Midweek Preview: No. 7 A&M puts 11-0 start on the line vs. No. 24 Texas

Who: No. 24 Texas Longhorns (7-4, 0-0 Big 12)
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field – Austin, Texas
When: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. CT (The Longhorn Network)

Pitching matchup

RHP Chris Cortez (1-0, 1.86 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Witt (0-0, 2.25 ERA)

Scouting Texas

The Longhorns are battered and bruised after a brutal 0-3 weekend in Houston at the Astros Foundation College Classic. It wasn’t just the winless record that hurt, but it was the two leads the bullpen gave up against Texas State and Vanderbilt. On Sunday, against a future Southeastern Conference partner, the Commodores turned an 11-3 deficit into a 14-11 comeback win as the Texas bullpen gave up 11-straight runs and coughed up an eight-run fifth inning lead. The bullpen also suffered a blown save against the Bobcats on Saturday, allowing two runs in the ninth. That bullpen can’t be in a good place with this Maroon & White offensive juggernaut coming to town on Tuesday.

In its previous two mid-week contests, Texas started Luke Harrison and Max Grubbs. Both pitched in the Texas State game this weekend, and both were rocked, giving up a combined five earned runs in 2.2 innings. Head coach David Pierce, who assumed the duties of pitching coach in the offseason, has decided to take a shot with redshirt junior Tanner Witt as his starter on Tuesday.

Witt suffered from control problems early in the year. As the Sunday starter in the opening weekend against San Diego, he managed to get just three outs and left the game after allowing a hit and three walks. Ten days later, he pitched a meaningless ninth inning in a 15-4 game against St. John’s. Witt was the first reliever out of the bullpen in the 6-3 loss to LSU on Friday. Despite working two scoreless frames, he did walk two batters.

However, with few answers at his disposal, Pierce felt Witt’s performance was good enough to land the start against the Aggies for the last non-conference grudge match in this in-state rivalry. After last weekend, Pierce is rolling the dice and hoping to find an answer on the bump.

On the other hand, the Texas offense flexed some muscle in Houston, using the long ball to generate 21 runs in the final two contests over the weekend.

Jared Thomas is a quality set-up man in the lineup, leading the team with a .476 batting average, .585 on-base percentage and six steals that have produced a team-high 16 runs scored.

Peyton Powell is swinging at a .435 clip with four home runs and an impressive 18 RBIs. Jalin Flores is hitting .356 with a team-leading five homers and 15 RBIs. Senior Porter Brown has struggled significantly in the first two weeks of the season in the clean-up spot. However, he appeared to wake up in Houston with three massive home runs at Minute Maid Park. Altogether, that’s a very dangerous lineup 1-4 in the batting order.

Overall, Texas’ offensive numbers are impressive, but the offensive stats do pale in comparison to the powerful A&M offensive machine. Still, it’s a very potent Longhorn offense that will force A&M starter Chris Cortez to be at his best, control the zone and limit free passes.    

Texas A&M storylines to watch

I think A&M knows what it has on offense. There are two All-American power hitters (Jace LaViolette and Braden Montgomery) in the middle of the order with 11 combined home runs and 42 RBIs, and the support around that pair has been productive. This offense is scoring 10.5 runs per game 11 games into the 2024 season. The unit is also very selective at the plate, drawing over eight walks per contest. When you combine a power lineup with a patient eye at the plate, it creates nightmares for an opposing pitching staff, especially one that just gave up 25 runs in the last two games. Run production shouldn’t be a concern for the Aggies on Tuesday.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Chris Cortez struck out six across four innings of work while allowing two runs on five hits in his last appearance (Lamar).

The storyline to closely follow is Cortez, the man with the 96-97 mph fastball and elite tools, but over his career, he has struggled at times with controlling his pitches. This will be a huge start for him. First, this is Texas, and he’ll face the Longhorns in front of a rowdy, festive crowd at Disch-Falk Field. In the bigger picture of this season, Cortez needs to make a statement to grab the Tuesday night starter job and leave no doubt he’s the guy the coaching staff can trust every time he takes the hill.

Head coach Jim Schlossnagle hopes to get five innings out of his veteran righty, and then I suspect he’ll turn it over to sophomore left-hander Shane Sdao, who dominated Arizona State by striking out all three hitters on only 11 pitches.

There have been several pitchers who have come out of the blocks in 2024 cooking on all cylinders, but Sdao so far may be the most impressive of the bunch. He has future superstar written all over him. The staff is still defining his role as a starter, middle reliever or bullpen closer, but we may get more answers about his future with how this game transpires in Austin. The steady hand of Evan Aschenbeck will also be a factor in this game, as well as several other young arms that have toed the rubber so far in 2024. Other than the three weekend starters, this should be an all-hands-on-deck game.

What’s at stake

It’s Texas. It’s the biggest rivalry in the Lone Star State. It’s bragging rights. It’s beating the t-sips. It’s all that and more. Tensions will be high, and blood will be boiling. This will be the last non-conference matchup for the foreseeable future as the Longhorns follow the Aggies into the SEC next season. A&M has dominated the series in recent years, winning five of the last seven meetings, including an elimination game in Omaha at the 2022 Men’s College World Series. The Longhorns beat the Aggies 8-3 during the 2018 NCAA Regional in Austin. As far as regular season contests, A&M has won four of the last five meetings. The Longhorns did take the 5-2 victory at Blue Bell Park last season.

What’s at stake? Everything. It’s Texas.

Aside from the emotion, this is an important game. This will be the first true road game of the season, and this will be the first action of the year against a nationally ranked team. Despite the three losses last weekend, Texas still comes into this game ranked No. 24, so it’s a good early measuring stick game. We all believe this A&M team is special. The talent and the pieces are in place for a big season, but we truly won’t know what we have until they play some quality teams.

That starts on Tuesday against the Longhorns in Austin.