The return to the diamond for Texas baseball is now under two weeks away, as opening day for the Longhorns is set for Feb. 13, when head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team will take on UC Davis in a three-game series to open the year.
The Longhorns head into the 2026 season with their outfield hit particularly hard after roster changes, with players graduating and hitting the transfer portal.
Sophomore outfielder Jonah Williams is the only returning player in the outfield who has taken the field for the Longhorns. Williams, the two-sport athlete, saw some time as a freshman, appearing in 20 games and starting 15 games, posting a .327 batting average and 10 RBIs. Although he is the only returner, he did not start in the annual alumni game on Saturday.
Williams heads into his second season of college baseball while still involved with the Longhorns football team during the spring. Schlossnagle alluded to the talks he has had with head football coach Steve Sarkisian about balancing Williams’ time between baseball and football throughout the season.
“We’ve had a few conversations about when spring practice is and what that looks like, but we’re going to sit down here in the next week or so and just get an idea of what they’re thinking,” Schlossnagle said.
The most exciting incoming transfer for the Longhorns is junior outfielder Aiden Robbins. In his final season with Seton Hall, Robbins batted an eye-popping .422 batting average, along with six home runs and 38 RBIs. Schlossnagle highlighted Robbins’ skill set that makes him a big addition to his squad.
“He hit .422 in Division I baseball, so that’s going to stick out on your baseball card pretty well,” Schlossnagle said. “It was more than all the other things — his contact rate, his ability that he doesn’t swing and miss, how hard he hits the ball, good outfielder, free and easy athletic mover that you can see on video.”
The Longhorns also brought in two more players in the outfield: redshirt senior Dariyan Pendergrass, who tallied a .296 average with four home runs and 37 RBIs at the College of Charleston, and junior Ashton Larson, who posted a .256 average with two home runs and 12 RBIs with the national championship-winning LSU Tigers.
Of the three young freshmen the Longhorns have in the outfield, Schlossnagle highlighted Anthony Pack Jr. having the chance to make an impact from the get-go. The Californian comes to Austin ranked as the No. 32 overall prospect in Perfect Game’s class of 2025 national rankings. Pack Jr. got the start in right field, with Robbins and Larson also getting the start.
“You need the good high school player that’s in the underbelly of your program that’s getting better and stronger, and so when someone goes down, they step right in,” Schlossnagle said. “So, I think having a guy like Anthony Pack, he’s competing to be the first three or four outfielders, so that’s a guy that’s certainly capable of doing that.”
