Missouri Tigers vs. No. 6 Texas Longhorns
The last weekend of the regular season in the Southeastern Conference, and the Longhorns really need a series win, if not a sweep, to assure themselves of a Top 8 national seed (and hosting rights through the Super Regionals). The Tigers are in last place in the SEC, but this isn’t a gimme. The Longhorns are 37-12 overall and 16-10 in the SEC, and 26-4 at home. Missouri is 23-27 overall and 6-21 in conference play. The Tigers are 3-12 in road games. Brief look at their season below.
Of note: with the Texas win in Knoxville on Sunday, the Longhorns became the first college program to win 1,500 conference games.
Should be a spectacular weekend at the Disch, including a drone show. Texas Baseball does it right.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Thursday: Missouri – RHP Josh McDevitt (3-5, 4.08 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) vs. Texas LHP Dylan Volantis (7-1, 2.13 ERA, 1.05 WHIP)
Friday: Missouri LHP Brady Kehlenbrink (3-8, 6.45 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) vs. Luke Harrison (5-3, 4.66 ERA, 1.37 WHIP)
Saturday: Missouri – TBD vs. Texas RHP Ruger Riojas (5-2, 4.04 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)
Game times & Info:
Thursday: 6:30 p.m., SEC Network+
Friday: 6:30 p.m., SEC Network+
Saturday: 2:00 p.m., SEC Network+
Radio: 103.1 FM/AM-1300 The Zone.
Commencement at The University
Mack Brown & Texas Law
Mack Brown gave the commencement address for The Law School last Week. Man, I love Mack Brown. “Chase perfect every day.” “Get up and create that edge daily.” “No profession is more honorable than the law. The Defenders of the Constitution. The Guardians of our Liberty.” “The Wise Counselors of our society.” Listen to this.
Colt McCoy
The big graduation ceremony at Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium was quite a show.
Colt McCoy did a really nice job on his commencement speech.
Texas Longhorns and Missouri Tigers
The Horns and the Tigers have a 121 year history, a series which Texas leads 37-30. Our record in Austin is 18-8, and the last time the Tigers won here was 2009 (although I should note that was just 2 series ago at the Disch). Missouri has won 6 of the last 10, but Texas has 16 of the last 25. Texas swept in Columbia last year.
Series history here:
University of Texas Athletics Baseball History vs University of Missouri
Statistics
Texas Pitching
Our pitching has not improved much of late, but I think some of that is due to the quality of our SEC opponents. But the 2 strike walks and putting men on base with 2 outs is disconcerting.
Dylan Volantis. Dylan suffered his first loss against the Volunteers last Friday, in a very unVolantisian outing at Rocky Top. Still among the best in the nation. We need him to get the win this Friday and then 2 more to get us to Omaha.
| ERA | W-L | WHIP | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | 2B | 3B | HR | B/AVG |
| 2.13 | 7-1 | 1.05 | 67.2 | 50 | 17 | 16 | 21 | 94 | 9 | 0 | 1 | .198 |
Dylan’s numbers have actually improved in the last two series. He is pitching really well.
Ruger Riojas. Ruger’s WHIP and BAA have actually twitched down a bit. He’s pitching better.
| ERA | W-L | WHIP | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | 2B | 3B | HR | B/AVG |
| 4.04 | 5-2 | 1.11 | 64.2 | 58 | 29 | 29 | 14 | 100 | 18 | 5 | 5 | .234 |
Luke Harrison This team needs Luke Harrison. He does have grit. And no quit.
| ERA | W-L | WHIP | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | 2B | 3B | HR | B/AVG |
| 4.66 | 5-3 | 1.33 | 63.2 | 59 | 40 | 33 | 28 | 72 | 20 | 1 | 7 | .242 |
Sam Cozart. 6-0 with 7 saves. What a talent. I think our only pitcher whose ERA has dropped over the last few weeks.
| ERA | W-L | WHIP | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | 2B | 3B | HR | B/AVG |
| 1.66 | 6-0 | .65 | 43.1 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 61 | 5 | 0 | 3 | .110 |
Max Weiner and Schloss have got to get the middle relievers to step up. Haiden Leffew has looked pretty good. Brett Crossland too most of the time, although 6 hit batters in 22 innings is a concern. Grubbs is out for the weekend.
