No. 2 Texas starts short week with trip to Houston

Certainty in SEC baseball scheduling isn’t easy — the conference schedule released last September wasn’t finalized with on television until February, which wouldn’t matter much except for Thursday-Saturday series that impact how coaches choose their midweek games.

That’s the explanation for how the No. 2 Texas Longhorns ended up traveling to face the Houston Cougars at Schroeder Park on Tuesday before returning to Austin for a Red River Showdown against the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners that starts on Thursday.

“Had I known we were going to have a Thursday series, I certainly wouldn’t have scheduled a road game on a Tuesday night, in Houston, much less. But we owe coach [Todd] Whitting a trip. This is what it’s come down to,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said in his Monday appearance on the Around the Horns podcast.

Last year, a matchup between the Cougars and Longhorns in Austin was cancelled due to cold weather.

“We’ll leave some guys back so they can be rested, but we have to go down there and play. I know they had a rough weekend, but he’s got one of his better Big 12 teams right now, so we’re excited to go play,” Schlossnagle said.

Houston is 12-11 and 1-5 in Big play with a 6-6 home record after losing a home conference series to Kansas State and getting swept on the road in Lawrence over the weekend after allowing 29 runs to Kansas in the three-game series.

The loss of star center fielder Tre Broussard for three weeks due to a hamstring injury hasn’t helped the Cougars — considered a top 2026 MLB Draft prospect, Broussard’s speed makes him an elite outfielder and a dangerous base runner to complement an excellent left-handed swing with some power. In 14 games, Broussard is slashing .468/.542/.787 with three home runs and 17 RBI after stealing 31 bases last season.

Batting .289 as a team, Houston only has one regular starter hitting over .300 — shortstop Tyler Cox, a Dartmouth transfer who hits leadoff and is batting .329 — but does have some pop with 27 home runs on the season.

Former Texas outfielder Easton Winfield is scuffling for a second straight season, batting .200 in nine games with four starts, continuing his downward trend after leading Louisiana-Monroe in eight offensive categories as a freshman in 2024.

Receiving the start for the Coogs is freshman right-hander Caleb Kimble (7.71 ERA, 0-0), the first of his career after throwing two scoreless innings against Arkansas Pine-Bluff before allowing two runs on three hits in 0.1 innings against Kansas State.

Houston has a staff ERA of 5.87, a WHIP of 1.49, and is allowing opponents to bat .260.

Texas is giving sophomore right-hander Jason Flores (0-0, 9.00 ERA) his second start of the season after moving freshman right-hander Sam Cozart into the weekend bullpen. Flores has consistently received praise from Schlossnagle despite subpar results this season — in his first start against Lamar in the first midweek game, the 6’1, 240-pounder allowed three runs on three hits with one walk and one hit batter in 1.2 innings before giving up two runs on three hits with a walk and a wild pitch in two innings of relief against Houston Christian.

The poor results have often come on good pitches for Flores, a distinction that matters less the more often it happens, making Tuesday an important opportunity for the No. 76 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, according to Perfect Game.

Schlossnagle also wants to get freshman right-hander Brody Walls some work after he pitched well in last week’s embarrassing home loss to Tarleton State, allowing one unearned run over 2.1 inning with four strikeouts.

“Brody did great last week against Tarleton,” Schlossnagle said. “He’ll certainly see the mound tomorrow in some form.”

Tuesday also represents an opportunity for struggling junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza to get back on track after a hitless week that saw his batting average drop from .325 to .269 as he went 0-for-16 with four strikeouts.

“I don’t think it’s swing mechanics much with Ethan — if anything, it may be that green monster out there. When you’re a right-handed hitter, like it does in Fenway, it’s in your mind,” Schlossnagle said.

Auburn’s 37-foot wall in left field is only 315 feet from home plate, which the Texas head coach believes may have influenced multiple infield popups by Mendoza, a rarity for the contact hitter with burgeoning power who typically has a strong feel for the barrel.

Sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez is also continuing to battle through the impact of his left hand injury last year that offseason surgery did not fully repair. The switch hitter is still batting .280, but his slugging percentage is down 118 points from 2025, when he hit seven home runs, five of which came before he was hit by a pitch against Missouri in late March.

“If Adrian was fully healthy, we would have six, eight more homers, for sure,” Schlossnagle said.

Now almost a year fully removed from the injury, it seems likely to linger through the season and continue sapping his power — Rodriguez doesn’t have a home run this year, forcing him to settle for some gap-to-gap pop.

First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. Central on ESPN+.

No. 2 Texas starts short week with trip to Houston

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