NIL
Did Texas baseball have successful season despite NCAA Tournament exit?
Jim Schlossnagle: What to know about Texas baseball coach
Four things to know about Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle
Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle telegraphed his priorities when he answered a question from a reporter about his team’s chase for an SEC championship back on April 16.
“I would love to win the conference championship,” he said. “That’s awesome, but it doesn’t get you to Omaha. It puts you in a regional. Might get you a good seed. But you got to get into a regional, and then you see what happens.”
Here’s what happened: The Longhorns were twice beaten by UTSA, their southern neighbors with a fraction of Texas’ financial muscle ‒ a factor that matters more than ever in the NIL era of college athletics.
Texas’ 7-4 defeat in Sunday night’s regional final proved particularly comprehensive.
UTSA righthander Gunnar Brown, who carried a 7.85 ERA into the most important start of his life, muffled the Longhorns’ offense through five innings, allowing one run as he scattered six hits and two walks.
Conversely, the Roadrunners immediately pounced on experimental Texas starter Hudson Hamilton for two runs in the first inning, then tagged Ethan Walker and Max Grubbs for five runs in the third to assert firm control of the game.
After Kimble Schuessler struck out to conclude Texas’ season, the Longhorns (44-14) curled over their dugout railing, shoulder-to-shoulder as they watched the Roadrunners (47-14) dogpile on their home turf. The joy of the SEC title they clinched less than a month ago seemed a world away.
Can that achievement outweigh this disappointment in the long run? Can this season be considered a success after Schlossnagle built his campaign around positioning his team to achieve NCAA Tournament glory?
“On one hand, we’re not going to be in Omaha, so we didn’t get the most out of our team,” Schlossnagle said. “But I feel like compared to where we started, where we are today, this program is in really good shape, headed in the right direction. I feel confident that our coaching staff, given the situation, got the most out of our team.
“I understand the standard. I get it. But you can have a good season and not end up in Omaha. That’s part of it. It’s tournament baseball.”
In their first season in the SEC, the Longhorns didn’t just win the best baseball conference in America ‒ they dominated it, claiming 22 conference victories to place themselves two games above Arkansas for the title. In doing so, they became the first team to win the league by multiple games since Tennessee did in 2022.
That Volunteers team also missed out on the College World Series, suffering an upset loss to Notre Dame in the super-regional round.
“I mean, we won the SEC regular season,” Texas third baseman Casey Borba said. “That’s something to be proud about. Definitely not the greatest thing we could have done this year. We could have done way more. But it just didn’t go our way.”
The Longhorns spent almost their entire season overachieving. Schlossnagle’s coaching peers picked Texas to finish eighth in the SEC ‒ and that was before the Longhorns lost ace Jared Spencer for the year and went without star outfielder Max Belyeu for half the season.
As Texas’ environment adjusted to all the winning, expectations shifted. Schlossnagle spent all season talking about reaching the 15 conference win threshold, enough to just about guarantee his team a place in the postseason. The Longhorns cleared that low bar with 14 SEC games to spare. Their own success forced them to shoot higher.
And that left them in a position to be toppled.
They end their season as a fallen giant, struck down by a UTSA team playing in just its fourth regional since 1992.
“When you go 44-14 in our league, it doesn’t make it a bad season,” Schlossnagle said. “Just not the right ending.”
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.