Texas vs. LSU baseball: Are walks becoming a problem for the Longhorn pitchers?

Following an 8-2 loss to LSU on Friday night, Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle tried his hand at being a sports editor.

"Kade Anderson is the story," Schlossnagle suggested.

Over six innings at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the LSU left-hander limited Texas to seven hits and two runs. He struck out eight and walked none. While leading the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll's No. 2 team to a win over the seventh-ranked Longhorns, Anderson improved to 5-0 on the season.

So yes, Anderson was the story on Friday. But Schlossnagle, who was once a journalism major with dreams of writing for Sports Illustrated, also knows that there was a sidebar or two that could have been written out of Friday's game.

Texas Longhorns pitcher Jared Spencer (12) throws a pitch during the game against LSU at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Friday, March. 21, 2025.

One of those sidebars involves a problem with the Texas pitching. In the six-run loss, Texas pitchers Jared Spencer, Andre Duplantier II and Cody Howard combined to walk six batters and hit two Tigers. LSU wasn't charged with any walks or hit batters.

The performance on the mound continued a troubling trend for Texas. In each of its last five games, UT has either given out more free passes than its opponents or the same amount.

March 14: Four for Texas (four BBs); two for Mississippi State (one BB, one HBP)
March 16: Six for Texas (five BBs, one HBP); five for Mississippi State (five BBs, one HBP)
March 16: Six for Texas (four BBs, two HBPs); four for Mississippi State (three BBs, one HBP)
March 18: Eight for Texas (seven BBs, one HBP); five for UTSA (four BBs, one HBP)
March 21: Eight for Texas (six BBs, two HBPs); Zero for LSU

Texas swept Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., last weekend, so those free passes didn't hurt the Longhorns. But in an 8-7 loss to UTSA on Tuesday, free passes directly led to three Roadrunner runs. The first Tiger who scored on Friday was walked aboard by Spencer.

"I know that's something that we can always fix, and that's what we're planning on doing right now," said Spencer, who walked three batters during his five-inning start. "I know tonight wasn't the best, but like I've said before, that's something that we're working on right now."

Texas Longhorns catcher Rylan Galvan (6) talks to pitcher André Duplantier II (88) on the mound during the game against LSU at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Friday, March. 21, 2025.

While acknowledging that "the walks have been an issue and they're coming back to bite us," Texas coach Rylan Galvan expressed confidence in Spencer after Friday's game. Schlossnagle also wasn't ready to panic over the recent results.

Schlossnagle said that while he and his staff have been trying to rebuild the roster since he was hired during the summer, the team does have good strike throwers in Max Grubbs, Luke Harrison and Kade Bing. He also put senior Ace Whitehead into that category. Whitehead, who was one of UT's most reliable arms in 2024, hasn't pitched yet this season after having offseason surgery, and although Schlossnagle said earlier in the week that the Lampasas product has "got kind of a long road," he has started to throw.

"We will throw more strikes over the years, and this particular team has to get better at doing that," Schlossnagle said.

Texas grabbed an early lead against LSU on Friday, but the Tigers scored twice in the fourth inning and twice in the fifth frame before breaking the game open against Duplantier in the seventh session. Texas did produce eight hits but only Jalin Flores' third-inning single and Galvan's sixth-inning homer impacted the scoreboard.

As it looks to even this three-game series with LSU (22-1) on Saturday evening, Texas (17-3) will hand the ball to Harrison. A fourth-year left-hander, Harrison is 2-0 this season with a 2.08 ERA. He has walked 10 batters over his 21 ⅔ innings.

"Life in this league is you're going to get punched," Schlossnagle said. "This whole SEC thing is defined by how you show up the next day or the next weekend. It can go any direction at any time. So a good learning opportunity and good opportunity for us tomorrow."

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas pitchers issuing walks as SEC play gets underway

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