Projecting the Texas Longhorns Pitching Rotation In The SEC Baseball Tournament

The Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament has finally arrived.

For teams in the first and second rounds battling for valuable seeding in the NCAA Tournament, the top four seeds, like No. 3 Texas or No. 1 Georgia, provide a good look at different arms in a different context.

With the Longhorns projected to take one of the top-8 national seeds to host a regional later this month, there is not much at stake for the Longhorns to win the conference tournament besides bringing home another trophy.

For the second year in a row, Texas will have an opportunity to see bullpen arms have an “audition” before the commencement of the road to Omaha. It will be unlikely to see typical starters, Luke Harrison, Ruger Riojas and Dylan Volantis appear on the mound in Hoover on Friday.

So who are some names Jim Schlossngale and pitching coach Max Weiner can send out on the mound to make a start?

Who Can Rise To The Occasion

Texas Baseball, Brett Crossland — Texas freshman pitcher Brett Crossland tosses a pitch against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on May 2, 2026, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas. | Noah McCord, The Reflector

Texas enters its second SEC tournament, skipping the first two rounds again, and in its matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers, the Longhorns did not use any of their premier starters.

Ethan Walker, a reliever last season, made his first start of the season in Hoover. The career reliever put together a respectable day against a good hitting Voulenteer team, pitching for a career-high 4.2 innings and allowing just one run.

Walker’s performance in the SEC Tournament earned him a start in the Austin Regional, game one against Houston Christian.

Before his start against Tennessee, Walker had only appeared in 7.5 innings during the regular season, and he was not one of the premier closers. Keeping this philosophy in mind for this year’s bout, closers like Sam Cozart, Brett Crossland, Haiden Leffew, or Brody Walls will likely stay in the bullpen during the tournament.

With his performance against Missouri in the regular season finale, Cody Howard has emerged as a possible option to make the start on Friday. Pitching in 7.2 innings this season, the senior relief pitcher has a solid afternoon against the Tigers, pitching for 3.2 innings and tossing for three strikeouts.

Barring Tennessee making it past South Carolina and Arkansas, Howard could be the clear option with him finding a lot of success for his best appearance of the season, throwing for four strikeouts and allowing just two runs in three innings of work.

Cal Higgins, one of the transfer arms that came to Austin in the offseason, has not seen long appearances on the mound, with only two games appearing longer than an inning. In his two-inning outings against Texas State and Missouri, the veteran closer delivered what you wanted — dominance.

Higgins tossed for seven strikeouts, allowed four hits, and just one earned run in his longer showings on the mound.

Depending on the matchup, Higgins or Howard could be given the keys to the mound for the Longhorns on Friday, especially if Schlossnagle wants to simulate a scenario that can come up in the regional later this month.

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