Jim Schlossnagle era begins with No. 19 Texas baseball breaking Globe Life Field curse

After starting 0-7 on the home field of the Rangers, the Longhorns finally broke through under their new head coach.

Say goodbye to the Globe Life Field curse.

The No. 19 Texas Longhorns traveled to Arlington for the Shiners Children’s College Showdown to begin the 2025 baseball season, the first under new head coach Jim Schlossnagle, having lost their first six games in the stadium the Texas Rangers opened in 2020.

A 10-inning loss to the Louisville Cardinals on Friday extended the curse into the Schlossnagle era before the Horns destroyed it resoundingly with a 10-0 run-rule win over the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday and 14-8 victory over the No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowboys on Sunday.

Whether Texas will continue to play in early-season showcases like the College Showdown in Arlington or the College Classic in Houston remains to be seen — at the least, Schlossnagle doesn’t seem thrilled by opening the season that way — but it feels like an important milestone for the program as Schlossnagle tries to take it where former head coach David Pierce could not.

And while there were concerning aspects of how the Longhorns performed in Arlington, like three veteran relievers unable to hold off the Cardinals on Friday, 27 strikeouts by Texas over the first two games, and the inability of sophomore left-hander Kade Bing to survive the first inning in his first start in burnt orange and white, the overall takeaways are largely positive considering the context.

Friday: Louisville 4, Texas 3, 10 innings

Improved sophomore center fielder Will Gasparino opened the scoring for Texas in the 2025 season with a 395-foot opposite-field home run that flashed his stronger frame to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

Until the ninth inning, the rest of the game was a pitcher’s duel between Texas senior left-hander Jared Spencer and Louisville junior right-hander Patrick Forbes.

Spencer, the Indiana State transfer with more experience out of bullpen than starting, was sensational over 5.2 innings, holding the Cardinals scoreless while scattering four hits and working around a walk and a hit by pitch with the help of six strikeouts.

Limited last season by a hand injury, Forbes looked like a breakout ace for Louisville in striking out 11 Texas batters over 5.0 innings.

When Spencer was chased from the game in the sixth after consecutive two-out singles, the latter of which was exacerbated by an error on Longhorns junior shortstop Jalin Flores, junior UTSA transfer right-hander Ruger Rioja struck out the first batter he faced swinging with a sweeping 1-2 slider.

Riojas only faced seven batters over the next innings, but allowed a leadoff single in the ninth. A one-out double put runners on second and third and chased Riojas in favor of senior left-hander Will Mercer, the Notre Dame transferred who missed last season at Texas. Pitching for the first time in 631 days, Mercer struck out the first batter he faced, but allowed a two-run single to the subsequent hitter to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The initial entry into team lore for freshman third baseman Adrian Rodriguez in his first collegiate game came on a one-out home run in the 10th inning.

On a 1-2 breaking ball that didn’t quite have enough bite, Rodriguez dropped his barrel on it and lifted it out to right field at 102 mph, where it spun long enough to land in the bleachers 390 feet from the plate.

Mercer couldn’t make the lead stand, though, allowing a leadoff double that Louisville took advantage of with a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner. A single up the middle tied the game with Mercer departing after walking the next batter to put runners on first and second with one out.

Into the game, Texas senior right-hander Andre Duplantier had to deal with runners on second and third after a passed ball allowed by junior catcher Rylan Galvan. Duplantier was able to strike that batter out, but hit the next with a pitch and then allowed the walk-off single that ended it in 4-3 defeat for the Horns.

Saturday: Texas 10, Ole Miss 0

Behind an eye-opening start by redshirt junior left-hander Luke Harrison, Texas only needed seven innings to dispatch with Ole Miss in the program’s first game as an SEC program against an SEC program, though the 10-0 win doesn’t count towards the conference standings.

A promising start to Harrison’s Longhorns career was derailed by Tommy Johnson surgery that contributed to struggles last season, but the soft-tossing lefty showed signs of returning strength, confidence, and pitchability in 6.1 scoreless innings in which Harrison only allowed two hits, two hit batters, and a walk, striking out six.

It was only the third career start for Harrison in his fourth season at Texas and his career-long outing in which he retired 16 of the first 19 batters he faced.

The offense was slow starting for the Horns until it broke through with seven runs in the fourth inning as the first five batters reached base capped by Gasparino’s two-run double.

A single by junior catcher Rylan Galvan, a double by senior first baseman Kimble Schuessler, and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Flores completed the big inning for Texas.

The final three runs came in the clinching seventh inning on a two-run home run by junior right fielder Max Belyeu and a single by sophomore second baseman Ethan Mendoza to drive home, Gasparino, who had tripled.

Sunday: Texas 14, No. 17 Oklahoma State 8

It was an all-staff effort from the Longhorns and Cowboys in the Sunday matchup — Texas sent nine pitchers to the mound; Oklahoma State settled for seven.

Sophomore left-hander Kade Bing couldn’t make it through the first inning for the Horns, hitting the first batter he faced before issuing a two-out walk, hitting another batter, and allowing a two-run single before departing in favor of junior right-hander Max Grubbs, who ensured there was no more further damage in the inning.

Texas responded with solo home runs from Rodriguez and Belyeu in the bottom of the inning, a 374-foot line shot from Rodriguez at 112 mph off the bat and a 430-foot blast to center field by Belyeu at 110 mph.

Doubles by Rodriguez and Gasparino scored another run in the third, Rodriguez drove home the game’s fourth run after Texas drew three straight walks.

All eight runs scored by the Horns in the fifth inning were unearned thanks to consecutive effort by the Cowboys that directly led to one run, plus a two-run single by sophomore left fielder Tommy Farmer, a two-run double by Belyeu, a two-run home run by Gaparino, and a run scored on a wild pitch.

Gasparino took advantage of a pitch up and out over the plate, in the wheelhouse of the lanky standout’s swing for a 418-foot bomb to left-center field.

Texas pieced together a run in the seventh and another in the eighth to score 14 runs on 15 hits, seven for extra bases, paced by a 4-for-6 performance by Rodriguez with two doubles, a home run, and three runs scored, a 4-for-5 performance by Belyeu with a double, home run, and three runs scored, and four RBI from Gasparino.

The nine pitchers for the Horns combined to allow eight runs on 10 hits with good bounce-back performances from Mercer and Duplantier, a good 1.1 innings from Grubb, and a game-winning debut inning from freshman right-hander Drew Rerick.