Texas Baseball Offense Aiming For Bounce Back 2026 Campaign

A reoccuring theme throughout the 2025 season for the Texas Longhorns was the inconsistency of the offense. When the bats were hot, they were hot and able to absolutely shred any pitching staff that they faced. On the flip side, however, was their tendency to go ice cold for large stretches of games and rack up strikeouts in bunches.

As a result, it was not uncommon for them to put up a crooked number on the scoreboard early in a game only to then find themselves lost at the plate the rest of the way. This was especially prominent in conference play. Overall, they hit .275 as team but in conference games that number plummeted down to a mere .246.

In the SEC, this approach is simply not good enough. Especially when a pitching staff is as good as the one they're meant to support. With that being said, the outlook is bright in 2026 thanks to both key players returning, an infusion of talent via the transfer portal and an elite freshman class.

Texas Longhorns second baseman Ethan Mendoza — Texas infielder Ethan Mendoza (5) makes the turn on a double play against Tennessee in the SEC Baseball Tournament. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Projecting the Longhorns' opening day lineup -

2B - Ethan Mendoza

3B - Temo Becerra

RF - Aiden Robbins

1B - Casey Borba

C - Carson Tinney

SS - Adrian Rodriguez

DH - Josh Livingston

CF - Jonah Williams

LF - Anthony Pack Jr.

Setting the table for the Longhorns is Mendoza. This comes as no surprise to anyone, as he was the team's best hitter last season with a sensational .333 average. Not only did he record a plethora of multi-hit games but he also drew 42 free passes (36 walks, six hit by pitch). He just gets on base.

From there, though, the rest of the lineup could go any number of directions. For our purposes, we're going to slot Becerra in second. The incoming transfer from Stanford also got on base a lot in 2025. His .330 average would've been second on the Longhorns last season and forms a deadly one-two punch with Mendoza ahead of a potentially potent middle of the order.

Here is where the fun truly begins. Any order of Texas' 3-4-5 hitters would be a difficult task for opponents to work through. In this projection we believe that order will be Robbins-Borba-Tinney. Robbins and Tinney, transfers from Seton Hall and Notre Dame respectively, sandwich Borba.

Both Robbins and Tinney received preseason All-American recognition and have the potential to anchor the heart of the Texas order. Don't sleep on Borba, though. Breaking out in 2025, the likely starting first baseman emerged as a true power threat and bashed 12 home runs. If he can pick up where he left off then good luck to anyone trying to pitch through this portion of the lineup.

Unfortunately for their opponents, the Longhorns don't get any weaker the rest of the way. Following Tinney in this projection is Rodriguez. Fresh off a sensational freshman campaign, which saw him finish second with a .313 average despite playing through injury, the likely the shortstop is a dangerous option in the six-hole.

Rounding out the lineup in the 7-8-9 slots, we've gone with Livingston/Williams/Pack. Livingston is a transfer from Wichita State and went deep a solid 15 times in 2025, giving Texas some pop deep in the lineup. Behind him is Williams, as the sophomore came on late in the campaign and offered a spark with his .327 average.

Last, but certainly not least, pencil in Pack to win the starting left field job and start his collegiate career in the nine hole for Texas. An exciting freshman, Pack has the potential to be one of the Longhorns' key bats if he can continue to develop and handle the adjustment to facing college pitching.

The final verdict -

There is no doubt that the offense has to be both better and more consistent in 2026 if the Longhorns have any hopes of getting back to Omaha. Fortunately for them, this lineup on paper has the potential to be potent from top to bottom if everything is clicking on all cylinders.

From Mendoza at the top to the trio of Robbins-Borba-Tinney and all the way down to Pack, the order boasts a blend of power, on-base ability and everything a team needs to succeed. Now, they just need to come out of the gate hot and mesh as the season progresses in order to make a deep postseason run.