With three midweek games remaining before the SEC Tournament, the No. 4 Texas Longhorns (30-8) continue to work to develop a fourth starter for the postseason with Tuesday’s matchup against the Air Force Falcons (18-20) providing a good challenge for head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s midweek pitchers.
Under Mike Kazlausky in his 16th season leading the Falcons, Air Force brings a good offense to the Forty Acres ranking in the top 50 nationally in batting average (.299) and on-base percentage (.411) and No. 15 in scoring at 8.8 runs per game while taking an aggressive approach on the base paths with the team’s 114 stolen bases slotting at ninth in the country.
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Freshman right fielder Wyatt Hanoian is the breakout star for Air Force, leading the Falcons in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.573, 10th nationally), multi-hit games (14), and hit by pitches (19). Second on the team in walks with 25, Hanoian has reached base safely in 26 straight games and has 37 runs, 46 hits, and 34 RBIs this season.
At shortstop, Ben Niednagel is hitting .333 with a .482 slugging percentage and 10 doubles, one triple, three home runs, and 16 stolen bases.
Beyond the challenge of facing a strong Falcons lineup, Longhorns freshman right-hander Michael Winter (1-0, 4.70 ERA) also faces the challenge of trying to bounce back in his second career start. Last week against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Winter wasn’t sharp, departing without recording an out after allowing four runs on three hits.
Schlossnagle took responsibility for the big right-hander’s struggles — Winter had pitched on the previous Saturday after missing a month with an illness.
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Regardless of how well Winter pitches, the Horns will also need important innings from other midweek pitchers, including junior left-hander Kade Bing and junior right-hander Hudson Hamilton. Freshman right-hander Brody Walls and sophomore right-hander Jason Flores, who hasn’t made a midweek appearance in nearly a month, also factor into that mix.
The Air Force pitching staff allows opponents to bat .309 and has a 7.15 ERA with right-hander Bowen Brantingham (0-2, 9.31 ERA) set to receive the start. Brantingham did pitch 4.1 scoreless innings in an early-season outing against South Carolina, but also gave up six runs against DBU and eight runs against UNLV.
Texas will send a new-look lineup to the plate against Air Force after Schlossnagle moved junior center fielder Aiden Robbins into the leadoff spot for the weekend series against Alabama, followed by junior catcher Carson Tinney, sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez, and freshman left fielder Anthony Pack Jr.
The approach puts the team’s two best hitters up first with Rodriguez making his return to the lineup after a hand procedure earlier this month to remove a staple. Rodriguez went 2-for-5 on Friday before going hitless in his six at bats over the final two games.
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“Adrian, he brings a great energy to the team and he’s just excited,” Schlossnagle said on Monday. “It’s just good to see him in there. I think it’s therapeutic for our team to have A-Rod on the field, so whether he gets hit or makes plays or whatever, just having him out there is positive.”
The lineup change made an immediate impact for the Longhorns when Robbins ripped a leadoff double and Tinney followed with a two-run home run on Friday to open the series against the Crimson Tide.
“That makes the coach look really smart when you make a lineup change and they instantly do that,” Schlossnagle said.
The bigger challenge for Schlossnagle and assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki is getting consistent production after Pack with junior third baseman Casey Borba and junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza both battling identity crises as hitters.
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Borba is trying to find the balance between emphasizing his pull-side power, his best attribute as a hitter, and trying to become more effective overall by using the whole field to hit. After slugging nine home runs in March to bolster his batting average to .333, Borba is yet to hit a home run in April has his batting average has dropped more than 40 points. In the three previous SEC games heading into the weekend series against the Crimson Tide, Rorba had struck out 11 times. And while it wasn’t a breakout performance for Borba, he was able to make more frequent contact in avoiding any strikeouts in going 2-for-8.
“I think if we stick with what they’re working on, we’ll end up with a better version of Casey,” Schlossnagle said.
For Mendoza, moving up in the batter’s box helped him temporarily recover from a hitless week in March, but he wasn’t able to keep his spot at the top of the order because his offseason strength gains attempting to unlock more pull-side power have impacted his ability to hit the ball the other way, a key factor in Mendoza batting .333 last year. His walks have also decreased this season as his batting average has dropped to .271.
Texas holds a 6-1 edge over Air Force in the seven meetings since 2022. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
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