Texas has produced its fastest start in more than two decades thanks largely to a dominant pitching staff.
The unbeaten Longhorns also are producing at the plate and on the basepaths as they get ready to open Southeastern Conference play.
Texas gave up more than four runs in a game for the first time on Saturday in an 11-9 victory over USC Upstate. It hardly mattered because the Longhorns were so dominant offensively.
Texas (15-0) has scored at least
10 runs in each of its last five games, the first time the Longhorns have accomplished that feat since 1989. They’ve outscored opponents 147-36.
The Longhorns visit Texas State on Tuesday before starting their SEC schedule on Friday against Mississippi.
“We’re still an evolving team,” Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle told reporters after a 13-3 win over USC Upstate on Sunday. “We just need to stay healthy.”
The last time the Longhorns remained unbeaten this deep into a season is 2005, when they started 16-0 and went on to win the national championship.
Right-hander Ruger Riojas (4-0, 1.23 ERA) and lefty Dylan Volantis (2-0, 1.54) lead an outstanding pitching staff. Volantis has moved into a starting role after making 12 saves and being named Baseball America’s freshman of the year last season.
Yet Texas showed this weekend it can win in plenty of different ways.
Texas hit five home runs in a 14-2 win over USC Upstate on Friday and stole 14 bases in the three-game series.
“We’re not going to try to create things out of thin air,” Schlossnagle said of the stolen bases. “It’s just going to be, if the other team gives it to us, we’re going to take it. They had some pitchers with some slower leg times. When the math is right, we’re not going to be able to run.”
The only other undefeated Division I team is Southern California (15-0), which has matched its best start to a season. USC’s 1988 team also won its first 15 games.
USC posted back-to-back shutouts in a three-game sweep of Illinois that opened its Big Ten schedule and lowered the Trojans’ team ERA to 1.47.
Left-hander Mason Edwards hasn’t allowed a run in four starts. Edwards has struck out 42 while allowing 10 walks and three hits over 24 innings.
Righty Grant Govel has been almost as effective. He has given up two runs — one earned — over 26 innings. Govel has struck out 29 while allowing 11 hits and three walks.
LSU’s visit to Vanderbilt this weekend pits two national powers seeking to find their footing.
Vanderbilt (10-7) won three straight before falling to North Dakota State in the finale of a three-game series Sunday, but the Commodores had dropped four consecutive games before that stretch.
LSU, which has won two of the last three College World Series, has dropped four of its last five games. The Tigers (12-5) lost to Northeastern and Louisiana-Lafayette before dropping two of three games to Sacramento State.
An inconsistent lineup has hurt LSU. The Tigers opened the Sacramento State series with a 15-4 victory and they lost 13-10 to Northeastern, but they have failed to exceed four runs in five of their last seven games.
UCLA (13-2) remains atop the Baseball America and D1Baseball.com rankings after opening its Big Ten schedule with a weekend sweep at Ohio State. LSU slipped from second to 13th in both polls.
In the Baseball America poll, UCLA is followed by Mississippi State, Texas, Georgia Tech and Auburn. D1Baseball.com has Texas second, Mississippi State third, Georgia Tech fourth and Arkansas fifth.
LSU wasn’t the only team to tumble in the polls. Florida fell from ninth to 23rd in D1Baseball.com and from 14th to 25th in Baseball America. North Carolina slipped from eighth to 15th in D1Baseball.com and from seventh to 11th in Baseball America.
High Point won two of three at Florida and nearly pulled off the sweep. The Gators scored four runs in the ninth inning to win Sunday’s series finale 12-11 on a bases-loaded walk. Brendan Lawson started the ninth-inning comeback by hitting his second homer of the day. … The Atlantic Coast Conference opened league play over the weekend with road teams winning three of the five conference series. Virginia won two of three at North Carolina, Notre Dame took two of three at Duke and Boston College won two of three at Miami. … Wake Forest extended its winning streak to 15 with a home sweep of Stanford. Luke Costello went 4 for 7 with three homers, nine RBIs and five runs in a Sunday doubleheader.
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