AUSTIN (KXAN) — With a 2-2 record last week and a second consecutive Southeastern Conference series loss, Texas fell from its perch at No. 1 in the latest D1Baseball.com Top 25 rankings released Monday.
The Longhorns dropped two spots to No. 3 after losing a 3-game series 2-1 to Florida, swapping places with Louisiana State. Florida State held at No. 2 while North Carolina and Oregon remained at Nos. 4 and 5 to round out the top five.
Baseball America dropped the Longhorns four spots in its poll to No. 6.
Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle called Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Gators “his most disappointing loss of the season,” given the context of what was at stake. A win would have guaranteed his team at least a share of the SEC regular season championship, and it was Senior Day for the last home game of the regular season.
With a 2-game lead over Arkansas in the SEC standings and one weekend left, the Longhorns need to pick up one win to clinch a share of the regular season championship and two to win it outright, but it won’t be easy. Texas faces rival Oklahoma in Norman to end the regular season in a 3-game series beginning Thursday. Despite dropping out of the rankings after getting swept by Kentucky, the Sooners have Kyson Witherspoon, one of the best pitchers in the SEC, and they’ll be pretty mad after not winning last week. Arkansas takes on Tennessee to end the regular season.
The SEC tournament is May 20-25 in Hoover, Alabama. Texas (40-10, 20-7 SEC) is guaranteed a top-four seed and will begin play in the quarterfinals either May 22 or 23.
