The No. 2 Texas Longhorns have torn up the early part of their schedule, going 27–5, but have clear flaws. The No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies will look to take advantage of these weaknesses in this weekend’s iteration of the Lone Star Showdown in College Station.
While Texas has won every series this season, the Longhorns have dropped the first game in three of those matchups. Additionally, they have gone just 3-3 in mid-week games since the start of conference play.
Their main issue seems to be mental, something head coach Jim Schlossnagle is aware of.
“I think we’ve proven, both positively and negatively, that our focus hasn’t been consistent in the mid-week games,” Schlossnagle said.
The Longhorns are elite when they are locked in, but they can — and do — lose to anyone when they are not.
The challenge of staying focused will be a unique one this weekend as Texas is participating in one of the most vitriolic rivalries in all of sports.
The Longhorns will travel to College Station to face the Aggies and their 12th Man, who will not receive them kindly. That is especially true for Schlossnagle, who led Texas A&M to the College World Series just two seasons ago and whose departure afterward was anything but amicable.
The Aggie faithful will likely have choice words for their former skipper, which Schlossnagle himself invites.
“If you play for the Red Sox and you play in Yankee Stadium, it’s probably not going to go well,” Schlossnagle said. “(UT versus A&M is) an intense rivalry and part of being a player, of being a competitive athlete, is knowing how to stay focused in the moment.”
Texas has keyed in on a rival earlier this season, picking up their only SEC series sweep against then-No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners.
While Texas hosted that series, the Longhorns still had to tune out the noise from outside sources and focus on the task at hand.
They face a more daunting version of the same challenge this weekend, which the players more than welcome.
“We expect it to be a lot of fun,” graduate pitcher Luke Harrison said. “This is what you play in the SEC for, to play in these environments and go get tested against a good team.”
“Tested” is something the Longhorns have increasingly become more accustomed to being — from mid-season bullpen woes, to the loss of sophomore outfielder Jonah Williams, to the recent injury of sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez.
Texas has weathered all of these storms and has improved as a team because of it. Still, nothing can fully prepare the team for the environment it will walk into this weekend.
The Longhorns will travel to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park today to face the Aggies at 7 p.m..