I like this stat – Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP): FIP is similar to ERA, but it focuses solely on the events a pitcher has the most control over — strikeouts, walks, hit-by-pitches and home runs. It entirely removes results on balls hit into the field of play. For example: If a pitcher has surrendered a high average on balls in play, his FIP will likely be lower than his ERA. Balls in play are not part of the FIP equation because a pitcher is believed to have limited control over their outcome. The formula: Where the “FIP constant” puts FIP onto the same scale as the entire league’s ERA: ((HR x 13) + (3 x (BB + HBP)) – (2 x K)) / IP + FIP constant.
Well lookee there. Dylan No. 2, Ruger No. 3.
Dylan is also No. 4 in opponent SLG, Riojas is No. 3 in K to BB %, Riojas is 3rd and Volantis is 6th in XFIP.
Texas Offense
Aiden Robbins leads the team with a .711 slug, 19 home runs (4th in SEC), 52 RBI (7th in SEC), 54 runs scored (10th in SEC), and 70 hits (8th in SEC). His team-leading 1.153 OPS is 5th in the SEC. Aiden’s .355 batting average puts him 6th in the conference.
Carson Tinney is still providing impressive production, especially for a catcher this late in the season. OPS of 1.112 (12th in SEC), 17 homeruns (8th in SEC), and 44 RBI. Leads Texas with 41 walks (4th in SEC).
Anthony Pack, Jr. continues to impress. He leads the team with 16 doubles (tied for 8th in SEC). His batting average is at .351 (8th in SEC), and he leads Texas with 18 stolen bases on 20 attempts. An excellent OPS of 1.014 and a .546 slugging percentage.
Temo Becerra had one helluva weekend in Knoxville. 8 for 11 (1 HR), 5 runs, 6 RBI, 2 walks, and no strikeouts. On the season, batting average of .326, OPS at .915, 8 doubles, 6 dingers, and 38 RBI.
Casey Borba is hitting the ball better. Casey is 9th in the SEC with 51 RBI and 19th in the SEC with his 15 homeruns.
But we have got to get some production from the bottom third of the lineup to make a serious run. At least work a walk or have a productive out. Something.
Texas Defense
Texas defense is usually very good. Two ugly errors against Tennessee on Saturday probably cost us that game. But when we are good, we are very good. Rodriguez with a beauty here.
Texas season stats here:
2026 Baseball Cumulative Statistics
Missouri Tigers
Missouri is having a dismal season. Full schedule and results here. Just two SEC series wins, against Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Games and series of note:
- Split their season opener with Mount St. Mary’s, winning 2 out of 3. “The Mount” is in the MAAC. Had to look them up. Mount St. Mary’s University
- Lost to Florida Atlantic, then went on a pre-SEC winning streak.
- Swept New Haven in 3. The Chargers are 11-31. The University of New Haven, as in Connecticut.
- Beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff twice in mid-week games, then swept a 3 game series with North Dakota State (the Bison are 11-30 on the season) and a 3 game series with UIC (University of Illinois Chicago, the Flames are 22-26-1 overall), and beat Southern Indiana, all at home in Columbia. So 14 of their 23 wins came before conference play.
- 6 Auburn swept Mizzou at Columbia.
- Lost at Kansas 10-0 in 7.
- Won a game at No. 22 Tennessee before dropping the Saturday and Sunday games.
- Beat Illinois 5-1 in O’Fallon, Missouri, and lost to Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri (midweek games).
- 25 Texas Agricultural & Mechanical swept the Tigers in Columbia, including a 14-3 run-rule on Sunday. Aggies outscored Mizzou 39-18.
- Lost to Kansas again, 11-8, this time at home.
- Won their series at No. 24 Kentucky!
- Beat Missouri State 5-2.
- Got swept at home by the South Carolina Gamecocks.
- Got swept at L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park by the Land Thieves.
- Lost a midweek game to “SIU Edwardsville”, in Columbia.
- Dropped their home series to No. 24 Arkansas, salvaging a Sunday win.
- Went to Athens and got the win Friday night over No. 5 Georgia, 4-0. Then got run-ruled Saturday and Sunday.
- Took 2 out of 3 from Vanderbilt in Columbia.
Missouri Pitching
Josh McDevitt is the ace of the staff. He has 2 SEC wins, over Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Of note, his best outings were against Auburn, where he went 6.1 innings, had 10 strikeouts, and only gave up 2 runs (both earned), and against Georgia, where he went 6.1 innings, had 6 strikeouts, and only gave up 1 run (earned). Pimental, Dohrmann, and Ben Smith are all out with injury.
