The No. 2 Texas baseball has been on a tear to start the season, going 24–4 overall and 7–2 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Longhorns have yet to lose a series and are coming off a dominant sweep of the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners as well as a midweek victory over the Texas State Bobcats.
Now, the Longhorns prepare to face the South Carolina Gamecocks, who broke up a four-game losing streak with a run-rule win over Wofford at home.
While the Gamecocks are 14–16 this year, they are 13–6 at home, making this a sneaky challenge for head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team, who is just 3–2 on the road. The home field advantage is enhanced by the dirt field at Founder’s Park, a surface Texas has only played on twice this season.
“Playing defense on our field is one thing, it’s very defense-friendly turf,” Schlossnagle said. “Playing on the grass and dirt in South Carolina and College Station is a lot different, so we have a lot of work to do.”
An increased challenge with infield defense is especially worrisome for the Longhorns, who are currently dealing with an injury to sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez. Texas, fortunately, has senior third baseman Temo Becerra, who played shortstop at Stanford last season and will fill the shoes left by Rodriguez for the most part.
Becerra’s slide from third sets off a butterfly effect that moves junior first baseman Casey Borba to the hot corner and graduate designated hitter Josh Livingston to first. Schlossnagle got one look at the new-look defense against Texas State on Tuesday and the results were good.
“(Livingston) made some nice plays at first base,” Schlossnagle said. “Josh proved he was a really good player at Wichita State last year. He’s had good moments for us, and injuries create opportunities for other players, so he’s got his opportunity right now.”
The Longhorns also experimented with using junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza at shortstop — however, that is not expected to be a consistent alignment moving forward.
Mendoza knows the natural grass in South Carolina is going to stress the infield in ways they have not been all season.
“On turf, your feet can get a little lazy, in dirt, you really have to attack (the ball),” Mendoza said.
Defensively, Texas will also be challenged by South Carolina’s trio of sophomore KJ Scobey, junior Patrick Evans and freshman Will Craddock, all of whom have a batting average north of .290.
The Longhorns’ pitchers will be able to give their defense plenty of support. Texas’ weekend starters, senior Ruger Riojas, graduate Luke Harrison and sophomore Dylan Volantis have all conceded batting averages below .230 and boast earned run averages below 2.70.
The Longhorns are set for a unique test in the coming days. First pitch from Founder’s Park on Thursday will be at 6 p.m.
