No. 6 Texas Closes Regular Season With Sweep of Missouri: Longhorns Notebook

The No. 6 Texas Longhorns head into the SEC Tournament with plenty of momentum following a sweep of the Missouri Tigers.

Texas Longhorns infielder Temo Becerra celebrates after recording an RBI base hit against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. | University of Texas Athletics

The No. 6 Texas Longhorns (40—12, 19—10) entered this series against the Missouri Tigers (23—30, 6—24) knowing a series win would accomplish multiple things. 

First, taking at least two would clinch their spot in the top four of the SEC standings and a double bye in the SEC Tournament. A potential series win or sweep, too, would in theory be enough to also secure a national seed in the NCAA Tournament and thus both an Austin Regional and potential Super Regional.

Well, they made sure not to leave any doubt and took care of business. They secured a 6-3 win in the opener, 11-6 victory in the second game and then closed out the series with a 12-7 win to pick up a sweep and secure the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament next week.

Three key takeaways from Texas’ sweep of Missouri

Texas Longhorns' outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. celebrates a grand slam against the USC Upstate Spartans. | Texas Longhorns Athletic

Casey Borba heating up 

When every hitter in the Longhorns lineup is clicking, it can put up runs in bunches and punish even the best arms. For that to happen, however, guys like Casey Borba need to produce and provide consistently strong at-bats.

Fortunately, the veteran has been heating up lately. In the finale against Tennessee he went deep twice, including a grand slam. Then against the Tigers he went 4-for-9 with a pair of home runs, a walk and four RBI in the sweep.

If he can maintain that hot streak into the postseason, then the Longhorns will feel much, much better about their lineup.

Volantis and Harrison bounce back

In their series loss against Tennessee, the Longhorns saw their southpaw tandem struggle. Dylan Volantis did throw five innings, but gave up three runs in the process. Meanwhile, Luke Harrison only lasted 3.2 innings and gave up six runs — four of which were earned.

They looked like their old selves against Missouri, however. First, Volantis tossed seven innings of one-run baseball while racking up 11 strikeouts. On Friday, Harrison went 6.1 innings and did give up four runs, but appeared to be back on track.

As the postseason looms, both Volantis and Harrison returning to form is a sign of potentially good things to come for Texas.

Bullpen still a glaring issue

All season long, the most prominent flaw for this Texas squad has been the bullpen. On several occasions they’ve squandered late inning leads and ultimately cost the Longhorns multiple wins.

Against the Tigers, it was not much better unfortunately. They gave up two runs in the eighth of the opener, six runs in the seventh of the second game and then a five-run eighth was put up by Missouri in the finale. 

While it didn't come back to haunt Texas in this series, performances like that from the bullpen could easily spell disaster in the NCAA Tournament and lead to an early exit for the second straight season.

What’s next for Texas?

The Longhorns will be back in action on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT, as they clinched the No. 2 seed and will wait to see who their opponent in their SEC Tournament opener will be.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.