Missouri Offense
Link to all the Tiger stats: 2026 Baseball Cumulative Statistics
Missouri Tigers vs. No. 6 Texas Longhorns
I am getting comfortable with the format and content of the Texas Baseball AHFD, but I still request your honest feedback – and suggestions for improvements.
Pitching comparison. National rank and stat.
| ERA | WHIP | IP | SO | BB | K/BB | H/9 | |
| Texas | No. 17: 4.07 | No. 5: 1.22 | 424.1 | 550 | 162 | No. 5: 3.40 | No. 8: 7.51 |
| Missouri | No. 98: 5.33 | No. 93: 1.49 | 405.0 | 448 | 235 | No. 120: 1.91 | No. 32: 8.20 |
Batting:
| AVG | OB% | Runs | Hits | SLG% | BB | |
| Texas | No. 63: .294 | No. 32: .413 | No. 45: 393 | No. 115: 477 | No. 29: .506 | No. 7: 303 |
| Missouri | No. 238: .262 | No. 196: .373 | No. 208: 296 | No. 260: 400 | No. 200: .409 | No. 239: 194 |
Defense: We are No. 30 in the country at .978 percent, 37 errors. Missouri is 80th with a .975% and 41 errors.
College Baseball Analytics PEA Ratings comparison and projection and some statistics.
TSR – Team Strength Rating | WAR – PEAR’s WAR Approximation | WPOE – Win Percentage Over Expected (Luck) | PYTHAG – Pythagorean Win Percentage | KSHOTS – Inning where team scores 2+ runs and allows 0 | CONCD – Conceded Killshots | KSHOT R – Killshot Ratio | KSHOTS/G – Killshots Scored Per Game | CONCD/G – Conceded Killshots Per Game | ERA – Earned Run Average | WHIP – Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched | K/9 – Strikeouts Per 9 Innings | RPG – Runs Per Game | BA – Batting Average | OBP – On Base Percentage | SLG – Slugging | OPS – On Base Plus Slugging | PCT – Fielding Percentage
https://pearatings.com/cbase/d1/stats?season=2026
Resume:
SEC:
Note I have included the Quad W/L this week. Texas is 16-9 against Q1 teams, and that 16 wins is tied with Georgia Tech for best in the nation. Here is what it looks like sorted for Q1 wins.
https://pearatings.com/cbase/d1?season=2026
Missouri’s Preview. Baseball Set for Final Regular-Season SEC Series at No. 6 Texas
TCT Thoughts
Texas has the talent and the motivation to sweep this series. My primary thought for the weekend is we have to win 2, we should win 3. It is all about seeding and playing in the Greatest Show on Dirt. Texas needs to be in that top 8, because I want to watch the Longhorns play their way to Omaha.
Coach Schlossnagle had some interesting comments. Evan Vieth with a good excerpt here.
It will be good to have Mendoza back, but if there is any doubt about getting him well for the Regional, choose rest. One college baseball analytics has Ethan as the No. 7 second baseman in the country by Defensive Runs Saved.
While Schloss is going into the last weekend just like it was a middle of the season game, he did intimate that he is more focused on the NCAA tournament, not the SEC get-together in Hoover. I am good with that. But his approach to this series is absolutely appropriate. Texas sweeps, they finish in a tie for second in the SEC, at worst, likely alone in second. 2 out of 3 still second (unless Texas Agricultural & Mechanical sweeps Mississippi State). But lose this series or heaven forbid get swept, and the Longhorns could conceivably end up in the bottom half of the SEC. Look at the SEC standings below. Top 8 teams all have 15 wins or more. Even I can do that math without getting Spence to help me.
As for this series, Texas just needs to play clean baseball defensively, don’t leave a bunch of runners in scoring position, work a base hit or walk when we need a baserunner, and, please, no 2 out walks, and no 2 strike hit batsmen. Actually, if Texas can get a B+ in those courses, the Longhorns will sweep.
Texas Longhorns Baseball
Some crazy baseball since the last edition of the Dispatch.
