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Over the course of an 11-8 win May 5 over UTSA, Texas baseball posted eight highlights on social media.
Texas shared the video of freshman Maddox Monsour's first career home run and made sure that Adrian Rodriguez's nice play at shortstop and a couple of Brody Walls' strikeouts weren't overlooked online either. Of course Carson Tinney's game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning made the cut.
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But when the team went over the game afterward, Longhorns coach Jim Schlossnagle made sure to pinpoint a play that wasn't on the highlight reel. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, the play was irrelevant.
With Texas trailing 8-7 in the seventh inning, Rodriguez and Temo Becerra successfully executed a double steal. The players were eventually left stranded at second and third base, but that play still stood out to Schlossnagle since he felt it was emblematic of the team's offensive approach.
"Had (we) gotten a hit, that would have been potentially two runs that we would have taken the lead," Schlossnagle said two days after the game. "Those are the things that we pride ourselves on, that we don't want to be afraid. We don't want to run into outs, especially if we're losing by a bunch, but if it's there, we can't be afraid to take it because those can be game-changing things. I was really proud of Adrian and Temo for pulling that off."
Texas Longhorns outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. (6) celebrates after stealing second during the Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park on Friday, April 10, 2026 in College Station, Texas. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)
Through 52 games, Texas has stolen 102 bases. That's not a program record — the Longhorns swiped 173 bags in 1982 — but Texas hasn't had a 100-steal season since 2005.
Texas is 102-for-117 on attempted steals. Injuries have limited outfielders Jonah Williams and Dariyan Pendergrass, who ranked eighth nationally in steals last season while playing at the College of Charleston, to one combined steal, but 12 other Longhorns have gotten in on the action. Anthony Pack Jr. leads the team with his 20 steals.
"It's a part of our game," Pack said. "We work on it every day at practice, and I think it's been showing on the field. So we're going to continuously be aggressive on the bases and get extra bases. That's our goal."
MORE: SEC honors Anthony Pack and Aiden Robbins, but was Dylan Volantis snubbed?
Ahead of Friday's quarterfinal matchup with Arkansas (37-19) at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., Texas (40-12) ranks 44th nationally among 304 Division I teams in stolen bases. Kentucky (122) and Oklahoma (114) are the only SEC teams that have more.
Does that aggressiveness put Texas on the path to a national title? Maybe not. Of the last 10 national champions, pnly one stole more than 100 bases during their title season. Only three of NCAA champions (2021 Mississippi State, 2017 Florida and 2016 Coastal Carolina) boasted a top-40 steal number on the Division I level:
• 2025:LSU (51 steals in 68 games)
• 2024: Tennessee (50 steals in 73 games)
• 2023: LSU (30 steals in 71 games)
• 2022: Ole Miss (34 steals in 65 games)
• 2021: Mississippi State (74 steals in 68 games)
• 2019: Vanderbilt (80 steals in 71 games)
• 2018
regon State (51 steals in 68 games)
• 2017:Florida (83 steals in 71 games)
• 2016: Coastal Carolina (112 steals in 73 games)
• 2015: Virginia (44 steals in 68 games)
Texas already has 23 more steals than it recorded over its 58 games last year. This is the fourth Schlossnagle-coached team that has reached 100 steals, joining the 26th-year coach’s TCU teams in 2021 (121), 2015 (119) and 2017 (108).
Texas Longhorns infielder Temo Becerra (1) slides into second base in the fifth inning as the Longhorns play the UTRGV Vaqueros at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 24, 2026. Texas won 14-0 by run-rule after the seventh inning. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)
Not surprisingly, Texas works on some situations more than others during practices. “You practice the things that happen the most in a game,” Schlossnagle said.
That rundown against Missouri last Saturday in which four different Longhorns touched the baseball? Schlossnagle could only remember the team working on that once beforehand. For pitchers, practices are more about throwing strikes. For the hitters, handling the strike zone is largely emphasized.
Texas also works a lot on its baserunning, which falls under the purview of Gehrig Mosiello. The Longhorns’ director of player development, Mosiello is the son of former Ohio State coach and Schlossnagle assistant Bill Mosiello.
MORE: Why Texas baseball won't allow its pitchers to use ABS challenges at SEC Tournament
In addition to practice, Texas also relies on trust when it comes to baserunning. The coaches will call for steals, but players do have the green light to run on their own if the situation falls within the team’s guidelines.
"We have a very defined structure for the baserunning," Schlossnagle said. "But within that structure is a lot of freedom, like a lot, a lot of freedom. We sell that in recruiting. ... I just want these guys to be winning players, and so when they go off to professional baseball and a minor league manager or a major league team gets a Texas player that we've coached, they're a winning player, they know how to run bases, they know where to throw the ball on defense and play good situational, winning baseball."
In this system, even someone like Tinney has the freedom to run. A 240-pound catcher who recently became the fifth Longhorn to hit 20 homers in a single season, Tinney stole two bases over the two years he spent at Notre Dame. He’s 9-for-10 this season and is within reach of Rodriguez's 12, the 11 each by Becerra, Aiden Robbins and Jayden Duplantier, and Ethan Mendoza's 10 for second place this season in UT's steals race.
“I love stealing bags," Tinney said. "I'm not the fastest guy in the world, I'm a pretty slow dude. But coach Mosiello and coach Schloss have helped me out a lot with allowing me to go when I want and then learning certain situations. They just kind of opened that door for me that I haven't had in the past."
