Only two days after the No. 2 Texas Longhorns blew a seven-run lead in an embarrassing 9-7 road loss to the Houston Cougars, head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team is back at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Thursday to host the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry.
It’s the first trip to the Forty Acres for head coach Skip Johnson and the Sooners since 2023 in the first top-10 meeting between the two schools since 2009. Texas holds a 160-70-2 advantage in the all-time series.
Oklahoma enters the conference series after beating LSU in Baton Rouge last weekend for the first time since 1972 with a 19-5 overall record and 4-2 mark in the SEC by outscoring opponents 192-93 and receiving the expected strong pitching from a Skip Johnson-led team with a staff ERA of 3.54 with 248 strikeouts to 96 walks.
On Friday, UNLV transfer right-hander LJ Mercurius has been elite to start his career in crimson and cream, posting a 1.87 ERA with 48 strikeouts, ranking in the top 20 nationally in both categories. Mercurius has combined with his fellow weekend starters, left-hander Cameron Johnson (3-1, 3.60 ERA) and left-hander Cord Rager (2-1, 4.97 ERA) for 116 strikeouts to 39 walks and 31 earned runs on the year.
In the bullpen, the Sooners have plenty of weapons. Miami transfer right-hander Jackson Cleveland has stepped into the closer role with four saves and 14 strikeouts in 10 appearances. Another transfer right-hander, former McClennan College standout Kadyn Leon, has struck out 12 in 10 appearances, allowing two runs in 13.1 innings pitched to go with 12 strikeouts. Holdover Jason Boldin, also a right-hander, earned two wins in the series against Texas A&M and has 20 strikeouts in 14.2 innings.
The Oklahoma offense is averaging eight runs per game, batting .292 with 80 extra-base hits. Left fielder Trey Gambill paces OU with a .361 batting average, one of four Sooners who have started at least 10 games and are batting over .300. The lineup has some power with home runs in 14 of 24 games and enough speed to rank third in the SEC with eight triples so far this season.
Despite the short week, Texas is sticking with its typical weekend rotation of senior right-hander Ruger Riojas (4-0, 1.93 ERA), redshirt senior left-hander Luke Harrison (3-0, 2.37 ERA), and sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis (3-0, 1.35 ERA).
The problems have come on the back end with three blown late-inning leads in the last eight games in addition to bad home loss to Tarleton State with graduate left-hander Cal Higgins and junior right-hander Thomas Burns struggling once again in Houston on Tuesday.
Freshman right-hander Michael Winter remains out due to illness — the power-armed Kansas product hasn’t pitched since March 8 — dealing a blow to that Longhorns bullpen.
“We’re really missing Winter, to be honest with you,” Schlossnagle said on Wednesday.
Moving freshman right-hander Sam Cozart from his midweek starter role to the weekend bullpen has helped, and fellow freshman right-hander Brett Crossland has also been effective.
“Just because they have a moment where they hit a guy or walk a guy or give up a hit, doesn’t mean they’re not doing well. And then there’s other guys that have to be better,” Schlossnagle said. “So we’ll continue to look at where we use them. Do they need a little bit of rest? Do we need to use them in a different role to maybe get them some confidence and get them back? Or do we need to use some different guys?”
It’s the first major challenge for pitching coach Max Weiner in Austin after Texas was able to win its close games last year with the help of Volantis saving 12 games, including 11 in SEC play. Weiner has plenty of arms, but, as Schlossnagle said, they have to find the right roles and get the confidence back for Higgins and Burns.
Opposing hitters haven’t helped those two relievers in recent games by chasing pitches outside the zone and when Higgins and Burns have come into the strike zone, they’ve given up some big hits.
But the grind of SEC play doesn’t slow down with the Sooners overachieving after they were picked 14th in the 16-team conference in the preseason poll to move into the top 10 nationally.
The rirst pitches on Thursday and Friday are at 7 p.m. Central with the series finale starting at 4 p.m. Central on Saturday. All three games air on SEC Network.
