No. 3 Texas Reigniting Old Conference Rivalry Against Baylor

So far, so good for the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (9-0) to start the 2026 campaign. It was business as usual again on Friday evening, as they squared off for the first time ever against the No. 9 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

While it was the toughest test of the youngest season so far for the Longhorns, they didn't blink in the face of stiff competition. That started with yet another dominant outing from staff ace and veteran right-hander, Ruger Riojas. He tossed five shutout innings and again set a new career-high with 11 strikeouts in Texas' 8-1 win.

As for his run support, that was far from an issue. After threatening in both the first and second innings, the Longhorns finally struck in the third on Aiden Robbins' mammoth, 466-foot two-run blast. It was all Longhorns from there, as Temo Becerra would go deep twice while Ashton Larson launched his own home run, with both transfers recording their first as a Longhorn in the drubbing.

Baylor coach Mitch Thompson and Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock speak before game one of their Big 12 baseball game. | Mark Rogers/For the Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Now, though, they must immediately wipe that victory from their mind and turn their attention to a strong Baylor Bears (6-3) squad. Baylor is fresh off an upset, having beaten the No. 25 Ole Miss Rebels 6-5 in extra innings, and will be looking to add another marquee victory to its ledger.

How do the Longhorns stack up against the Bears?

How to watch/listen -

Saturday Feb. 28 - 7 p.m. CT - Houston Astros Youtube/TexasSports.com/Audio

A look at Baylor's season so far -

Through their first nine games, the Bears have won four games in a row, lost three games in a row and now find themselves on the verge of another three-game winning streak. While they dropped all three games in the Round Rock Classic, they showed they're a competitive team. This was on full display on Friday night in a 6-5 extra innings thriller in which they defeated the No. 25 Ole Miss Rebels.

Baylor by the numbers -

Record - 6-3

Runs scored - 63

Runs allowed - 38

Team Avg. - .269

Team Avg. against - .268

Team ERA - 4.08

Opponent ERA - 7.17

Baylor wins this game if...

It can jump on Luke Harrison early and make life difficult for the left-hander. When Harrison is dialed in, he's one of the best pitchers in the conference and can mow through even the toughest lineups he faces. While he won't overpower foes with a blazing heater, he mixes pitches well and racks up outs once in a groove.

However, Harrison has shown he can be susceptible to free bases -- either via the walk or hit batters. This is where the Bears need to take advantage at the plate. Forcing Harrison to stay in the zone could bode well for Baylor, as it has shown early this

season that it can punish pitchers when they make one too many mistakes.

If the Bears can do exactly that and rattle Harrison early, they have a strong chance at securing their second straight upset win in Houston.

Texas wins this game if...

As cliche as this ultimately will be, it can just pick up right where it left off against the Chanticleers on Friday evening. There's no use fixing something that isn't broken. And for the Longhorns, they put together one of their best performances of the young season so far in their win over Coastal Carolina.

From the jump the bats were hot and eventually the dam broke, leading to a whopping four home runs as a team while the bullpen did its job in an 8-1 victory. They may not produce those exact results against the Bears, but bringing that approach to this game is exactly what they need to do to keep things rolling and remain undefeated.