Texas won the series with No. 10 Mississippi State. Game 1 was a Texas pitching showcase, as Dylan Volantis led the Horns to victory with 12 strikeouts. No runs in 6 innings. Leffew and Burns pitched in relief, adding 4 more strikeouts. Sam Cozart struck out the Bulldog side in the top of the ninth, and the 19 K’s tied a school record. Saturday, Riojas pitched well through 5 innings, handing the ball to the bullpen with a 1-1 tie game. The relievers gave up 4 runs in the 7th and 2 in the 8th, putting the Horns in a 7-1 hole going to the bottom of the 9th. A 3 run rally wasn’t nearly enough.
Sunday was nuts. Harrison gave up five runs in the 1st inning, including a grand slam. Texas answered with nine (9!) runs in the bottom of the third inning, as the Horns sent 13 men to the plate (anecdotally perhaps the most I have scored), and the inning went like this, starting with Presley Courville: walk; Monsour walk; Robbins walk; Tinney HBP; Pack single, 2 RBI; Mendoza walk; Rodriguez single, 2 RBI; Becerra double, RBI; Borba double, 2 RBI; Courville out 5-3; Monsour FC, 4-2; Robbins single, RBI Tinney F8. Luke Harrison used the 45 minute half-inning to regroup in the bullpen. He sat down 13 of his last 15 batters. Leffew, Crossland, and Cozart did their job, and Texas got the game and the series.
On Cinco de Mayo, the Horns hosted U.T. San Antonio, last year’s season killers. Texas scored 4 runs in the bottom of the first and looked to be ready to cruise to an easy and quick win, but the Roadrunners put 6 on the board in the top of the third to take a 7-4 lead. Fortunately the Horns answered in the bottom of the frame to tie it. In their half of the 7th, UTSA got another run to take the lead. Thank goodness for Carson Tinney. No. 8 hit a majestic grand slam – 483 feet – to put Texas back on top. Thomas Burns came in to close and get the save in the 9th. Tuesdays can be weird.
This past weekend, Texas went to Knoxville for the first time in history. I didn’t get to watch much, which was probably healthy. Texas got shutdown Friday night, losing 5-1, and striking out 19 times. Left 7 on base. Saturday the Horns hit better, but the aforementioned errors were near mortal wounds (maybe it was just a flesh wound), and the Volunteers got 16 hits, 6 of them homeruns. Horns struck out 11 times. Sunday, the Horns got a win to avoid the sweep, behind Becerra and Borba. Both teams actually put up 4 spots in the first inning. Riojas settled down and gave us 3 scoreless innings. Texas put 5 across in the fifth. Leffew had 3 solid innings giving up just 1 hit and striking out 5. Cozart closed it.
Texas Longhorns
It just means more. Thanks Kyle Umlang.
Also the Texas Longhorns. We are the Joneses.
Aiden Robbins & St. Baldrick’s Foundation
In kindergarten, Aiden lost a friend to cancer. Fighting childhood cancer has been a lifelong passion and commitment. Please join me in supporting him and St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
Aiden Robbins St. Baldrick’s Mission | A St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser
Texas One
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SEC This Weekend
A couple of huge series this weekend, the biggest probably Mississippi State in College Station to play Texas Agricultural & Mechanical. The Bulldogs could do some damage to the Aggies tournament seeding, but I expect Texas Agricultural & Mechanical to win the series. The other is on the Plains, with Georgia in Auburn for a Top 5 matchup. The Dawgs and War Eagle already have top 8 seeds locked and Georgia has won the regular season, so that might be some interesting baseball.
Southeastern Conference Baseball
SEC Baseball Stats: Stats – Baseball – Southeastern Conference
Standings:
Schlossnagle on the Postseason
Jim had some very interesting comments on NCAA baseball postseason format. A good article on Inside Texas (free, but you have to create an account, and actually, a good time to subscribe).
Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle proposes changes to the college baseball postseason – On3
Rankings
USA Today Coaches Poll
D1 Baseball
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll
Jim Nicar
Happy 101st Birthday to U.T. Austin’s Biological Labs building! Decorated with Texas flora and fauna, below the eaves are shields with four symbols about campus life: a book of learning, lamp of wisdom, 10-gallon hat for Texan culture, and a football goal post for extracurricular.
From Jim’s May 12, 2026 Post on X.
Photo of the Week
The Waterline, the tallest building in Texas. The flower moon rising.
From JType’s May 7, 2026 post on Instagram.
On X: @tctayloratx
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Tim Taylor P.O. Box 5371 Austin, Texas 78763-5371