When asked last Thursday for a Michigan State scouting report, Texas baseball player Ethan Mendoza did not have one.

“Honestly, I haven’t looked at them yet,” Mendoza said.

Texas was set to open a three-game series against Michigan State the following day. Mendoza’s minimal knowledge about the Spartans was by design, though.

Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle recently told reporters that he doesn’t like to share too much information about opponents. In Schlossnagle’s mind, it is the job of the coaching staff to worry about the tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of UT’s opponents. He wants the Longhorns to instead worry about their own games.

“We don’t give much to the players,” Schlossnagle said. “There’s no need for them to know. I think that’s a trust factor. While they’re in class, we’re studying too. And so they need to trust us and we need to trust them.”

Schlossnagle said that hitters are usually given a brief overview of the pitching that Texas expects to face. But since assistant coach Max Weiner calls pitches, the same conversations are not had with the UT pitchers.

“The pitchers, they’re just executing their pitch to advance the count, to throw strikes,” Schlossnagle said. “Max, I don’t think has any conversations with them about, ‘Well, this guy doesn’t handle a breaking ball.’ If he doesn’t handle a breaking ball, then we’re just going to call more breaking balls, and the pitcher’s job is to execute that.”

Schlossnagle stressed that “we try to make it simple for the players. Then as coaches, we have as much information as we can get to prepare the team for the game.”

Texas opens BRUCE BOLT College Classic vs No. 9 Coastal Carolina

Texas went on to sweep Michigan State, so a lack of studying for the Spartans didn’t hurt the Longhorns. Next up for No. 3 Texas (8-0) is this weekend’s trip to Houston’s Daikin Park to play No. 9 Coastal Carolina (6-2), Baylor (5-3) and Ohio State (5-2) at the BRUCE BOLT College Classic.

The NCAA’s runner-up last year, Coastal Carolina is reportedly dealing with injuries to key members of its pitching staff. Meanwhile, Ohio State has opened its season with series wins over Saint Louis and Memphis.

And then there’s Baylor, a team that Texas should not need an introduction with. Texas and Baylor have played 375 games in their all-time series, which is a total surpassed in the UT record books by just Texas A&M (379 games). Excluding seasons lost to World War II (1943-45) and the coronavirus pandemic (2020), the Longhorns and Bears had played every year since 1919 before the series was paused in 2025.

This year’s Baylor team has outscored its opponents by a 57-33 margin. But the Bears, who last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2019, are 0-2 against ranked teams and will face both Texas and No. 25 Ole Miss at the BRUCE BOLT College Classic.