David Pierce talks about the state of college baseball, College World Series environment

Things didn’t go as planned for the Texas Longhorns in Omaha, as they went 0-2 and were eliminated from the College World Series on Sunday. But that didn’t stop Texas head coach David Pierce from praising the current state of college baseball around the nation.

Whether it’s in Omaha or on individual campuses, Pierce believes that college baseball is in a great place right now. Fan support across the country was outstanding this year, and the Longhorns saw that firsthand.

“The state of college baseball is outstanding now,” Pierce said after Texas’ loss. “And what’s happening with facilities and fan bases getting behind programs, and ours has been awesome, off the charts this year. We shattered attendance records at the Dish.

“And then to come here, a lot of brand names and a lot of support. Had 25,000 fans the last two games that we played. And I think it’s just going to continue.”

Texas won the Austin Regional to advance to Super Regionals in Greenville against East Carolina. The Longhorns dropped the first game last weekend, but battled back to punch their ticket to Omaha. In the College World Series, though, Texas lost 7-3 to Notre Dame and then 10-2 to Texas A&M.

Pierce pointed out college baseball’s growth, room for more in the future

Even though Notre Dame was one of the teams that knocked Texas out of the College World Series, Pierce still singled the Irish out as one of the best examples of the growth of college baseball this year. It doesn’t matter what conference a school is in or where they are located, but Pierce thinks that the overall improvement of the sport was very noticeable this year.

Now, Pierce wants to see that growth continued across the country as things progress over the next few years.

“And then you look across the country, a team like Notre Dame that has taken that next step,” added Pierce. “So it’s just not in the South, Southeast. It’s all over the country. And there’s opportunity.

“I just think the state of college baseball is good. We need to keep making it better. And we need to keep making right decisions for our student-athletes to have this type of experience, not only here, but on campuses.”