Why Texas Baseball Looks Built to Dominate the SEC

The No. 2 Texas Longhorns have done just about everything right to start the season.

Coming off an almost effortlessly dominant victory on the road Tuesday over a solid Texas State team, it looks like this group can do little wrong.

At 16-0 — their best start in more than two decades — the Longhorns have overwhelmed nonconference opponents, already racking up six run-rule victories. With Southeastern Conference play approaching, the question now is whether that success will hold up against stronger competition.

Here’s why Texas looks built to cruise once conference play begins.

Depth on the Mound

Texas freshman pitcher Sam Cozart eyes the plate in a midweek game at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas. | Texas Athletics

Sam Cozart proved Tuesday, once again, why Texas’ pitching depth could be the biggest reason this team goes the distance.

The right-hander delivered one of his steadier outings of the young season, consistently generating weak contact and limiting damage outside of occasional mistakes. Cozart threw 4⅔ innings, allowing three runs on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

And right behind him were relievers just as reliable.

Ethan Walker, Max Grubbs and Cal Higgins followed out of the bullpen, combining for four strikes and allowing zero runs to keep the Bobcats from mounting another rally.

While the staff has shown some vulnerability in recent matchups, it remains one of the most impressive aspects of this team. Texas entered Tuesday with the nation’s third-best ERA (2.30) and seventh-best WHIP (1.02).

That dominance was showcased this past weekend as well, with excellent outings from starters Ruger Riojas and Luke Harrison.

In the first two games of the USC Upstate series, Riojas and Harrison annihilated the Spartans’ lineup. The duo combined for 10⅔ innings, allowing four runs, while striking out 19 hitters in Texas’ victories.

If this level holds, it could carry this team a long way.

A Lineup That Almost Never Stops Producing

Texas infielder Ethan Mendoza makes the turn on a double play. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When the pitching isn’t perfect, the bats have more than made up for it.

Through 16 games, Texas has outscored its opponents 162–40 and has posted double-digit runs in six straight contests for the first time since 1989.

Tuesday’s win featured four home runs, including a towering 477-foot blast from Casey Borba — his first of two on the night.

Temo Becerra and Anthony Pack Jr. each added homers of their own, highlighting production that has come from nearly every spot in the lineup this season.

Even when one or two hitters struggle, as Ethan Mendoza did Tuesday, someone else seems ready to deliver the big swing.

That kind of depth is exactly what teams need to survive the grind of SEC play.

Steady in the Field

Defense wins championships, they say.

If Texas continues to play this cleanly in the field, it should expect to have one firmly in its sights in the coming months.

The Longhorns’ .988 fielding percentage ranks fifth in Division I baseball, and that discipline was on full display Tuesday, especially in the infield.

Shortstop Adrian Rodriguez anchored the defense with several spectacular plays, including a smooth stop on a ground ball up the middle and a running grab on a pop fly drifting behind second base.

As the Longhorns head toward conference play, that kind of steady defense could prove just as valuable as the explosive offense that has fueled Texas’ strong start.