The Texas Longhorns are just days away from kicking off their first-ever baseball season in the SEC, and the Horns are in a pretty position as they fly toward conference play.
So far this season, Texas has lost just one game (its season opener agains the Louisville Cardinals) and has since gone on a 14-game winning streak ahead of flying to Starkville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The 14-1 start to the year is the best record that the Longhorns have opened their season with since 2005, when Texas went on to win the College World Series.
Most recently, Texas defeated the UT-Arlington Mavericks in a 7-4 home victory before the Horns' three-game series against the Bulldogs to start their in-conference season. The Longhorns will host a few more non-conference opponents, such as the Texas State Bobcats, who defeated Texas A&M earlier this season, and UTSA Roadrunners throughout their SEC schedule.
Texas has already secured a top-25 victory when the team defeated the then-No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowboys. Currently, the Horns are ranked No. 11 in the nation and are one of eight SEC teams in the top 15 (there are 12 in the top 25).
Max Belyeu leads the Horns in hitting with 23 hits and 14 runs. Ethan Mendoza and Jalin Flores have scored 15 runs a piece in Texas' dominant run. So far, the Horns have scored 112 runs (nearly 7.5 runs per game) and allowed their opponents to score just 49 runs (about 3.3 per game).
Head coach Jim Schlossnagle is in his first season with the Longhorns after coaching the TCU Horned Frogs for 18 years and then Texas A&M Aggies for three seasons.
The Longhorns and the MSU Bulldogs are scheduled to throw out the first pitch of their SEC schedules on Friday, March 14, at 6 p.m. PT. So far this year, Mississippi State is 12-4 overall, with losses to Southern Miss, Troy, Arizona, and Oklahoma State.