For the No. 2 Texas Longhorns, the adversity that head coach Jim Schlossnagle always expects has arrived, and more looms in SEC play as the Horns head to the Plains to face off against the No. 5 Auburn Tigers at Plainsman Park in the team’s first road weekend series of the season.
It started last Friday when Texas blew a four-run lead in the ninth inning against Ole Miss, ending the 16-game winning streak to open the 2026 campaign and causing the demise of Schlossnagle’s winning streak mustache, and raising
questions about the late-inning effectiveness of junior right-hander Thomas Burns and graduate left-hander Cal Higgins.
The adversity was compounded by freshman right-hander Michael Winter’s lack of availability due to sickness — a status that remains unchanged for the Auburn series — forcing pitching coach Max Weiner to move midweek starter Sam Cozart, the team’s burly breakout freshman, into the weekend bullpen.
That move left Texas without its effective Tuesday starter and contributed to a decisive four-run fourth inning in an embarrassing 6-1 midweek loss to Tarleton State in which the bats went silent for Schlossnagle’s team, which struck out 12 times and only recorded two hits.
“Tarleton beat us in every phase of the game,” Schlossnagle said after the loss. “Doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter the name on your jersey. The difference in this sport is you have to go play the game, you have to throw strikes, you have to be competitive at the plate, and when you don’t do that, you’re going to lose. Period.”
Now Texas has to refocus for the biggest challenge of the season so far — facing off against a team that reminds Schlossnagle of the Longhorns and some of the other top teams he’s coached in Fort Worth and College Station at one of the best ballparks in the country.
“The weather’s supposed to be great. The ballpark and the campus are absolutely gorgeous, and I’m sure it’ll be packed, and, yeah, we’ll be ready,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s exciting. It’s exciting to get this opportunity to go down
there and play Auburn.“
Beyond dealing with a hostile environment expected to be at or above the capacity of 6,300, Plainsman Park provides some challenges with a 37-foot high fence in left field called the “War Eagle Wall” and a big cutout behind it that makes outfield defense challenging for the left fielder and center fielder.
It’s also a rare game on a grass field for the Longhorns, prompting Schlossnagle to take his infielders up to Dell Diamond in Round Rock on Wednesday for 30 minutes of fielding practice.
The biggest challenge, however, will come from an Auburn pitching staff that boasts a 2.26 ERA, second nationally. On Friday, Texas will face sophomore left-hander Jake Marciano (3-0, 0.93), a Virginia Tech transfer who is breakout star for the Tigers after posting a 6.08 ERA last season in Blacksburg.
“He throws a boatload of strikes with multiple pitches. He’s got a really kind of loose body, loose arm. So even though the fastball, it’s not like some you know, super high-velocity fastball, it gets on you, and it’s relentless strikes, and he manages the run game,” Schlossnagle said.
Behind the strong pitching, Auburn is hot right now — the Tigers have won 11 consecutive games, outscoring opponents 98-19 during the winning streak by batting .320 to go along with a 1.34 ERA on the mound. In fact, starting pitchers for head coach Butch Thompson haven’t given up more than one earned run in 10 straight games, turning in a 0.61 ERA during that stretch.
“We could go down there and do well, and that doesn’t define our season,” Schlossnagle said. “We could go down there and get our rear ends handed to us, and that doesn’t define our season either. So it’s just life in the SEC, and you just have to wear it and go do it and move on, no matter which way it goes.”
In a preview of some future weekend series, first pitch on Friday and Saturday are at 6 p.m. Central with Sunday’s game set to start at 2 p.m. Central. All three games air on SEC Network+.
