Texas pitcher, former Freshman All-American Aaron Nixon enters transfer portal

Following the Texas Longhorn‘s College World Series exit and subsequent firing of pitching coach Sean Allen, former Freshman All-American Aaron Nixon has entered the transfer portal, according to D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers.

Nixon struggled during his sophomore campaign in 2022, pitching 30.1 innings and earning a 5.04 ERA and 1.62 WHIP. He gave up 17 earned runs on 24 hits and walked 25 others, though had 38 strikeouts and only allowed seven extra base hits all season.

Along with his national freshman honors, Nixon was also a Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection, mostly serving the closer role, leading the Longhorns with nine saves and was second on the team with 27 relief appearances.

He finished that season with a 2.212 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched, only allowing opponents to bat .211 against him.

Kendall Rogers critical of Texas’ decision to part ways with pitching coach

After more than a decade of working with Texas baseball head coach David Pierce, pitching coach Sean Allen got the ax on Monday following the Longhorns’ exit from the College World Series. D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers reported the news, calling it a “bizarre move,” and noting that Allen was the outlet’s 2021 assistant coach of the year.

Allen’s Longhorns pitching staff ranked 26th (4.22) in the nation in ERA and led the Big 12 Conference in ERA.

On top of calling the firing an odd decision, Rogers stuck up for the job Allen did considering several setbacks for the pitching unit in 2022.

“I’ll be pretty honest — given the fact that Tanner Witt had Tommy John surgery and Aaron Nixon wasn’t the same guy this year, I thought Allen did a pretty good job with that #Texas pitching staff,” Rogers tweeted. “Someone is going to get a very, very good assistant.”

Sean Allen coached with David Pierce at Texas, Tulane and Sam Houston State. In 2020, he transitioned to the role of pitching coach after serving as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator from 2017-19.

On Sunday, the Texas Longhorns exited the College World Series with a loss to in-state rival Texas A&M. Notre Dame handed them their first loss in Omaha 7-3, followed by a 10-2 loss to the Aggies.

Expectations were high in Austin this year and even with a College World Series appearance, they were not met. Success in the regular season did not translate in Omaha. Pierce decided something within their program needed to change.

A new pitching coach and recruiting coordinator will be entering one of the top programs in the country, where expectations will remain high. Meanwhile, Sean Allen is now up for grabs.