Big 12 baseball experts predict Texas baseball to finish second.
With two first-place votes, the Texas Longhorns were selected to finish second in the conference going into their last Big 12 season. The preseason baseball poll was revealed on Thursday.
With 11 votes, the league’s coaches—who were not permitted to vote for their own team—chosen TCU to win the championship for the second year in a row.
In 2023, the Horned Frogs were victorious in the Big 12 Tournament and proceeded to the College World Series semifinals, while the Longhorns, Cowboys, and Mountaineers shared the regular-season crown.
Prior to a heartbreaking defeat to Stanford in the third game, when a pop fly was last seen in the lights of Sunken Diamond, head coach David Pierce’s squad finished 42–22 in the previous season as they attempted to rebuild.
They even advanced to the Palo Alto Super Regionals. Renowned pitchers Jalin Flores and Jared Thomas join returning veterans Porter Brown, Jack O’Dowd, and Peyton Powell to bolster a pitching rotation that also welcomes back Tanner Witt and Lebarron Johnson Jr.
Power-hitting first baseman Luke Storm was acquired by the Longhorns via the transfer site, while the team also got toolsy right fielder Will Gasparino in the 2023 recruiting class.
Earlier in the week, Gasparino was named the Preseason Freshman of the Year, and Johnson was selected as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Brown was also named to the preseason All-Big 12 team.
Texas takes on San Diego in the season opener on February 16 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
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