What do recent losses reveal about No. 24 Texas Baseball

Well, first the good news is Texas is 7-4 instead of 4-7 like they were this time last season. Let’s be honest, Texas has a difficult time winning when playing in MLB stadiums, even despite scoring 24 runs in the most recent three games against No. 3 LSU (3-6), Texas State (10-11), and No. 9 Vanderbilt (11-14) during the Astros Foundation College Classic.

It might be easy to point to the big stadium atmosphere. For the past four seasons, the games played in MLB stadiums at the beginning of the season have always given Texas a good reality check. Every season Texas sinks in the ranking and they have to claw back up the rest of the season. Texas is now ranked No. 24 down from No. 15.

Last season during the 2023 College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, TX Globe Life Field against No. 8 Arkansas, Missouri, and No. 10 Vanderbuilt, Texas lost all three and scored just nine runs total. In 2022, Texas did better winning two of the three games in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic winning against No. 17 Tennessee (7-2), No. 7 LSU (6-1), and taking a loss against UCLA (1-5).

The 2021 State Farm College Baseball Showdown, again at Globe Life Field, was especially difficult for Texas where they scored just four runs against three ranked teams Mississippi State (3-8), Arkansas (0-4), and Ole Miss (1-8). The 2020 Shriners Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX was challenging as well, Texas won one game and dropped two games to LSU (again) and Missouri.

Coach Pierce thought maybe the lights and grandeur of the big stadium intimidated the freshman players last season.

Not this season, Texas clubbed the ball in the second and third games after the first game against LSU where the pitching contained the hot bats of Jared Thomas, Max Belyeu, Jack O’Dowd, and Jalin Flores. LSU recorded 20 strikeouts compared to eight for Texas of which Lebarron Johnson Jr. recorded six.

Should coach Peirce have left Johnson in for more than three innings against LSU? “Yeah Probably!”

Texas scored 21 runs in two games and still lost. How is this possible? In the Texas State game, one pitch in the top of the ninth inning with a runner on base put Texas State in the lead with a home run. Texas was crushed and could not mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth.

Against No. 9 Vanderbilt, Texas had a 11-3 lead until the fifth inning. Texas would rotate in seven pitchers, each throwing between 10 to 16 pitches and Vanderbilt took serious advantage on their way to 14 runs while shutting down Texas’ bats after the fourth inning.

Here is what we do know. Texas does not lack for sluggers. (Thomas, Flores, Brown, Peyton, O’Dowd, Belyeu, Kimble). In the first 11 games of this season, Texas has recorded 124 hits, 22 home runs, and scored 95 runs.

During the three games of the Astros Foundation College Classic, Texas head coach David Pierce put 16 pitchers on the mound and paid a heafty price, three losses.

However, we saw this last year. While nobody likes to lose, especially after being up 11-3, Texas was able to expose their weaknesses in pitching. Now they can get to work and make corrections.

We all know, we can train for something all day, every day, but until we are tested, we do not truly know how good we are. It is possible that Pierce, while not happy about a loss, is content (not as mad as he could be), because he can not hyper focus on all the areas the 16 pitchers need to improve, and he gets to start early in the season working on these imperfections.

The reward will be found late in the season as Texas makes another run for Omaha and the College World Series.

Expect to see Texas pitching to get dramatically better, more refined, better placed balls, and for Texas to compete on the mound like they are at the plate.

There may be wisdom in coach Pierce’s pitching rotations. First up to test that theory out is Texas A&M on Mar. 5 (Tue) at Disch-Falk Field starting at 6:30 p.m. aired on Longhorn Network.