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Unranked yet undeterred as season begins, Texas gets first look at retooled roster, SEC life

danny davis, austin american-statesman
·4 min read

Over the past few baseball seasons, the Texas Longhorns have been both the hunters and the hunted.

Texas topped the D1Baseball preseason poll ahead of last season and entered its 2021 campaign as a top-10 team. However, the Longhorns were omitted from the 2020 preseason poll and are also unranked this year.

"I think it's always cool to be No. 1, but honestly I think this is better," outfielder Eric Kennedy said this week. "I wouldn't say we were comfortable (last year), but we didn't have that 'Everybody's doubting us' mentality. That's really going to play for us this year. Not being ranked, I don't think anybody's really respecting us."

A College World Series qualifier in each of the past two years, Texas also didn't make the Top 25s of Baseball America and the NCBWA. The Longhorns are No. 25 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper rankings and No. 24 the USA Today coaches poll. The preseason rankings for the Big 12 predicted a fourth-place finish.

Former Texas player Ivan Melendez holds up the Golden Spikes Award, presented to him ahead of the alumni game Feb. 4. The Horns will have to score runs without his big bat in the lineup this year.
Former Texas player Ivan Melendez holds up the Golden Spikes Award, presented to him ahead of the alumni game Feb. 4. The Horns will have to score runs without his big bat in the lineup this year.

Texas is expecting some growing pains

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that Texas was shunned by the voters this preseason. Golden Spikes Award winner Ivan Melendez and staff ace Pete Hansen were among the eight Longhorns selected in the 2022 MLB draft. Texas lost 82% of the school-record 128 homers in 2022. Skyler Messinger and Trey Faltine, the last two winners of the team's defensive MVP award, were at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Wednesday, but the former starters on the left side of the infield were working out in their pro gear. UT needs a new catcher, too.

Texas does return three starters in Kennedy, infielder Mitchell Daly and outfielder Dylan Campbell, and pitcher Lucas Gordon went 7-2 last year. But the Longhorns could start as many as three freshmen in Friday's season opener against Arkansas, and projected weekend starters Zane Morehouse and Travis Sthele are coming off seasons in which neither pitcher threw 40 innings.

"There might be some growing pains along the way. I'm not expecting it to be smooth sailing," Kennedy said. "But I think we're going to find our stride, and I think it'll be great."

Texas' schedule won't do the Horns any favors

Texas will have plenty of time to find its stride before the start of Big 12 play. To open March, all 14 nonconference games will be against teams that failed to reach the NCAA Tournament last year.

February won't be as easy, though.

Two of the Longhorns' three games this weekend at the College Baseball Showdown in Arlington will be against No. 8 Arkansas and No. 10 Vanderbilt. Missouri, which went 28-23 last season, is UT's date for Saturday afternoon.

"I don't think you can determine who we are after one week. I think it's going to be something that plays in time," Texas coach David Pierce said. "My goal is to be good early, to be great late."

"I don't think you can determine who we are after one week," Texas baseball coach David Pierce said this week. "I think it's going to be something that plays in time. My goal is to be good early, to be great late."
"I don't think you can determine who we are after one week," Texas baseball coach David Pierce said this week. "I think it's going to be something that plays in time. My goal is to be good early, to be great late."

An early sneak preview for the SEC in 2025

For Texas, this weekend won't just serve as a preview for the season. Since the Longhorns are playing Arkansas, Missouri and Vanderbilt, they also are getting a glimpse of their future in the Southeastern Conference.

Texas actually has five SEC teams on its schedule this season. The Longhorns will host No. 1 LSU later this month, and a March trip to College Station has been booked.

Since Texas won't join the SEC for another two seasons, Pierce said Wednesday that it is "kind of hard to go there mentally right now." But he acknowledged that the Longhorns will face a challenge in 2025.

"I think you find a different level one through 16 in that league where there's zero days off. Every team has a chance to have front-line, first-round type players throughout the league," Pierce said. "I think it's going to be such a level of professional baseball where the parks are really cool, the fan base is going to be incredible and the level of play is going to be exceptional."

A few Texas players know what they are getting into. Junior catcher Kimble Schuessler, who will miss this season with a finger injury, started his career at Texas A&M. Junior pitcher Heston Tole is an Arkansas transfer. Infielder Jack O'Dowd played at Vanderbilt in 2021.

So will the Longhorns fit in when they move to the SEC? "Absolutely," O'Dowd opined.

"Texas, they're the pinnacle of college baseball and college programs, and our fan base is up there with any of those SEC programs. Our culture is second to none," added O'Dowd, who will open this season as UT's starting second baseman. "I think that people will realize really quickly that we're right where we belong when we go into the SEC."

College Baseball Showdown

Friday-Sunday, Globe Life Field, Arlington, FloBaseball.TV, 104.9

Friday: Texas vs. No. 8 Arkansas, 7 p.m.; Saturday: Texas vs. Missouri, 3 p.m.; Sunday: Texas vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt, 10:30 a.m.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Unranked Texas ready to play ball as baseball season begins