Texas Baseball experiences first rough patch under Jim Schlossnagle

Between February 14th, the beginning of the Texas Baseball season, and the first of May, the Texas Longhorns lost just five games.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns scoop!]

That was over 75 games—two full months and more—where Texas won 38 of 43 games, just two of those losses in SEC play. The Longhorns were easily the best team in the country, and even the most surly and pessimistic Austinites were starting to believe there was something special about this team.

Fast forward just 12 days, less than a fortnight, and Texas has doubled its loss total while losing two series in a row. They hadn’t lost a series all season.

Fayetteville is where this streak started, but even after losses on Thursday and Friday to Arkansas, there still wasn’t much reason to panic. This was the series Texas could afford to lose: on the road, with injuries to not only their two best players but also the continual grit and grind of a 50+ game season catching up to players like Ethan Mendoza and Adrian Rodriguez.

Where the alarm bells began ringing was on Saturday, a game Texas needed to win to avoid a sweep, the first one the team would suffer in over two years. Despite Texas’ offense generating seven runs in the first five innings and continuing to battle throughout the game, it was the famed pitching staff that allowed 13 runs, putting the game out of reach. You know something is off when Dylan Volantis is giving up homers.

Then came this weekend. With the possibility of clinching an SEC title and an unranked team coming into town, Texas had many chances to, at the very least, claim their spot as co-champions of the SEC. Despite graduation ceremonies, rain delays, and Mother’s Day plaguing attendance, the players and coaches can only blame themselves for a miserable series loss in which the team scored just eight runs.

Following the game, Rylan Galvan led a players-only meeting. That’s never a great sign. With players like Will Gasparino getting pulled early from a game again and Galvan calling losses “embarrassing,” Texas is officially in a rut.

Jim Schlossnagle said Will Gasparino isn’t injured, and was removed for an “internal, team” matter.

— David Eckert (@davideckert98) May 11, 2025

The strength of the pitching staff is one of the easiest differences to spot in these past six SEC games. Texas misses Friday starter Jared Spencer, who’s out for the year with a shoulder injury. Despite a great start against Texas A&M, Ruger Riojas’ conference ERA has jumped to the high fives thanks to 15 earned runs in four innings pitched between Arkansas and Florida.

Sunday hasn’t been much better, as Riojas’ promotion has led to short starts from Jason Flores and a greater reliance on the bullpen.

The bats still aren’t where they need to be. Jalin Flores is batting just .183 with a .252 OBP in conference play as the three-hole hitter. Tommy Farmer IV went 2-for-19 in the two series. Casey Borba had a pair of game-swinging strikeouts against Florida, and he and Gasparino were benched the week before against Arkansas due to a base-running error.

Texas’ team is in its first rough patch of the Jim Schlossnagle era, but there are still silver linings for the future. Max Belyeu’s recovery has been ahead of schedule, and the former Big 12 Player of the Year will give this offense a much-needed boost. Between him, Galvan, Kimble Schuessler, and the emerging freshmen Jonah Williams and Rodriguez, Texas has some bats you can feel confident about moving forward. Late rises from Ethan Mendoza, Flores and Gasparino would be the cherry on top.

The pitching will need to find answers in this short week as the Longhorns head to Norman for a Thursday-Saturday series. Even in this troubling stretch for Texas, their SEC magic number is just two, and the Longhorns are still the third-best team in D1Baseball’s rankings.

[Order THE LONGHORN ALPHABET today and teach your little ones the A to Z’s of Texas Football!]

A lot of this discourse can change with a series win against Oklahoma. Beat your rivals on the road, clinch an SEC title in your first year, and most likely lock up the No. 1 seed for the postseason—a giant advantage heading into regional play. It’s been a long season, and cracks are more than starting to emerge, but a lot of variables play into Texas’ favor to still have one of the best regular seasons of any team in college baseball.