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Texas shared the video of freshman Maddox Monsour's first career home run and made sure that Adrian Rodriguez's nice play at shortstop and a couple of Brody Walls' strikeouts weren't overlooked online either. Of course Carson Tinney's game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning made the cut.
MORE:Subscribe to the Statesman's Texas sports newsletter
But when the team went over the game afterward, Longhorns coach Jim Schlossnagle made sure to pinpoint a play that wasn't on the highlight reel. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, the play was irrelevant.
With Texas trailing 8-7 in the seventh inning, Rodriguez and Temo Becerra successfully executed a double steal. The players were eventually left stranded at second and third base, but that play still stood out to Schlossnagle since he felt it was emblematic of the team's offensive approach.
"Had (we) gotten a hit, that would have been potentially two runs that we would have taken the lead," Schlossnagle said two days after the game. "Those are the things that we pride ourselves on, that we don't want to be afraid. We don't want to run into outs, especially if we're losing by a bunch, but if it's there, we can't be afraid to take it because those can be game-changing things. I was really proud of Adrian and Temo for pulling that off."
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Texas Longhorns outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. (6) celebrates after stealing second during the Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park on Friday, April 10, 2026 in College Station, Texas. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)
Texas has triple-digit steals this season. Does that matter?
Through 52 games, Texas has stolen 102 bases. That's not a program record — the Longhorns swiped 173 bags in 1982 — but Texas hasn't had a 100-steal season since 2005.
Texas is 102-for-117 on attempted steals. Injuries have limited outfielders Jonah Williams and Dariyan Pendergrass, who ranked eighth nationally in steals last season while playing at the College of Charleston, to one combined steal, but 12 other Longhorns have gotten in on the action. Anthony Pack Jr. leads the team with his 20 steals.
"It's a part of our game," Pack said. "We work on it every day at practice, and I think it's been showing on the field. So we're going to continuously be aggressive on the bases and get extra bases. That's our goal."
MORE: SEC honors Anthony Pack and Aiden Robbins, but was Dylan Volantis snubbed?
Ahead of Friday's quarterfinal matchup with Arkansas (37-19) at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., Texas (40-12) ranks 44th nationally among 304 Division I teams in stolen bases. Kentucky (122) and Oklahoma (114) are the only SEC teams that have more.
Does that aggressiveness put Texas on the path to a national title? Maybe not. Of the last 10 national champions, pnly one stole more than 100 bases during their title season. Only three of NCAA champions (2021 Mississippi State, 2017 Florida and 2016 Coastal Carolina) boasted a top-40 steal number on the Division I level:
• 2025:LSU (51 steals in 68 games)
• 2024: Tennessee (50 steals in 73 games)
• 2023: LSU (30 steals in 71 games)
• 2022: Ole Miss (34 steals in 65 games)
• 2021: Mississippi State (74 steals in 68 games)
• 2019: Vanderbilt (80 steals in 71 games)
• 2018
regon State (51 steals in 68 games)• 2017:Florida (83 steals in 71 games)
• 2016: Coastal Carolina (112 steals in 73 games)
• 2015: Virginia (44 steals in 68 games)
Texas already has 23 more steals than it recorded over its 58 games last year. This is the fourth Schlossnagle-coached team that has reached 100 steals, joining the 26th-year coach’s TCU teams in 2021 (121), 2015 (119) and 2017 (108).
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Texas Longhorns infielder Temo Becerra (1) slides into second base in the fifth inning as the Longhorns play the UTRGV Vaqueros at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 24, 2026. Texas won 14-0 by run-rule after the seventh inning. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)
En route to 102 steals, Texas gives runners a lot of freedom
Not surprisingly, Texas works on some situations more than others during practices. “You practice the things that happen the most in a game,” Schlossnagle said.
That rundown against Missouri last Saturday in which four different Longhorns touched the baseball? Schlossnagle could only remember the team working on that once beforehand. For pitchers, practices are more about throwing strikes. For the hitters, handling the strike zone is largely emphasized.
Texas also works a lot on its baserunning, which falls under the purview of Gehrig Mosiello. The Longhorns’ director of player development, Mosiello is the son of former Ohio State coach and Schlossnagle assistant Bill Mosiello.
MORE: Why Texas baseball won't allow its pitchers to use ABS challenges at SEC Tournament
In addition to practice, Texas also relies on trust when it comes to baserunning. The coaches will call for steals, but players do have the green light to run on their own if the situation falls within the team’s guidelines.
"We have a very defined structure for the baserunning," Schlossnagle said. "But within that structure is a lot of freedom, like a lot, a lot of freedom. We sell that in recruiting. ... I just want these guys to be winning players, and so when they go off to professional baseball and a minor league manager or a major league team gets a Texas player that we've coached, they're a winning player, they know how to run bases, they know where to throw the ball on defense and play good situational, winning baseball."
In this system, even someone like Tinney has the freedom to run. A 240-pound catcher who recently became the fifth Longhorn to hit 20 homers in a single season, Tinney stole two bases over the two years he spent at Notre Dame. He’s 9-for-10 this season and is within reach of Rodriguez's 12, the 11 each by Becerra, Aiden Robbins and Jayden Duplantier, and Ethan Mendoza's 10 for second place this season in UT's steals race.
“I love stealing bags," Tinney said. "I'm not the fastest guy in the world, I'm a pretty slow dude. But coach Mosiello and coach Schloss have helped me out a lot with allowing me to go when I want and then learning certain situations. They just kind of opened that door for me that I haven't had in the past."
Continue reading...
