the SEC Tournament or Omaha, if they get there. This weekend still has real postseason implications. The SEC Tournament starts next Tuesday in Hoover, and if Texas stays in the top four of the standings, they’ll get a double bye and won’t play until Thursday.
If Texas takes care of business this weekend, they should lock up a top-eight national seed, which would make the SEC Tournament mostly irrelevant. Getting that top-eight seed is huge because it means hosting both a regional and a super regional—and this team has clearly been different away from home. If Texas loses the series, they’ll probably need at least one win in Hoover to feel good about their chances of still getting that top-eight spot.
Missouri comes in last in the SEC at 6–21 in conference play and 23–27 overall. They’ll need to win the SEC Tournament to make the postseason, no question. Before last weekend, they had lost 11 of their previous 12 conference games, but they did take a series from Vanderbilt. This isn’t the usual Vanderbilt team, but they were still on the bubble and had a real shot to get in with a series win. Instead, Missouri likely ended their chances, and Vanderbilt is now expected to miss the postseason for the first time since 2005.
So Missouri comes in with some confidence, probably for the first time in a while. Texas needs to be ready, because Missouri is capable of stealing a series if they’re not. At the same time, Texas should win this series. If they don’t, it says a lot about the ceiling of this 2026 team.
Casey Borba’s Resurgence Helps The Texas Offense Tremendously
Over the last two games against Tennessee, Casey Borba went 4-for-7 with three home runs and seven RBIs. If he can get back to what he was earlier in the season, it changes the whole lineup. The top has been solid all year, but the middle and bottom haven’t been consistent. If that middle group starts producing, it changes how teams pitch to Aiden Robbins and Carson Tinney.
At the end of the day, if Texas is going to make it to Omaha, it’s probably going to come down to what they get out of the middle of the order.
Borba also makes life easier for guys like Temo Becerra. You can’t pitch around everyone, and Becerra can take advantage if the hitters in front of him are getting on base and having good at-bats. He might’ve had the best series of anyone against Tennessee, going 8-for-11. If that keeps up along with Borba heating up, the lineup starts to look a lot more complete.
Day Two and Three Starting Pitchers Must be Better
The second and third starters need to be better. Texas lost its first game of the season in a Dylan Volantis start, but he still gave them five innings and only allowed three runs. That’s not dominant, but it’s good enough to win.
Luke Harrison and Ruger Riojas are more of a concern right now. Both have been trending the wrong way the last few weeks, and that continued against Tennessee. Harrison did get a win against Mississippi State, but that came after giving up five runs in the first inning. Against Tennessee, he went just 3.2 innings and gave up six runs. Texas needs more from him heading into the postseason. At some point, he’s likely going to be starting a win-or-go-home game, and earlier in the year that felt fine. Now, not as much.
There was also some concern when Riojas got scratched right before his start on Saturday. Schloss said it was just general soreness, and he ended up going on Sunday. That was a relief, but the outing was mixed—four runs in four innings. One thing to watch is that he hasn’t thrown more than 74 pitches since April 18 against Alabama. Hopefully that’s nothing, but it’s at least worth noting.
Texas needs the version of Riojas from earlier in the season, when he looked like one of the best pitchers in the country. If they don’t get that—or if Harrison doesn’t step up—it’s hard to see this team making a real run to Omaha.
